The Set Feasts of the LORD

‘The set feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are My set feasts.’ Leviticus/Vayikra 23:13

Jeffrey K Clarke

Table of Contents

Introduction ........................................................... 3

The Shabbat / Sabbath ............................................ 7

Rosh Chodesh / The New Moon................................ 13

Pesach / Passover .................................................. 17

The Days of Unleavened Bread ................................ 32

Shavuot / Pentecost ............................................... 39

Yom Teruah—The Day of Blowing ............................. 49

Yom Kippur—The Day of Atonement ......................... 57

Sukkot—The Feasts of Booths .................................. 66

Shemini Atzeret—The Eighth Day ............................. 78 © 2010 Tzedek Shuva Ministries

Introduction:

Ever since the fall of our parents Adam and Eve being driven away from God’s presence, mankind has fallen deeper and deeper away from right living and the knowledge of Him who created us. Being separated from God, chaos and confusion have set in and man has made up his own rules and ways of living, that which seem right to him but the ends thereof are death.

There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Proverbs 14:12

Notice what Shaul (Paul) says in Romans 5:12 and Romans 1:19-32:

Therefore, as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, because all sinned.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them.

For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse.

Because, knowing God, they didn't glorify Him as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened.

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things.

Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves,

who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amein.

For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature.

Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error.

Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;

being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers,

backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful;

who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.

Thus without the knowledge of the living God, man has separated himself from God and has concocted his own holidays, false Gods and various ways of worshipping. In this way HaSatan, the evil one, has been able to deceive and hold sway over the whole world.

…..the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Hasatan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth…. Revelation 20:2

Thankfully God has a master plan that is being worked out and has preserved this plan in His Torah, the living Word. The hidden key to understanding His plan for all mankind lies in understanding His Holy Days, for they outline His plan from beginning to end. Baruch Hashem!

Keep in mind as you grow in the grace and knowledge of God that these days are mitzvahs of YHVH, they cannot be taken lightly or observed when one feels like it. They are commanded assemblies for our benefit.

God takes His days very seriously, as should we. As the scripture says, ‘it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31). Our whole lives should revolve around YHVH’s Holy Days, they are His days and He wants us to be apart of them.

Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as you see the Day approaching.

For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins,

but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries.

A man who disregards the Torah of Moshe dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses.

How much worse punishment, do you think, will he be judged worthy of, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? Hebrews 10:25-29

Let us not be like our forefathers who forsook their calling and wanted to be like the nations around them, even while the pillar of fire and cloud was with them day and night leading them through the wilderness, teaching them His ways.

Yeshua admonishes us that we prove our love to Him by keeping His commands.

If you love me, keep My mitzvot. John/Yochanan 14:15

As Paul/Shaul states in the book of Romans:

If the first fruit is holy, so is the lump. If the root is holy, so are the branches.

But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them, and became partaker with them of the root and of the richness of the olive tree;

don't boast over the branches. But if you boast, it is not you who support the root, but the root supports you.

You will say then, "Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in."

True; by their unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by your faith. Don't be conceited, but fear;

for if God didn't spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you.

See then the goodness and severity of God. Toward those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness; otherwise you also will be cut off.

They also, if they don't continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

For if you were cut out of that which is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more will these, which are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

For I don't desire, brothers, to have you ignorant of this mystery, so that you won't be wise in your own conceits, that a partial hardening has happened to Yisra'el, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in,

and so all Yisra'el will be saved. Even as it is written, "There will come out of Tziyon the Deliverer, and He will turn away ungodliness from Ya`akov.

This is My covenant to them, when I will take away their sins."

Concerning the Good News, they are enemies for your sake. But concerning the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sake.

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

For as you in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience,

even so these also have now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they may also obtain mercy.

For God has shut up all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.

Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past tracing out!

"For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?"

"Or who has first given to Him, and it will be repaid to Him again?"

For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things. To Him be the glory for ever! Amein.

Let’s begin to unlock those keys and set our hearts and minds to observe these days, these Set Feasts of the LORD!

The Shabbat

‘Six days shall work be done: but on the seventh day is a Shabbat of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no manner of work. It is a Shabbat to the LORD in all your dwellings.’ Vayikra/ Leviticus 23:3

Notice the first holy day feast is the weekly Shabbat or Sabbath, observed from Friday evening sunset to Saturday evening sunset.

God, out of His tender mercies, knowing our physical and spiritual needs, has blessed us with a weekly holiday. This day not only serves as a day of rest from our labors and toil working to make a living in this world, but also as a day to revive us spiritually, to keep us in touch with our creator and to worship Him. What an awesome God we have!

Unfortunately, many people in the world are void of this understanding, some substitute another day for it and still others who do have understanding, do not fully understand the significance of this day.

God knows our human frailties, which is why He commands us to observe these days and gives us every detail of what and what not to do. These are not strict demands or heavy burdens to punish us, but just the opposite, to encourage us, to refresh us, to admonish us to rejoice in His way of life!

‘For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.’ Mathew 11:30

Notice what Yeshua says in Mark 2:27

‘The Shabbat was made for man, not man for the Shabbat.’

The Shabbat has always been a test mitzvah for God’s people. During Yisrael’s journey through the wilderness, they were told to use the day before Shabbat as a preparation day, so they would not need to work on the Shabbat to prepare food, hence taking away from their time to rest from their labors and their worship of God.

He said to them, "This is that which the LORD has spoken, 'Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Shabbat to the LORD. Bake that which you want to bake, and boil that which you want to boil; and all that remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.'"

They laid it up until the morning, as Moshe asked, and it didn't become foul, neither was there any worm in it.

Moshe said, "Eat that today, for today is a Shabbat to the LORD. Today you shall not find it in the field.

Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day is the Shabbat. In it there shall be none."

It happened on the seventh day, that some of the people went out to gather, and they found none.

The LORD said to Moshe, "How long do you refuse to keep My mitzvot and My laws?

Behold, because the LORD has given you the Shabbat, therefore He gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Everyone stay in his place. Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day."

So the people rested on the seventh day.

The house of Yisra'el called the name of it Manna, and it was like coriander seed, white; and its taste was like wafers with honey. Exodus 16:23-31.

What we learn from this example is that the day before Shabbat should be a time of preparation. The Shabbat is holy to God and therefore should be holy to us. See the tips on the next page for helpful suggestions on how to prepare properly for the Shabbat.

As we know, Yisrael had a hard time keeping God’s mitzvot and in time went into captivity for not doing so. As we have learned through Yisrael’s history, after King Solomon, the nation was split into two separate kingdoms, one called the Kingdom of Judah and the other called the Kingdom of Israel. In time, both went into captivity for failure to keep God’s mitzvot. Yet, the Lord out of His unending mercies, brought the house of Judah out of captivity, where they maintained their knowledge of God’s ways and practiced them. During this time, the Rabbis and spiritual leaders placed heavy burdens around the laws of God, so that they would never risk being unfaithful to God and taken back into captivity. Unfortunately, this went to an extreme and placed a yoke on the people, to where it was no longer as joyous to worship God as it should have been. It was some 400 years later, when Yeshua was born and came onto the world scene and would begin to remove this yoke of bondage that He would teach us how to joyfully keep this day.

Helpful Tips On Preparing For Shabbat

• Begin your week with anticipation of the Shabbat. Use the first day of the week as a planning day for the rest of the week.

• Plan your shopping to be done on a Wednesday. Check your pantry for what you’ll need for the Shabbat and the days leading up to it, i.e. Challah bread, wine, dinner meal, candles, etc...

• If you bake your own challah, do your baking on Thursday. It’s easier to clean up and get everything out of the way, so you can use Friday to clean and prepare the rest of the house.

• Plan meals for Shabbat that you can easily warm up and snack on throughout the day. Turkeys, roasts, salads, breads, soups and chicken make good choices.

• Thursday or early Friday morning can be a time to prepare food for after Shabbat services Oneg meal.

• Friday is called the Preparation Day. Before this day comes, we should have all our major chores and details of the world dealt with. Bills should have been paid, clothes cleaned, hair done, car filled with gas, food bought and prepared, etc..

• Friday, then becomes one of tidying up the house and preparing it for the Shabbat. It also becomes a time to begin preparing your heart and mind for a day of rest and worship.

• Get the whole family involved to help out and make the Shabbat a delight.

Yeshua and the Shabbat

During the days of Yeshua, the priests had put in place hedges around the Torah so deep that it became a burden to bear. Yet Yeshua tells us:

He said to them, "The Shabbat was made for man, not man for the Shabbat.

Therefore the Son of Man is lord even of the Shabbat." Mark 2:27-28

This does not mean we are free to do as we please on Shabbat, but helps us to learn to use common sense as we observe it. Yeshua showed that it is permitted to do good deeds on Shabbat…...

He entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there who had his hand withered.

They watched Him, whether He would heal him on the day of Shabbat, that they might accuse Him.

He said to the man who had his hand withered, "Stand up."

He said to them, "Is it lawful on the day of Shabbat to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?" But they were silent.

When He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other. Mark 3:1-5

... and to take care of emergencies (an ox in the ditch) when they arise.

It happened, when He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Perushim on a Shabbat to eat bread, that they were watching Him.

Behold, a certain man who had dropsy was in front of Him.

Yeshua, answering, spoke to the Torah scholars and Perushim, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Shabbat?"

But they were silent. He took him, and healed him, and let him go.

He answered them, "Which of you, if your son or an ox fell into a well, wouldn't immediately pull him out on a Shabbat day?"

They couldn't answer Him regarding these things. Luke 14:1-6

As we have seen, our heavenly Father wants to have a loving, respectful relationship with His children and has set up guidelines for our good to be able to do just that.

“Remember the day of Shabbat, to keep it holy.

You shall labor six days, and do all your work,

but the seventh day is a Shabbat to the LORD your God. You shall not

do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates;

for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the day of Shabbat, and made it holy.” Exodus/Shemot 20:8-11

Also, we have seen that our forefathers did not adhere to these mitzvots and were taken into captivity and scattered amongst the nations.

I said to their children in the wilderness, Don't you walk in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols.

I am the LORD your God: walk in My statutes, and keep My ordinances, and do them;

and make My Shabbatot holy; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.

But the children rebelled against Me; they didn't walk in My statutes, neither kept My ordinances to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them; they profaned My Shabbatot. Then I said I would pour out My wrath on them, to accomplish My anger against them in the wilderness. Ezekiel 20:1-21

Therefore, let us determine to make His Shabbat a delight…

If you turn away your foot from the Shabbat, from doing your pleasure on My holy day; and call the Shabbat a delight, [and] the holy of the LORD honorable; and shall honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking [your own] words:

then shall you delight yourself in the LORD; and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Ya`akov your father: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it. Isaiah 58:13-14

Shabbat Worship

The Shabbat is a Memorial To Messiah

Elohim did not need to rest on the Shabbat, but used the seventh day to create rest, a Holy weekly memorial to remind us that He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things.

The Shabbat is a Sign Between Us and Messiah God commands us, "Sanctify (make separate) My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God" (Ezekiel 20:20, 44:24). On Erev Shabbat, that is on Friday before sunset as the Sabbath approaches each week, we pronounce a blessing and light Sabbath candles. For Havdallah, that is after Saturday's sunset at the end of each Sabbath, we pronounce a blessing and light a special bright candle, then extinguish it in a glass of grape juice or wine. By lighting fires just before and after the Sabbath, we symbolically "make separate God's Sabbath".

The Shabbat Foreshadows the Messianic Kingdom The Messianic Kingdom age is the millennial (thousand year) period when HaSatan will be bound and Messiah Yeshua will reign on this earth (Revelation 20:1-10).

This Sabbath Millennium will be preceded by the fires of war of the great tribulation (Erev Shabbat). It will be followed by fire from heaven being quenched in the blood of the wicked (Havdallah). There will be a thousand years of Shabbat Shalom (Sabbath peace) between the fires that make the Sabbath separate (Revelation16 -- war, Revelation 20:1-6 -- millennium, Revelation 20:7-9 -- fire from heaven).

The messianic age is called Yom SheKulo Shabbat - the day when all will be Sabbath. The weekly Sabbath is a rehearsal for that great day (Hebrews 4:8-11).

Rosh Chodesh / The New Moon

Though not specifically listed among the holy days commanded in Leviticus/Vayikra 23, we can see by other supporting scriptures that the New Moon was a special day among the children of Yisrael and will also be kept in the future.

It shall happen, that from one new moon to another, and from one Shabbat to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, says the LORD. Isaiah 66:23

Also, it is apparent that the New Moon was kept as a special celebration during the reign of King Saul. The account of David hiding from the king and asking Jonathan/Yonatan to explain his absence is found in I Samuel 20:17-26:

Yonatan caused David to swear again, for the love that he had to him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul.

Then Yonatan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon: and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty.

So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat food.

The king sat on his seat, as at other times, even on the seat by the wall; and Yonatan stood up, and Aviner sat by Sha'ul's side: but David's place was empty.

Nevertheless Sha'ul didn't say anything that day: for he thought, Something has happened to him. He is not clean. Surely he is not clean.

As we may already know, one of YHVH’s other Holy Days, the Feast of Trumpets (also known as Yom Teruah) is observed on a new moon.

In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing of trumpets to you.

You shall offer a burnt offering for a sweet savor to the LORD: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; and their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three tenth parts for the bull, two tenth parts for the ram, and one tenth part for every lamb of the seven lambs;

and one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you; besides the burnt offering of the new moon, and the meal offering of it, and the continual burnt offering and the meal offering of it, and

their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, for a sweet savor, an offering made by fire to the LORD. Numbers/Bamidbar

29:1-6

David expounds on this in Psalm 81:3-4

Blow the shofar at the New Moon, at the full moon, on our feast day. For it is a statute for Yisra'el, an ordinance of the God of Ya`akov.

In the instructions given to Ezekiel concerning the Temple, the inner court was to be opened and the people allowed to worship only on the Shabbat and the New Moon.

Thus says the Lord GOD: The gate of the inner court that looks toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the day of Shabbat it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened.

The prince shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate outside, and shall stand by the post of the gate; and the Kohanim shall prepare his burnt offering and his shalom offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.

The people of the land shall worship at the door of that gate before the LORD on the Shabbatot and on the new moons.

Ezekiel 46:1-3

As the picture becomes clear that we are indeed to be mindful and observe the new moons, we are reminded how far we have strayed from YHVH’s calendar.

We start our days at midnight, instead of at sunset as God commands, our new year begins in the dead of winter instead of spring and our months revolve on a solar calendar instead of a lunar one as God has ordained.

God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years….Genesis/Bereshit 1:14

Over time, Yisrael’s heart had turned from serving the Lord in righteousness and began neglecting the importance of keeping the Shabbat and the New Moon.

Then the LORD said to me, "The end has come on My people Yisra'el. I will not again pass by them any more.

The songs of the temple will be wailings in that day," says the Lord GOD. "The dead bodies will be many. In every place they will throw them out with silence.

Hear this, you who desire to swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail,

Saying, 'When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? And the Shabbat, that we may market wheat, making the efah small, and the shekel large, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit;

that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the sweepings with the wheat?'"

The LORD has sworn by the pride of Ya`akov, "Surely I will never forget any of their works. Amos 8:2-7

Upon Judah’s return to the land and through much struggle, the Shabbat and New Moons were again restored.

From the Chumash: “..during the period of Syrian-Greek persecution that culminated in the miracle of Chanukah, Rosh Chodesh was one of only three commandments whose observance the oppressors prohibited. The other two forbidden commandments were the Sabbath and circumcision; that Rosh Chodesh was on a plane with those central observances is sufficient indication of its great significance.”

Unless the new months can be proclaimed, there is no calendar, and without a calendar, there can be no festivals. Thus, if the Syrian-Greeks had succeeded in eradicating the observance of Rosh Chodesh, they would have succeeded in eliminating large numbers of other mitzvot, as well."

"On a deeper level, Rosh Chodesh symbolizes renewal, the ability of the Jewish People to rise up from oblivion and restore itself to its past greatness. Just as the moon disappears at the end of each month, but returns and grows to fullness, so Israel may suffer exile and decline, but it always renews itself until the coming of the Messiah, when the promise of the Exodus and the Revelation at Sinai will be fulfilled, never to be dimmed again."

"This concept of Jewish renewal was what the Syrian-Greeks attempted to eradicate by ending the observance of Rosh Chodesh. Instead, the Jewish People rose up in defense of the Torah and the Temple, and their triumph is commemorated through Chanukah, the festival of renewal."

After Yeshua’s crucifixion, as more Gentiles came into the faith, the Apostle Paul/Shaul instructs us not to be a judge towards those beginning their walk of keeping the Shabbat, New Moon and festivals.

Therefore let no one act as your judge regarding eating or drinking or in respect to a festival or a Rosh Chodesh or a Shabbat,

things which are a shadow of what is to come, and the substance of which is found in Messiah. Colossians 2:16-17

Likewise, as we believers in Yeshua continue our walk and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord, let us be mindful of the days and seasons our Father has ordained.

One way to do this is to simply be mindful of when the Rosh Chodesh is sited. It is the first sliver of the crescent moon (usually the day after what is classified as the new moon on your Gregorian calendars of today).

Treat the day much like a Shabbat; light your candles, blow your shofar, have a special dinner with friends and family.

Though there are no special commandments of what do to on the new moon, we can see that it is similar in scope to a Shabbat, yet work is allowed.

So rejoice on the new moons and use them to anticipate the coming Feasts of the Lord!

Pesach / Passover

In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is the LORD's Pesach. Leviticus/Vayikra 23:5

The month of Nisan (also called Abib) is the beginning of YHVH’s Holy Day calendar. Occurring in the spring of the year, it starts on the Rosh Chodesh when the first barley shoots come forth.

"This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you.

Speak to all the congregation of Yisra'el, saying, 'On the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household;

and if the household be too little for a lamb, then he and his neighbor next to his house shall take one according to the number of the souls; according to what everyone can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats:

and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Yisra'el shall kill it at evening.

They shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they shall eat it.

They shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and matzah. They shall eat it with bitter herbs.

Don't eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire; with its head, its legs and its inner parts.

You shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with fire. Exodus/ Shemot 12:2-10

Pesach begins the yearly festival season and is to be a memorial observed forever.

This day shall be to you for a memorial, and you shall keep it a feast to the LORD: throughout your generations you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. Exodus/Shemot 12:14

The Pesach lamb was to be selected on the tenth of the month, one lamb per household and if the household was too small, then they and their neighbor could eat it together.

Yeshua fulfilled this selection process when He rode the colt into Jerusalem.

And they brought it to Yeshua, and they threw their garments upon the colt, and put Yeshua upon it.

And as He was going, they were spreading their garments on the road.

And as He was now drawing near, toward the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began rejoicing to praise God with a great voice for all the miracles which they had seen,

saying, "BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF ADONAI! Peace in Heaven and glory in the highest!"ADONAI! Peace in Heaven and glory in the highest!" 38

YHVH instructed the Israelites that the Pesach lamb was to be a male without spot or blemish—typifying the very essence of Yeshua. Yochanan the Immerser recognized this as he proclaimed,

"Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John/Yochanan 1:29

The apostle Paul/Shaul further clarifies this in I Corinthians 5:7

For indeed Messiah, our Pesach, has been sacrificed in our place.

The unblemished male lamb perfectly represents Yeshua as the perfect, sinless sacrifice for our sins.

As the Torah tells us, there can be no atonement or forgiveness of sin without the spilling of blood. The first Adam recognized this when YHVH Himself sacrificed an animal to make skins for their naked bodies after his and Eve’s/Chavah’s sin.

The LORD God made coats of skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them. Genesis/Bereshit 3:21

For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life. Leviticus/Vayikra 17:11

This act, enticed by the serpent HaSatan, foretold what would have to be done in the future to once again restore mankind to YHVH.

The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. On your belly shall you go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise His heel." Genesis/Bereshit 3:14-15

Yeshua further demonstrates this when He proclaimed:

As Moshe lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.

For God didn't send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. John/Yochanan 3:14-17

And also in John/Yochanan 12:31-32:

Now is the judgment of this world. Now the prince of this world will be cast out.

And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself."

Paul/Shaul confirms this in I Corinthians 15:22:

For as in Adam all die, so also in Messiah all will be made alive.

So as we see, the Pesach is the most profound day in the history of mankind, whereas the very creator of mankind has sacrificed Himself in our stead for our sins! How awesome a Messiah we have, that even while we were still in our sins, Yeshua died for us.

But God commends His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Messiah died for us. Romans 5:8

As we observe this day, let us be reminded of the ultimate sacrifice that was paid for us and let it stir us to do good works, searing our conscience to commit us to keep the Torah of love fully and completely so that we may be partakers of the Promise and be able to stand before our Savior and High Priest, Yeshua HaMashiach.

But Messiah having come as a Kohen Gadol of the coming good things, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation,

nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption.

For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleanness of the flesh:

how much more will the blood of Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, since a death has occurred for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, that those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

For where a last will and testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him who made it.

For a will is in force where there has been death, for it is never in force while he who made it lives.

Therefore even the first covenant has not been dedicated without blood.

For when every mitzvah had been spoken by Moshe to all the people according to the Torah, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,

saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you."

Moreover he sprinkled the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry in like manner with the blood.

According to the Torah, nearly everything is cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission.

It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

For Messiah hasn't entered into holy places made with hands, which are representations of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;

nor yet that He should offer Himself often, as the Kohen Gadol enters into the holy place year by year with blood not his own,

or else He must have suffered often since the foundation of the world. But now once at the end of the ages, He has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment,

so Messiah also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, without sin, to those who are eagerly waiting for him for salvation. Hebrews 9:11-28

YHVH never had any pleasure in the Kohen performing blood sacrifices, it was not His intention from the very beginning, as no amount of animal sacrifice could take away one’s sins.

But YHVH wants us to serve Him from the heart, to do His will as His Son Yeshua demonstrated for us when He walked this earth.

But in those sacrifices there is yearly reminder of sins.

For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.

Therefore when He comes into the world, He says, "Sacrifice and offering You didn't desire, but You prepared a body for Me;

You had no pleasure in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin.

Then I said, 'Behold, I have come (in the scroll of the book it is written of Me) to do Your will, O God.'"

Previously saying, "Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You didn't desire, neither had pleasure in them" (those which are offered according to the Torah),

then He has said, "Behold, I have come to do Your will." He takes away the first, that He may establish the second,

by which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Yeshua the Messiah once for all.

Every Kohen indeed stands day by day serving and often offering the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins,

but He, when He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God;

from that time waiting until His enemies are made the footstool of His feet.

For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. Hebrews 10:3-14

Yeshua’s sacrifice not only has allowed us to enter into the Holy of Holies, whereas before only the Kohen was allowed to—and then only once a year on the Day of Atonement; but has fulfilled the Promise to write His Torah on our hearts and minds.

The Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,

"This is the covenant that I will make with them: 'After those days,' says the Lord, 'I will put My laws on their heart, I will also write them on their mind;'" then He says,

"I will remember their sins and their iniquities no more."

Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

Having therefore, brothers, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Yeshua,

by the way which He dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh;

and having a great Kohen over the house of God,

let's draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and having our body washed with pure water,

let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering; for He who promised is faithful.

Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works,

not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:15-25

As we see, the only way YHVH could forgive our sins is through the sacrifice of One who could take away the sins of the world—Yeshua our Savior.

As Paul/Shaul states in Romans 3:23, “all have fallen short, all have sinned” and we would all be doomed eternally had not somehow the penalty for our sins been paid.

But God commends His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Messiah died for us.

Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we will be saved from God's wrath through Him.

For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we will be saved by His life.

Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

Therefore, as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, because all sinned.

For until the law, sin was in the world; but sin is not charged when there is no law.

Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moshe, even over those whose sins weren't like Adam's disobedience, who is a foreshadowing of Him who was to come.

But the free gift isn't like the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Yeshua the Messiah, abound to the many.

The gift is not as through one who sinned: for the judgment came by one to condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses to justification.

For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; so much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Yeshua the Messiah.

So then as through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life.

For as through the one man's disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous.

The law came in besides, that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly;

that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Yeshua the Messiah our Lord. Romans 5:8-21

Yeshua, who lived a sinless life as the unblemished Lamb of YHVH, substituted His death for ours. His death was the only possible payment for our sins. He died in our place so that we could share eternal life with Him. As such, our lives are no longer our own, but His—and as His redeemed possessions we are to no longer to live according to our own desires.

...You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. I Corinthians 6:19-20

The ultimate price has been paid for you and for me, and for all who repent and accept Yeshua as their Savior. Yet, if we are not careful, we can trample under foot this supreme sacrifice and actually be worst off in the end. For once we have accepted our calling, there is no turning back.

For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins,

but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries.

A man who disregards the Torah of Moshe dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses.

How much worse punishment, do you think, will he be judged worthy of, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

For we know him who said, "Vengeance belongs to Me," says the Lord, "I will repay." Again, "The Lord will judge His people."

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

But remember the former days, in which, after you were enlightened, you endured a great struggle with sufferings;

partly, being exposed to both reproaches and oppressions; and partly, becoming partakers with those who were treated so.

For you both had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an enduring one in the heavens.

Therefore don't throw away your boldness, which has a great reward.

For you need endurance so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise.

"In a very little while, He who comes will come, and will not wait.

But the righteous will live by faith. If he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him."

But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the saving of the soul. Hebrews 10:26-39

The Pesach Service and Symbols

The Torah commands us to partake of a lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs on the Passover.

They shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and matzah. They shall eat it with bitter herbs. Exodus/Shemot 12:8

Yeshua further demonstrates this with the last meal He ate with His talmidim and that He came to be the Master Servant of all. The apostle John/Yochanan describes this last evening with His talmidim.

Now before the feast of the Pesach, Yeshua, knowing that His time had come that He would depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

After supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Yehudah Iskriot, Shim`on's son, to betray Him,

Yeshua, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He came forth from God, and was going to God,

arose from supper, and laid aside His outer garments. He took a towel, and wrapped a towel around His waist.

Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the talmidim' feet, and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around Him. John/Yochanan 13:1-5

Washing another’s feet was usually the job of the lowliest household servant. It was an act of hospitality. Rather than ask a servant to perform this function for His guests, He choose to humbly do it Himself, teaching us an important spiritual lesson.

So when He had washed their feet, put His outer garment back on, and sat down again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you?

You call me, 'Rabbi' and 'Lord.' You say so correctly, for so I am.

If I then, the Lord and the Rabbi, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.

For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

Most certainly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his lord, neither one who is sent greater than he who sent him.

If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. John/ Yochanan 13:12-17

Yeshua left His talmidim with a lasting reminder of the importance of humble service to one another.

But Yeshua summoned them, and said, "You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.

It shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.

Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant,

even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." Mathew 20:25-28

This simple act of washing the feet of others teaches us a vital lesson of humility regarding the Pesach.

As the redeemed possession of YHVH, through Yeshua’s sacrifice, our lives should be devoted to the service of YHVH and others.

The Bread:

As they were eating, Yeshua took bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it. He gave to the talmidim, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." Mathew 26:26

Yeshua tells us that His body was to become the sacrificial offering for sin.

Peter and Isaiah both show us that through this sacrifice, our sins are forgiven and we may be healed—both physical and spiritually as portrayed throughout Yeshua’s healing ministry.

.. .who His own self bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by Whose stripes you were healed. I Peter 2:24

Surely He has borne our sickness, and carried our suffering; yet we considered Him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted.

But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought our shalom was on Him; and by His wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:4-5

Through the forgiveness of our sins, Yeshua (the living bread) has paved the way for our receiving eternal life.

Most certainly, I tell you, he who believes in Me has eternal life. I am the bread of life.

Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may

eat of it and not die.

I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." John/Yochanan 6:47-51

The Pesach bread reinforces our understanding that Yeshua, the true bread of life must live inside us, enabling us to live a new life in Him and for Him.

I have been crucified with Messiah, and it is no longer I that live, but Messiah living in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself up for me. Galatians 2:20

The Wine:

He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, "All of you drink it,

for this is My blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins. Mathew 26:27-28

Yeshua knew that this symbolic act of drinking wine would impress upon our minds the blood which He shed for our forgiveness of sins, for as we have learned, without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9:22).

...and the blood of Yeshua the Messiah, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. I John/Yochanan 1:7

The Torah tells us that one’s life is in the blood (Genesis/ Bereshit 9:4) and when we loose enough of it, we die.

Yeshua poured out His blood in our stead at the crucifixion.

..."This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you. Luke 22:20

During our partaking of this wine during the Pesach service, let us be mindful of the supreme sacrifice made for us as Yeshua poured out His blood to cover our sins.

...in Whom we have our redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses...Ephesians 1:7

With this forgiveness comes freedom from eternal death.

...Yeshua the Messiah, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by His blood;

and He made us to be a Kingdom, Kohanim to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amein.

Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, including those who pierced Him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Even so, Amein. Revelation 1:5-7

Also, through Yeshua’s shed blood, we are made clean and are now able to have direct access to the Father, where before only the High Priest could go into the Holy of Holies once a year on the Day of Atonement. We can now approach YHVH the Father without hesitation or fear of rejection.

Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

Having therefore, brothers, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Yeshua,

by the way which He dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh...Hebrews 10:18-20

The wine and shedding of Yeshua’s blood also signifies that He has entered into a new agreement or covenant with us.

…for this is My blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins.

But I tell you that I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on, until that day when I drink it anew with you in My Father's Kingdom." Mathew 26:28-29

And that He will write His Torah on our hearts.

"This is the covenant that I will make with them: 'After those days,' says the Lord, 'I will put My laws on their heart, I will also write them on their mind;'" then He says,

"I will remember their sins and their iniquities no more."

Hebrews 10:16-17 (Also see Jeremiah 31:31-34)

The Seder Meal:

Many of us in the Messianic and Hebraic Roots assembly of believers have discovered or are discovering the tremendous deep meaning of the symbols used in the Pesach Seder service.

Though this booklet cannot go into all the meanings of the Seder service, we would like to encourage each of you to join in on this wonderful service portraying not only the memorial of the Exodus but also the fulfillment of Yeshua in this day.

Bitter Herbs:

Besides, the Lamb, unleavened bread and wine already mentioned, the Torah commands us to eat our meal with “bitter herbs”.

They shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and matzah. They shall eat it with bitter herbs. Exodus /Shemot 12:8

The bitter herbs we eat during the Pesach service, remind us not only of the bitter bondage that our forefathers served under, but also the bondage that exists in the world we now live in.

It shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, 'What is this?' that you shall tell him, 'By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage….Exodus/ Shemot 13:14

It is also a reminder to us that we who have been redeemed and now live in peace and safety (both physically and spiritually), must be careful lest our hearts deceive us and we forget the Lord Adonai.

It shall be, when the LORD your God shall bring you into the land which He swore to your fathers, to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Ya`akov, to give you, great and goodly cities, which you didn't build,

and houses full of all good things, which you didn't fill, and cisterns dug out, which you didn't dig, vineyards and olive trees, which you didn't plant, and you shall eat and be full;

then beware lest you forget the LORD, Who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Deuteronomy/ Devarim 6:10-12

The Kiddush:

During Shabbat services, many Messianic believers partake of the Kiddush or the bread and the wine.

This service beautifully symbolizes the sacrifice of Yeshua and unbeknownst to it’s meaning, is even observed in many Orthodox Jewish synagogues.

Paul/Shaul clarifies our part in keeping with this tradition in I Corinthians 11:23-26:

For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Yeshua on the night in which He was betrayed took bread.

When He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, "Take, eat. This is My body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of Me."

In the same way He also took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of Me."

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.

Each Shabbat as we take the bread and the wine, we are reminded of the tremendous sacrifice Yeshua made for us.

Our Redemptive Walk:

So as we begin to see, Pesach is the beginning of our walk towards the fulfillment of YHVH’s master plan towards the redemption of all mankind.

Through the forgiveness of our sins, we are now ready to begin our walk towards righteousness as is high-lighted by the next Festival immediately following Pesach, the Days of Unleavened Bread.

The Days of Unleavened Bread

“This day shall be to you for a memorial, and you shall keep it a feast to the LORD: throughout your generations you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.

"'Seven days shall you eat matzah; even the first day you shall put away yeast out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Yisra'el.

In the first day there shall be to you a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no manner of work shall be done in them, except that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you.

You shall observe the feast of matzah; for in this same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall you observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance forever.

In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat matzah, until the twenty first day of the month at evening.

Seven days shall there be no yeast found in your houses, for whoever eats that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Yisra'el, whether he be a foreigner, or one who is born in the land.

You shall eat nothing leavened. In all your habitations you shall eat matzah.'"

Exodus /Shemot 12:14-20

Immediately following Pesach begins the Days of Unleavened Bread and the next step in God’s redemptive plan for all mankind.

Notice during these days there is to be a Holy convocation or gathering; on the first day and the seventh day - there are Holy Days, no work is to be done, except that which is required to prepare meals.

After we have been forgiven of our sins through the sacrifice and blood covering of Yeshua our Messiah and have accepted this newness of life to become a new person following in His footsteps, how are we to continue in this walk, how do we continue to avoid the sin that so easily causes us to stumble?

“Therefore let us also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

looking to Yeshua, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For consider Him who has endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, that you don't grow weary, fainting in your souls.

You have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin…..”

Hebrews 12:1-4

The answer lies in the tremendous symbolism contained in the Days of Unleavened Bread.

Hebraic tradition throughout the ages teaches us that before Pesach, all leavening is to be removed from the house and burned or thrown away. This search for leaven finishes before the day of Pesach, when the father of the house leads the family with a lantern in a frantic search throughout ever nook and cranny of the house to make sure that no leaven has escaped them.

Taken to a spiritual level, we know that leaven pictures sin and during this time we are to search and examine our spiritual lives to see and purge out the leaven and become unleavened.

Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump?

Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Messiah, our Pesach, has been sacrificed in our place.

Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the matzah of sincerity and truth. I Corinthians 5:6-8

Just as a little yeast spreads throughout the whole lump of dough, so does a little sin spread throughout all we come in contact with until everyone is affected.

Yeshua warns us to beware of the leaven of those who claim to be our spiritual leaders, yet by their actions poison others with their hypocrisy.

Yeshua said to them, "Take heed and beware of the yeast of the Perushim and Tzedukim." Matthew 16:6

On the sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5; Yeshua plainly shows us that it is no more acceptable to just keep the letter of the Torah and let sin dwell in our hearts, but we are required to keep the spirit of Torah modeled after Him.

"You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men.

You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can't be hidden.

Neither do you light a lamp, and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house.

Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

"Don't think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I didn't come to destroy, but to fulfill.

For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the Torah, until all things are accomplished.

Whoever, therefore, shall break one of these least mitzvot, and teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Perushim, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

"You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, 'You shall not murder;' and 'Whoever shall murder shall be in danger of the judgment.'

But I tell you, that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment; and whoever shall say to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing!' shall be in danger of the council; and whoever shall say, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of the fire of Gehinnom.

"If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you,

leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5:13-24

Lashon Hara: The Evil Tongue

Lashon Hara or the evil tongue has become the most destruction force in the Messianic community. It has caused divisions, discord, disunity and even hatred among brethren. It is the tool of HaSatan, the accuser of the brethren.

Notice James’ warning about this and how our eternal salvation is at stake if we tear down and destroy another with our tongue.

Indeed, we put bits into the horses' mouths so that they may obey us, and we guide their whole body.

Behold, the ships also, though they are so big and are driven by fierce winds, are yet guided by a very small rudder, wherever the pilot desires.

So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest!

And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehinnom.

For every kind of animal, bird, creeping thing, and thing in the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind.

But nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the image of God.

Out of the same mouth comes forth blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

Does a spring send out from the same opening fresh and bitter water?

Can a fig tree, my brothers, yield olives, or a vine figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh water.

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good conduct that his deeds are done in gentleness of wisdom.

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don't boast and don't lie against the truth.

This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic.

For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed.

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make shalom. James 3:3-18

Ways to Combat Lashon Hara:

1. Refuse to listen to anyone who attempts to tear down or spread gossip about another brother or sister.

2. Admonish them that if they have a problem, they are commanded by Yeshua to go to that person and resolve the issue.

3. If we find ourselves looking negatively towards another, keep in mind that it may be that we need to draw closer and get to know the person better. Perhaps we misunderstand their actions or demeanor, we are all different, we all have different personalities - but are all one in Messiah.

Paul/Shaul admonishes us to love one another, to encourage, build-up and esteem others better than ourselves.

If we do that, there will be no room for lashon hara.

If there is therefore any exhortation in Messiah, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion,

make my joy full, by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind;

doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself;

each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.

Have this in your mind, which was also in Messiah Yeshua,

Who, existing in the form of God, didn't consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,

but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.

And being found in human form, He humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross. Philippians 2:1-8

But let us, since we belong to the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and, for a helmet, the hope of salvation.

For God didn't appoint us to wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah,

Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.

Therefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as you also do.

But we beg you, brothers, to know those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you,

and to respect and honor them in love for their work's sake. Be at peace among yourselves.

We exhort you, brothers, admonish the disorderly, encourage the fainthearted, support the weak, be patient toward all.

See that no one returns evil for evil to anyone, but always follow after that which is good, for one another, and for all.

Rejoice always.

Pray without ceasing.

In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Messiah Yeshua toward you. 1 Thessalonians 5:8-18

In the Kingdom, there will be no room for sin.

I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.

I saw the holy city, New Yerushalayim, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband.

I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, "Behold, God's dwelling is with people, and He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.

He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away."

He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." He said, "Write, for these words of God are faithful and true."

He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alef and the Tav, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life.

He who overcomes, I will give him these things. I will be His God, and he will be My son.

But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." Revelation 21:1-8

And in Revelation 22:12-15

"Behold, I come quickly. My reward is with Me, to repay to each man according to his work.

I am the Alef and the Tav, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

Blessed are those who do His mitzvot, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.

Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

In summary, the Days of Unleavened Bread symbolize us putting sin out of our lives, walking as new spirit filled beings looking unto Yeshua as our example on keeping Torah and preparing to dwell in the Kingdom of God.

Shavuot / Pentecost

The LORD spoke to Moshe, saying,

"Speak to the children of Yisra'el, and tell them, 'When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its the harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the Kohen: and he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you. On the next day after the Shabbat the Kohen shall wave it. Leviticus/Vayikra 23:9-11

During the days of Unleavened Bread and in exact time sequence with Yeshua’s crucifixion, death and resurrection, we see the “first fruit” offering being waved before the Lord on the day after the weekly Shabbat.

This powerfully pictures Yeshua, the first of the first fruits, having been cut off from the land of the living and the very first human being resurrected and accepted by God the Father.

He Has Risen!

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they and some others came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared.

They found the stone rolled away from the tomb.

They entered in, and didn't find the Lord Yeshua's body.

It happened, while they were greatly perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling clothing.

Becoming terrified, they bowed their faces down to the earth. They said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?

He isn't here, but is risen. Remember what He told you when He was still in the Galil, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again?" Luke 24:1-7

After Yeshua’s resurrection, He was seen by many of the brethren on several different occasions.

On one occasion, gathered with His disciples, He commanded them to stay in Jerusalem until they would receive the promise from the Father, the gift of the Holy Spirit.

They rose up that very hour, returned to Yerushalayim, and found the eleven gathered together, and those who were with them,

saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Shim`on!"

They related the things that happened along the way, and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.

As they said these things, Yeshua Himself stood among them, and said to them, "Shalom be to you."

But they were terrified and filled with fear, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.

He said to them, "Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts?

See My hands and My feet, that it is truly Me. Touch Me and see, for a spirit doesn't have flesh and bones, as you see that I have."

When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.

While they still didn't believe for joy, and wondered, He said to them, "Do you have anything here to eat?"

They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.

He took them, and ate in front of them.

He said to them, "This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the Torah of Moshe, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning Me must be fulfilled."

Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures.

He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,

and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all the nations, beginning at Yerushalayim.

You are witnesses of these things.

Behold, I send forth the promise of My Father on you. But wait in the city of Yerushalayim until you are clothed with power from on high."

He led them out as far as Beit-Anyah, and He lifted up his hands, and blessed them.

It happened, while He blessed them, that He withdrew from them, and was carried up into heaven. Luke 24:33-51

Notice four very important traits of a resurrected, glorified Yeshua, the first of the first fruits.

1. He could sense their feeling of doubt.

2. He still had His wounds that they could see and touch, yet He had flesh and bones and said spirits do not.

3. He could eat like we do.

4. He could appear and withdraw like a spirit being

Do you see, this is our future! If we remain faithful and committed to Him and adhere to His teachings, commands and statutes, honor His Feast Days and love one another as He does us, we shall be as He is.

Notice in 1John 3:1-9;

Behold, how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn't know us, because it didn't know Him.

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when He is revealed, we will be like Him; for we will see Him just as He is.

Everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, even as He is pure.

Everyone who sins also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness.

You know that He was revealed to take away our sins, and in Him is no sin.

Whoever remains in Him doesn't sin. Whoever sins hasn't seen Him, neither knows Him.

Little children, let no one lead you astray. He who does righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous.

He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

Whoever is born of God doesn't commit sin, because His seed remains in him; and he can't sin, because he is born of God.

But How?!

How do we purify ourselves and remain without sin?

This is what Shavuot is all about, the answer is we can’t, but He can!

Continuing back in Leviticus, we are instructed to count 50 days to the day of Shavuot also called Pentecost and Feast of Weeks. It is a High Holy day and statute forever.

"'You shall count from the next day after the Shabbat, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Shabbatot shall be completed:

even to the next day after the seventh Shabbat you shall number fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to the LORD.

You shall bring out of your habitations two loaves of bread for a wave offering made of two tenth parts of an efah of fine flour. They shall be baked with yeast, for first fruits to the LORD.

The Kohen shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the Kohen.

You shall make proclamation on the same day: there shall be a holy convocation to you; you shall do no regular work. This is a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. Leviticus/Vayikra 23:16-17; 20-21

Yeshua had told the disciples before His sacrifice that the Father would send the Counselor, the Spirit of Truth who would teach them all things.

"When the Counselor has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about Me.

You will also testify, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

John 15:26-27

And on the day of Shavuot/Pentecost, what happened? That spirit of truth that Yeshua said the Father would send came like whirlwind and immediately they started to testify in different languages so powerfully that in one day 3,000 new believers committed their lives to Yeshua.

Now when the day of Shavuot had come, they were all with one accord in one place.

Suddenly there came from the sky a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and one sat on each of them.

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak. Acts 2:1-4

The apostle Kefa/Peter, a common man like many of us, but when filled with the Holy Spirit, went on to give the most powerful testimony ever given by a mortal.

In quoting Joel, he said:

It will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams.

Yes, and on My servants and on My handmaidens in those days, I will pour out My Spirit, and they will prophesy.

Acts 2:17-18

He is speaking of us!

He goes on to say, that this promise is given to us and to our children, but there are conditions: we must repent, be immersed in the name of Yeshua and then we will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit!

Kefa said to them, "Repent, and be immersed, every one of you, in the name of Yeshua the Messiah for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." Acts 2:38-39

But notice it is the Father, YHVH, the Creator of heaven and earth who begins the process by doing the calling.

Just as Yeshua picked each of His disciples, the Father is picking each and everyone of His children to become the perfect, spotless bride to give to His Son. What an awesome plan our Father has for each of us!

Listen closely to what Yeshua says in John:

All those who the Father gives Me will come to Me. Him who comes to Me I will in no way throw out.

For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of him who sent Me.

This is the will of My Father who sent Me, that of all He has given to Me I should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day.

This is the will of the One who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in Him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:37-40

Do you see what Yeshua is saying here:

1. The Father calls us and we either accept that calling or reject it.

2. And upon acceptance, we repent of our sins, accept Yeshua as our Savior, are immersed, hands are lain on us and we are prayed over in Yeshua’s name, we receive the gift of the holy spirit.

3. At that time, we are His and no-one, except ourselves can snatch us out of His hands.

For as Yeshua says in:

For many are called, but few chosen." Mathew 22:14

Hearing the Word

Do you remember the first time you started hearing the word of God? Actually listening to it, reading it, trying to understand it? God the Father was preparing you to be called.

Then the seeds of God were planted in your heart and mind by Yeshua Himself. Think about it, the Father—for whatever reason, known only to Him, decided to open your heart and mind to receive the word, then Yeshua planted the seed—but then notice the parable of the farmer, it is up to you whether you will strive and overcome the obstacles and pulls of this world to germinate and bring forth fruit of the Word.

When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and doesn't understand it, the evil one comes, and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown by the roadside.

What was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

What was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

What was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word, and understands it, who most certainly bears fruit, and brings forth, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty." Mathew 13:19-23

Where are you right now in your walk?

Are you by the roadside, on rocky ground, in the thorns or in good ground?

Growing in the Word

Have you ever noticed trees that seeming grow out of cliffs, hanging onto dear life? The seem to defy gravity and look like at any time they will plunge to the bottom of the gorge below.

Yet, they grow and flourish, produce seed and spread it through the winds to perhaps more fertile, ideal ground.

The point is, that even when life’s challenges seem to be getting the best of us—we can overcome and grow in the Word. And how do we grow in the Word? By keeping His commandments, statutes and decrees.

Only then are we assured growth and that He will never leave us or forsake us, even in the midst of our darkest trials.

Most certainly I tell you, He who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and he will do greater works than these, because I am going to My Father.

Whatever you will ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If you will ask anything in My name, I will do it.

If you love Me, keep My mitzvot.

I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another Counselor, that He may be with you forever,-- the Spirit of truth, whom the world can't receive; for it doesn't see Him, neither knows Him. You know Him, for He lives with you, and will be in you.

I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.

Yet a little while, and the world will see Me no more; but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.

In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

One who has My mitzvot, and keeps them, that person is one who loves Me. One who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will reveal Myself to him."

Yehudah (not Iskriot) said to him, "Lord, what has happened that You are about to reveal Yourself to us, and not to the world?"

Yeshua answered him, "If a man loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our home with him.

He who doesn't love Me doesn't keep My words. The word which you hear isn't Mine, but the Father's who sent Me.

I have said these things to you, while still living with you.

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you. John 14:12-26

We show our love to the Father by keeping His commands.

Think about it, Yeshua is telling us that by keeping His commands (showing our love for Him and the Father) that they will dwell in us, guide us and resurrect us into spirit beings to become sons of God!

This is what Shavuot is all about—beginning that spiritual journey towards holiness, towards becoming sons of the living God!

How marvelous a plan the Father has for us, how awesome it is, do you believe it—are you willing to take the journey, to trust Him, to love Him with all your heart, knowing that no one can snatch you out of His hands and that even upon death, He will raise you up and you will see Him as He is?

That we will be sons and daughters in the Kingdom of God, ruling with Yeshua, administrating Torah throughout the world, teaching others of His glorious plan and helping them walk in His word and to also be born into the Kingdom?

Shaul/Paul tells us in Romans

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God.

For you didn't receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God;

and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Messiah; if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us.

For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.

For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope

that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.

For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.

Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body. Romans 8:14-23

Not the Whole World Now

The Father and Son are not calling the whole world now, only the first-fruits. The greater harvest, will occur later—when all nations, tongues and peoples will have an opportunity to accept Yeshua as their King of Kings.

If we have only hoped in Messiah in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.

But now Messiah has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep.

For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man.

For as in Adam all die, so also in Messiah all will be made alive.

But each in his own order: Messiah the first fruits, then those who are Messiah's, at His coming.

Then the end comes, when He will deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when He will have abolished all rule and all authority and power.

For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.

The last enemy that will be abolished is death. 1Corinthians 15:19-26

The Lord in His infinite wisdom, has a tremendous plan that will lead to the majority of the human race becoming sons of God, but each according to the order He has ordained.

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day.

It is written in the prophets, 'They will all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who hears from the Father, and has learned, comes to Me.

Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God. He has seen the Father.

Most certainly, I tell you, he who believes in Me has eternal life. John 6:44-47

To become the “firstfruits of God” - that is what Shavuot is all about!

Yom Teruah-The Day of Blowing

The LORD spoke to Moshe, saying,

"Speak to the children of Yisra'el, saying, 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest to you, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.

You shall do no regular work….'" Leviticus/Vayikra 23:23-25

The next event of God’s redemptive plan for mankind is the Feast of Trumpets also called Yom Teruah, the day of blowing.

A trumpet is a symbol of war, but also a sound of calling attention to the entrance of royalty.

It is at this time that Yeshua, the King of Kings returns to claim His bride and take-up His throne upon the earth.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the chief angel, and with God's shofar. The dead in Messiah will rise first,

then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever. 1Thessalonians 4:16-17

It shall be at the voice of the archangel and the last trump of God, that Yeshua will return and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and those who are living at the time in Yeshua, will be changed. (1Corinthians 15:52)

Many propose that this scripture signifies the rapture and that believers will be whished into heaven to escape the final holocaust of this world, but the scriptures plainly say, He is returning to earth to setup His Kingdom and we will meet Him in the air, changed into resurrected glorious beings to descend with Him to earth—to become part of the glorious Host of God’s Army to intervene in world affairs.

It is on the seventh or last trump that Yeshua directly intervenes in world affairs to save mankind from utter destruction.

The seventh angel sounded, and great voices in heaven followed, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of His Messiah. He will reign forever and ever!"

The twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God's throne, fell on their faces and worshiped God,

saying: "We give You thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, the One Who is and Who was; because You have taken Your great power, and reigned.

The nations were angry, and Your wrath came, as did the time for the dead to be judged, and to give Your bondservants the prophets, their reward, as well as to the holy ones, and those who fear Your name, to the small and the great; and to destroy those who destroy the earth." Revelation 11:15-18

Unless Yeshua returns to resurrect the dead, we would never gain eternal life—if there is no resurrection then those who have fallen asleep are perished.

If Messiah has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.

Then they also who are fallen asleep in Messiah have perished.

If we have only hoped in Messiah in this life, we are of all men most pitiable. 1Corinthians 15:17-19

And as we learned during the Feast of Shavuot, Yeshua is the First of the First Fruits, and we will join Him at His second coming.

But now Messiah has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep.

For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man.

For as in Adam all die, so also in Messiah all will be made alive.

But each in his own order: Messiah the first fruits, then those who are Messiah's, at His coming. 1Corinthians 15:20-23

What a wonderful, magnificent plan of salvation our Father has!

The Process of Redemption:

Once we have been called by the Father and have accepted that calling and His Son Yeshua HaMashiach, then repent of our sins, are immersed and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and stay faithful to Him until death or His coming, our mortal bodies are resurrected or changed into incorruptible, glorious bodies—becoming true sons of God!

Do you truly understand, the tremendous calling and gift you have been given!

It is at this time, that all who have been called and lived will be resurrected. We will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon and all the prophets, apostles and other believers both small and great.

What a wonderful family reunion that will be!

But first, there is the business of bringing “forced peace” to the earth, binding HaSatan and preparing the Marriage Supper.

The Psalmist puts it this way:

For the LORD Elyon is awesome. He is a great King over all the earth. He subdues nations under us, and peoples under our feet. He chooses our inheritance for us, the glory of Ya`akov whom He

loved. Selah.

God has gone up with a shout, The LORD with the sound of a shofar. Sing praise to God, sing praises. Sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth. Sing praises with understanding. God reigns over the nations. God sits on His holy throne. The princes of the peoples are gathered together, the people of the God

of Avraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God. He is greatly exalted!

Psalm 47:2-9

All nations will finally know who Yeshua is!

The Nations Are Trod Under Foot:

At His return, the nations will actually fight against the Prince of Peace but their lack of understanding will bring about their own defeat as they are trod underfoot by the King of Kings.

I saw the heavens opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True. In righteousness He judges and makes war.

His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many crowns. He has names written and a name written which no one knows but He Himself.

He is clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood. His name is called "The Word of God."

The armies which are in heaven followed Him on white horses, clothed in white, pure, fine linen.

Out of his mouth proceeds a sharp, double-edged sword, that with it He should strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty.

He has on His garment and on His thigh a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."

I saw an angel standing in the sun. He cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the sky, "Come! Be gathered together to the great supper of God,

that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, and small and great."

I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse, and against His army. Revelation 19:11-19

Isaiah eloquently portrays this day in Isaiah 63 of this trodding down of the nations, symbolized by Edom—the descendants of Esau, who throughout the ages, have rejected and persecuted the true Son of God and His followers.

Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Botzrah? this who is glorious in His clothing, marching in the greatness of His strength? I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.

Why are You red in Your clothing, and Your garments like him who treads in the wine vat?

I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was no man with Me: yes, I trod them in My anger, and trampled them in My wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, and I have stained all My clothing.

For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redeemed is come.

I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore My own arm brought salvation to Me; and My wrath, it upheld Me.

I trod down the peoples in My anger, and made them drunk in My wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.

I will make mention of the loving kindnesses of the LORD, [and] the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Yisra'el, which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies, and according to the multitude of His loving kindnesses.

For He said, Surely, they are My people, children who will not deal falsely: so He was their Savior. Isaiah 63:1-8

The Re-Gathering of Israel:

It is at this time that Yeshua will begin the redemptive process of re-gathering the whole House of Israel.

For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I Myself, even I, will search for My sheep, and will seek them out.

As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so will I seek out My sheep; and I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Yisra'el, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country.

I will feed them with good pasture; and on the mountains of the height of Yisra'el shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture shall they feed on the mountains of Yisra'el.

I Myself will be the shepherd of My sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord GOD.

I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice. Ezekiel 34:11-16

Yeshua will reign in righteousness and justice, He does not delight in slaying the wicked—who are deceived by the evil one, they too—will have a time to accept Him as their Lord and Savior, but at a later time.

His delight will be in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by the sight of His eyes, neither decide by the hearing of His ears;

but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with equity for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth; and with the breath of His lips he will kill the wicked.

Righteousness will be the belt of His waist, and faithfulness the belt of His waist. Isaiah 11:3-5

Each are called according to their order, all are not saved at this time of His second coming, but at a later time, after the Millennium, during the Great White Throne Judgment.

This is hard for many to understand, how a loving and just God can cause so much death and destruction—yet it is not Him who causes it, but the sin that dwells in the earth—and all sin, unrepented of, has an eventual consequence and when judgment comes, who can stand at its coming?

During the time of this re-gathering of the whole House of Israel, the scattered tribes of the House of Israel and the House of Judah will again be as one House, one Kingdom, ruled over by One King, King Yeshua.

No more will there be envy and jealousy between the tribes and peoples—they will finally be of one mind, one accord, one people under one God.

It will happen in that day that the Lord will set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant that is left of His people from Ashur, from Egypt, from Patros, from Kush, from `Elam, from Shin`ar, from Chamat, and from the islands of the sea.

He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Yisra'el, and gather together the dispersed of Yehudah from the four corners of the earth.

The envy also of Efrayim will depart, and those who persecute Yehudah will be cut off. Efrayim won't envy Yehudah, and Yehudah won't persecute Efrayim.

They will fly down on the shoulders of the Pelishtim on the west. Together they will plunder the children of the east. They will extend their power over Edom and Mo'av, and the children of `Ammon will obey them.

The LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his scorching wind he will wave his hand over the River, and will split it into seven streams, and cause men to march over in sandals.

There will be a highway for the remnant that is left of His people from Ashur, like there was for Yisra'el in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. Isaiah 11:11-16

Keep your eyes on Jerusalem

When you see all nations gathered against Jerusalem, look up for your redemption draws near.

Behold, a day of the LORD comes, when your spoil will be divided in your midst.

For I will gather all nations against Yerushalayim to battle; and the city will be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go out into captivity, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.

Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle.

His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is before Yerushalayim on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in two, from east to west, making a very great valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and half of it toward the south. Zechariah 14:1-4

This is the day that the whole earth is mourning for and even more so as the days around us grow ever darker, but always remember, that as the old saying goes, it is always darkest before the dawn and that it is through much labor pain that the birth of a child comes into the world, but thereafter, the mother forgets all about the pain at seeing the blessing of her child, so will it be at the Lord’s coming.

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Messiah; if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with

Him.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to

be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us. For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to

be revealed.

For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope

that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay

into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.

For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.

Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit,

even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption,

the redemption of our body. Romans 8:16-23

This is our calling, to remain faithful until the end, until our redemption, when the world will finally know Yeshua and us.

The LORD will be King over all the earth. In that day the LORD will be one, and His name one.

Zechariah 14:9

Yom Kippur-The Day of Atonement

The LORD spoke to Moshe, saying,

"However on the tenth day of this seventh month is Yom Kippur: it shall be a holy convocation to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.

You shall do no manner of work in that same day; for it is Yom Kippur, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God.

For whoever it is who shall not deny himself in that same day; shall be cut off from his people.

Whoever it is who does any manner of work in that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.

You shall do no manner of work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

It shall be a Shabbat of solemn rest for you, and you shall deny yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall keep your Shabbat." Leviticus 23:26-32

Yom Kippur or The Day of Atonement pictures a wonderful and exciting event that will take place right after Yeshua returns to setup His Kingdom on earth, “being at-one-ment with God”.

Sin will be removed and we will finally be at one with our Creator, our Father.

Think about it, we will finally be able to see our Father. Yeshua said no one has seen the Father except Him.

Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God. He has seen the Father. John 6:46

YHVH Elohim, cannot dwell with sin and until sin is removed there can be no peace upon the earth and until HaSatan is removed, there will be no peace.

Yom Kippur is unlike any other Holy Day, for it is the only day where we are called to “afflict our souls” or fast, to deny ourselves food and water for a 24 hour period, to humble ourselves—a day of solemn rest.

Why Afflict Your Soul?

Many look upon fasting as undesirable, yet the purpose and benefits of a good fast are widely known.

A fast purifies the body, removes the toxins and cleans out all the junk that has been accumulating in the cells of your body.

When one has finished a fast, they are rejuvenated and refreshed.

It is a perfect picture of being a spirit-filled being, not requiring food or water, living and existing in a state of holiness, without sin!

The scriptures tell us that the wages of sin is death and until we are resurrected or changed into immortal beings and HaSatan is removed from this earth, there will always be sin dwelling among us.

In the 16th chapter of Leviticus, this is beautifully portrayed how this will happen.

It’s important that we understand this chapter.

The LORD spoke to Moshe, after the death of the two sons of Aharon, when they drew near before the LORD, and died;

and the LORD said to Moshe, "Tell Aharon your brother, not to come at all times into the Most Holy Place within the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark; lest he die: for I will appear in the cloud on the mercy seat.

"Herewith shall Aharon come into the sanctuary: with a young bull for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering.

He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches on his body, and shall put on the linen sash, and he shall be dressed with the linen turban. They are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water, and put them on.

He shall take from the congregation of the children of Yisra'el two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.

"Aharon shall offer the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house.

He shall take the two goats, and set them before the LORD at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

Aharon shall cast lots for the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for Azazel.

Aharon shall present the he-goat on which the lot fell for the LORD, and offer him for a sin offering.

But the he-goat, on which the lot fell for Azazel, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement for him, to send him away to Azazel to the Wilderness. Leviticus 16:1-10

This unique ceremony conducted by the High Priest, takes place once a year, on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.

Notice there is one bull and two goats involved in the ceremony. The sacrificed bull is to provide atonement for the High Priest and his household.

The two goats are chosen by lot, one to be sacrificed as a sin offering for the Lord, the other is for Azazel and sent away into the wilderness.

Who is Azazel?

Notice again one goat is for the Lord and one is for Azazel and is only found in the Hebrew scriptures in this passage. The Hebrew meaning is “goat of departure or scapegoat”.

Many have suppose that this Azazel goat typifies Yeshua, but that is not correct, as we shall see further along as the ceremonial details unfold.

Another way to read this passage is “one lot for the Lord and the other lot for HaSatan”

Atonement Made

"Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with his blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:

and he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Yisra'el, and because of their transgressions, even all their sins; and so he shall do for the Tent of Meeting, that dwells with them in the midst of their uncleanness. Leviticus 16:15-16

Now the goat which God selected—through lot, to represent Yeshua in type—was slain, just as Yeshua was later slain when He dwelled upon the earth.

The sins of the people were borne by the goat, even as Yeshua, once for all, bore our sins on the tree. I Peter 2:24

The earthly type of God’s throne was the mercy seat in the holy of holies. After Yeshua died, He went to the heavenly mercy seat interceding for us, as our High Priest.

... which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within the veil,

where the Forerunner has entered for us, even Yeshua, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. 20

When the high priest took the blood within the veil, to the mercy seat, typified the risen Yeshua figuratively taking His blood, once for all, within the veil to the very throne of God in heaven, there to intercede for us as High Priest.

Our Redeemer and High Priest!

The slain goat represented the crucified Yeshua. The high priest, by taking the blood of this slain goat into the veil to the mercy seat in the holy of holies, a type of God’s throne, represented and did the work of the risen Messiah, who ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on high, there interceding as our High Priest!

The high priest going within the veil, into the holy of holies, symbolized Yeshua’s return to heaven where He is now interceding for us, presenting His shed blood before the mercy seat in heaven.

Do you begin to see how an awesome God and Messiah we serve, divesting Himself of His glorious state, coming in the likeness of fallen man, in the flesh—beaten and crucified for our sins, His blood shed for our redemption upon the mercy seat of the Creator of the Universe and now sits at His right hand, interceding on our behalf while we await our final redemption to be sons of the living God and join our Messiah in reshaping and rebuilding the world under the rule of Torah!

The Accuser Finally Cast Out!

Who is the accuser of the brethren?

There was war in the sky. Mikha'el and his angels made war on the dragon. The dragon and his angels made war.

They didn't prevail, neither was a place found for him any more in heaven.

The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and HaSatan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now is come the salvation, the power, and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Messiah; for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night. Revelation 12:7-10

Satan, the devil, is called the ‘accuser of the brethren’, he is the originator and propagator of sin.

Speaking to the Pharisees, Yeshua tells us that Satan is the father of lies and murder.

You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn't stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it. John 8:44

It is him, who is represented as the Azazel goat, to be delivered to the wilderness, portrayed as the bottom-less pit in Revelation, where he will no longer be able to broadcast his deceptions throughout the world.

I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.

He seized the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Hasatan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand years,

and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were finished. After this, he must be freed for a short time. Revelation 20:1-3

After the High Priest has place the blood on the altar from the slain goat, he returns to the live Azazel goat and confesses (puts back on top of his head where they belong) the sins of the people on the goat and is driven into the wilderness by a fit man (symbolic of a strong angel), and is said to be driven off a cliff (bottom-less pit).

"When he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat.

Aharon shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Yisra'el, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them on the head of the goat, and shall send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.

The goat shall carry all their iniquities on himself to a solitary land, and he shall let the goat go in the wilderness. Leviticus 16:20-22

What a beautiful picture of the redeemed High Priest laying the sins back on the head to whom they belong.

Final Justice

Is not God a God of justice, as well as of compassion and mercy? Who is the real author of our sins? The devil is the author of them, even as Yeshua is the author and finisher of our salvation.

Yeshua took our sin, our blame, our guilt, upon Himself as an innocent substitute sacrifice. He was an innocent victim. He loved us, and was willing to die for us. Our guilt, our sins, were borne by Him, and Him alone and God forgives them when we repent and accept His sacrifice.

But is this full justice if we stop there?

The real cause, the actual author of those sins was Satan the devil. Is it justice for Yeshua to bear guilt that is not His, while the devil goes off scot-free?

Do you not suppose God’s great plan will finally work full justice by placing that original blame and guilt right where it belongs?

The Azazel goat carries away the sins of all the people already forgiven. These sins already were fully paid for by Yeshua’s substitute sacrifice, symbolized by the killing of the innocent goat before those same sins were finally laid on the live goat.

They had been previously paid for by the death of the slain goat. The devil is the real author of all sin. Can we, then, be finally made at one with God, as long as this instigator of sin is with us?

Can we not see he must first be driven away? And there would not be justice with God unless his own guilt in our sins were placed right back on his head? Is it justice for Yeshua to bear the devil’s guilt, as well as our own guilt, for our sins?

Yeshua has carried our sins, but must He continue to carry them? Should they not be removed entirely from us, and from the presence even of God?

As God told the serpent during Adam and Eve’s fall, Yeshua would crush the head of the serpent in time. Genesis 3:15

The driving away of the second live goat shows the final atonement, by placing the sins on their author where they belong, and the complete removal of the sins and their author from the presence of God and His people and thus the complete deliverance of the people from the power of Satan.

Finally, At-One-Ment With God!

Finally we will be one with God, as He planned for us at the very beginning.

The road was long and rough, but His faithfulness and love for us has never wavered or waned, He longs to be with us and we with Him, forever.

You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the powers of the air, the spirit who now

works in the children of disobedience;

among whom we also all once lived in the lust of our flesh, doing the

desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of

wrath, even as the rest.

But God, being rich in mercy, for His great love with which He loved

us,

even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Messiah (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and made us to sit with Him in the heav

enly places in Messiah Yeshua,

that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His

grace in kindness toward us in Messiah Yeshua;

for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

not of works, that no one would boast. Ephesians 2:1-9

This is what the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur is all about.

How To Fast

• Fasting is going 24 hrs without food or water, representing a pure glorified state of being—where spiritual beings do not need food or water.

• A week before Yom Kippur, gradually make the switch from caffeinated to decaf coffee, to avoid a caffeine headache.

• Begin drinking lots of water a few days before the fast.

• During the day, before the fast begins at sunset, eat a normal breakfast, drink lots of water, have a big lunch and a smaller dinner—and drink several glasses of water before the sun sets.

• The Fast Day should be spent in prayer and Bible Study, with a Holy Convocation.

• Many tend to get weak the last few hours of the Fast, if you do—rest, pray for strength and lie down if you begin to feel too weak.

• Children under 5 should not fast and even older children should only partially fast or do so when they feel inspired by YHVH to wanting to obey Him.

• Elderly people and those on medication, should continue to take their medication during a fast.

• Break the fast with a glass of water, some OJ and a nice bowl of soup, before eating anything too heavy.

• Look at the Fast as a pleasing service to God, He would not ask you to do something you cannot do, He will guide you through it and you will feel refreshed and rejuvenated afterwards, enjoy!

Sukkot-The Feast of Booths

"Speak to the children of Yisra'el, and say, 'On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of booths for seven days to the LORD.

On the first day shall be a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work.

Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation to you; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you shall do no regular work.

"'These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meal offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, each on its own day;

besides the Shabbatot of the LORD, and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the LORD.

"'So on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you shall keep the feast of the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest.

You shall take on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.

You shall keep it a feast to the LORD seven days in the year: it is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall keep it in the seventh month.

You shall dwell in booths seven days. All who are native-born in Yisra'el shall dwell in booths,

that your generations may know that I made the children of Yisra'el to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.'" Leviticus 23:34-43

After passing from death to life, Sukkot is the grand celebration of the year, picturing the wedding feast and end time harvest of all mankind, living together in harmony—with HaSatan and all evil finally put away.

It is a time of rejoicing and feasting, but also of reflection, honoring those who have gone before us, remembering the hardships and wanderings of our forefathers in the wilderness, dwelling in tents– the pioneers of our faith, who witnessed all the marvels and power of YHVH, Who lived among them.

Finally, we will be joined to our Husband and be part of the Family of YHVH!

We will be reunited with the Patriarchs of old, with Adam, Noah, Moshe, David, all the prophets and apostles—living all together, dwelling with Messiah and learning His ways.

Can you imagine that?

What will the world be like?

No More War

It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it.

Many peoples shall go and say, "Come, let's go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Ya`akov; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths." For out of Tziyon the law shall go forth, and the word of the LORD from Yerushalayim.

He will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Isaiah 2:2-4

Can you imagine a world without war? No more, will there be heads of State threatening each other over trivial matters, no saber rattling, terrorism, high-jacking, murder, drug smuggling, battle ships nor fighting over oil or land—just peace between nations.

And what of those still in the nations, who have thoughts of not honoring the King of Kings?

It will happen that everyone who is left of all the nations that came against Yerushalayim will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of Armies, and to keep the feast of booths.

It will be, that whoever of all the families of the earth doesn't go up to Yerushalayim to worship the King, the LORD of Armies, on them there will be no rain.

If the family of Egypt doesn't go up, and doesn't come, neither will it rain on them. This will be the plague with which the LORD will strike the nations that don't go up to keep the feast of booths.

This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that don't go up to keep the feast of booths. Zechariah 14:16-19

Some nations will actually have to be forced to live in true peace and unlearn their old animosities and reasons for hatred and enjoy the wonderful world of living under King Yeshua.

The Splendor of the Millennium

During the millennium rule of King Yeshua, we as His glorified spiritual wife and ambassadors of the Kingdom of God, will help rebuild the waste places and teach those who have survived the tribulation, how to live in the ways of Torah.

In that day, the LORD's branch will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the beauty and glory of the survivors of Yisra'el.

It will happen, that he who is left in Tziyon, and he who remains in Yerushalayim, shall be called holy, even everyone who is written among the living in Yerushalayim;

when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Tziyon, and shall have purged the blood of Yerushalayim from its midst, by the spirit of justice, and by the spirit of burning.

The LORD will create over the whole habitation of Mount Tziyon, and over her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy.

There will be a pavilion for a shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a refuge and for a shelter from storm and from rain. Isaiah 4:2-6

All nations will know King Yeshua and be taught the ways of Torah. They will flow to Mt Zion to be taught His ways.

They will not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

It will happen in that day that the nations will seek the root of Yishai, who stands as a banner of the peoples; and His resting place will be glorious.

It will happen in that day that the Lord will set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant that is left of His people from Ashur, from Egypt, from Patros, from Kush, from `Elam, from Shin`ar, from Chamat, and from the islands of the sea.

He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Yisra'el, and gather together the dispersed of Yehudah from the four corners of the earth. Isaiah 11:9-12

Israel will once again be like Eden…

For the LORD has comforted Tziyon; He has comforted all her waste places, and has made her wilderness like `Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

Attend to Me, My people; and give ear to Me, My nation: for a law shall go forth from Me, and I will establish My justice for a light of the peoples. Isaiah 51:3-4

Jerusalem shall be the splendor of the world…

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of Him who brings good news, who publishes shalom, who brings good news of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Tziyon, Your God reigns!

The voice of your watchmen! they lift up the voice, together do they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD returns to Tziyon.

Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Yerushalayim; for the LORD has comforted His people, He has redeemed Yerushalayim.

The LORD has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth have seen the yeshu`ah of our God. Isaiah 52:7-10

Just as when those from Judah returned after their captivity, this time the land will not be able to hold everyone and we will branch out in all directions.

Therefore prophesy concerning Eretz-Yisra'el, and tell the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My wrath, because you have borne the shame of the nations:

therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I have sworn, [saying], Surely the nations that are round about you, they shall bear their shame.

But you, mountains of Yisra'el, you shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to My people Yisra'el; for they are at hand to come.

For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn into you, and you shall be tilled and sown;

and I will multiply men on you, all the house of Yisra'el, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built;

and I will multiply on you man and animal; and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited after your former estate, and will do better [to you] than at your beginnings: and you shall know that I am the LORD. Ezekiel 36:6-11

The deserts will bloom to make room…

The wilderness and the dry land will be glad. The desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.

It will blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing. Levanon's glory Levanon will be given to it, the excellence of Karmel and Sharon. They will see the LORD's glory, the excellence of our God. Isaiah 35:1-2

Even the nature of the animals will be changed...

The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat; The calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together; and a little child will lead them.

The cow and the bear will graze. Their young ones will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child will play near a cobra's hole, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den. Isaiah 11:6-8

A Time To Rejoice

After our King and husband, Yeshua our Messiah returns to claim His throne on Mt. Zion and all nations are brought to their knees and HaSatan is banished, it will be a time of rejoicing with the Bridegroom.

In this mountain, the LORD of Armies will make all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of choice wines, of fat things full of marrow, of well refined choice wines.

He will destroy in this mountain the surface of the covering that covers all peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations.

He has swallowed up death forever! The Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces. He will take the reproach of His people away from off all the earth, for the LORD has spoken it.

It shall be said in that day, "Behold, this is our God! We have waited for Him, and He will save us! This is the LORD! We have waited for Him. We will be glad and rejoice in His yeshu`ah!" Isaiah 25:6-9

Yeshua told His disciples before His death that He would not drink wine again with them until the Kingdom.

But I tell you that I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on, until that day when I drink it anew with you in My Father's Kingdom." Matthew 26:29

YHVH commanded the Israelites to rejoice during the Feast of Booths, as a prelude to the coming Kingdom, when we will all rejoice before our Lord together.

You shall keep the feast of booths seven days, after that you have gathered in from your threshing floor and from your winepress:

and you shall rejoice in your feast, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your male servant, and your female servant, and the Levite, and the foreigner, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates.

Seven days shall you keep a feast to the LORD your God in the place which the LORD shall choose; because the LORD your God will bless you in all your increase, and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be altogether joyful. Deuteronomy 16:13-15

Even the creation will rejoice…

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice! Let them say among the nations, the LORD reigns.

Let the sea roar, and its fullness! Let the field exult, and all that is therein!

Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the LORD, for He comes to judge the earth.

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His loving kindness endures forever. 1Chronicles 16:31-34

King David understood these days were coming, a time of rejoicing…

The LORD reigns! Let the earth rejoice! Let the multitude of islands be glad!

Clouds and darkness are around Him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. Psalm 97:1-2

As we have heard, so we have seen, in the city of the LORD of Armies, in the city of our God. God will establish it forever. Selah.

We have thought about Your loving kindness, God, in the midst of Your temple.

As is Your name, God, so is Your praise to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is full of righteousness.

Let Mount Tziyon be glad! Let the daughters of Yehudah rejoice, Because of Your judgments. Psalm 48:8-11

Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth! Sing praises to the Lord! Selah.

To Him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which are of old; behold, He utters his voice, a mighty voice.

Ascribe strength to God! His excellency is over Yisra'el, His strength is in the skies.

You are awesome, God, in Your sanctuaries. The God of Yisra'el gives strength and power to His people. Praise be to God! strength and power to His people. Praise be to God! 35

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne. Loving kindness and truth go before Your face.

Blessed are the people who learn to acclaim You. They walk in the light of Your presence, LORD.

In Your name they rejoice all day. In Your righteousness, they are exalted. Psalm 89:14-16

Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, His praise in the assembly of the holy ones.

Let Yisra'el rejoice in Him who made them. Let the children of Tziyon be joyful in their King.

Let them praise His name in the dance! Let them sing praises to Him with tambourine and harp!

For the LORD takes pleasure in His people. He crowns the humble with yeshu`ah. Psalm 149:1-4

A World Based On Torah

Can you know begin to see a glimpse of what the world will be like with King Yeshua on the throne and Torah the Law of Land?

The political, social, educational, economic, administrative and every system of this world, based on greed and the way of get, will be replaced with systems based on Torah, justice and righteousness— the way of love.

It will take time, years of re-building the waste places and cities in ruins from the tribulation, years of re-educating the remaining people living among the nations to the ways of Torah.

But each year, as we go through the cycle of the appointed times, it will all begin to make sense—and with millions of people all experiencing and trying to live a Torah based life for the first time, the earth will be filled with joy and excitement!

And we, as the resurrected, glorified sons of God, will be given jobs to do and areas of responsibility, just as Yeshua told the disciples, He was going to prepare a place for them and for us.

In my Father's house are many homes. If it weren't so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. John 14:2

We’ll have a lot of work to do….

They shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.

Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.

But you shall be named the Kohanim of the LORD; men shall call you the ministers of our God: you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory shall you boast yourselves.

Instead of your shame [you shall have] double; and instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be to them.

For I, the LORD, love justice, I hate robbery with iniquity; and I will give them their recompense in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

Their seed shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD has blessed.

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. Isaiah 61:4-11

A time of rebuilding and rejoicing for all…

But be you glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Yerushalayim a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

I will rejoice in Yerushalayim, and joy in My people; and there shall be heard in her no more the voice of weeping and the voice of crying.

There shall be no more there an infant of days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child shall die one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.

They shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.

They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree shall be the days of My people, and My chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for calamity; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.

It shall happen that, before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, says the LORD. Isaiah 65:18

-25

Can you imagine rejoicing with the Lord, who dwells in our midst? The scriptures say He will even sing with us!

Sing, daughter of Tziyon! Shout, Yisra'el! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, daughter of Yerushalayim.

The LORD has taken away your judgments. He has thrown out your enemy. The King of Yisra'el, the LORD, is in the midst of you. You will not be afraid of evil any more.

In that day, it will be said to Yerushalayim, "Don't be afraid, Tziyon. Don't let your hands be slack."

The LORD, your God, is in the midst of you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will rest in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:14-17

Many nations will rejoice with us in the Lord...

Sing and rejoice, daughter of Tziyon; for, behold, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of you,' says the LORD.

Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be My people; and I will dwell in the midst of you, and you shall know that the LORD of Armies has sent Me to you.

Zechariah 2:10-11

This is why the Lord commands us to enjoy Sukkot, it is a foretaste of the Kingdom, a time of rejoicing and reflection - a time we and the whole earth are all looking forward to.

Preparing for Sukkot

You shall surely tithe all the increase of your seed, that which comes forth from the field year by year.

You shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place which He shall choose, to cause His name to dwell there, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock; that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.

If the way be too long for you, so that you are not able to carry it, because the place is too far from you, which the LORD your God shall choose, to set His name there, when the LORD your God shall bless you;

then shall you turn it into money, and bind up the money in your hand, and shall go to the place which the LORD your God shall choose:

and you shall bestow the money for whatever your soul desires, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever your soul asks of you; and you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. Deuteronomy 14:22-26

During the year, you should set aside a second tithe or portion and save it for the Feast days, with the majority of it being used for Sukkot.

God wants us to be wise and not scrambling around at the last minute seeing if we have enough money to pay for food, camping supplies, registration fees, clothes, car maintenance if you are traveling to a feast site and time off from work.

Our vacation days should be planned around the Appointed Times and we should anticipate with joy and gladness that we have been called to meet with and rejoice with the Creator of Heaven and Earth!

It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to the voice of the LORD your God, to observe to do all His mitzvot which I command you this day, that the LORD your God will set you on high above all the nations of the earth:

and all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall listen to the voice of the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 28:1-2

Now that’s something to rejoice about!

Shemini Atzeret-The Eighth Day

The entire Feast of Booths lasts for eight days, with a Holy Day on the first and eighth day, but is actually two festivals— and the eighth day is called Shemini Atzeret or the Last Great Day.

The Feast of Booths, which last for the first seven days, seven being the number of completion, representing the 7th era in the history of man, the Millennium—the first 6,000 years are the rule or man and the last 1,000 years is when Messiah rules over the earth.

Just as there are seven days in the week, the first six are for our labors and the seventh is the Shabbat, the Lord’s day, a time of rest, refreshing and shalom.

But as we have seen in the previous sections, at the return of Messiah, the first-fruits called of God, will be resurrected or changed into spirit beings, to help Yeshua usher in the Kingdom of God, with their assigned administrative duties given by Him.

During this time, there will still be humans, scattered around the world, those who survived the tribulation and Day of the Lord– who will be taught God’s ways of Torah and will be citizens living in the Kingdom of God on earth.

HaSatan will be banished during this time and all evil will be removed, but human nature will still be here and though the pulls of the flesh will be replaced with a world governed and administered under Torah, no one will be forced to accept Messiah, they will have to make their own individual choices.

Likewise, children will be born during the Millennium and taught Torah and how to live according to God’s ways. Blessed are they to not have experienced the evils of the previous world.

What Happens Next?

At the Lord’s return, HaSatan is bound and cast into the abyss for a 1,000 years-during the Millennium, but afterwards will be left out for short time.

I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.

He seized the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Hasatan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand years,

and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were finished. After this, he must be freed for a short time. Revelation 20:1-3

Why do you think this is, why after a 1,000 of King Yeshua reigning on earth in peace and tranquility, must evil be released?

We shall see why this is very important in the plan of God.

The Golden Calf

After God led the Israelites out of Egypt with the pillars of fire and cloud, towards the Promised Land, they encamped at Mt. Sinai and Moshe went up to receive the Ten Commandments.

He was gone for 40 days and what happened?

The people forgot all about God and created the golden calf and committed the greatest sin of all time.

Can you imagine, having God in the midst of your camp, after all the plagues and being led out by His loving hand and fed manna—and being at Mt. Sinai, to accept the hand of God in marriage, that you back out and begin worshipping a cow made of gold?

Where were their hearts and minds? Was it on God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth—or on themselves?

Well, we shall see that this same scenario is going to repeat itself, after having our Lord and Messiah, dwelling in our midst for a 1,000 years, living in the Promised Land—that once again, the hearts and minds of the people will be so easily swayed.

Rev 20:7 And after the thousand years, Hasatan will be released from his prison,

Rev 20:8 and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

Whose number is as the sand of the sea?

How easily, the people will be deceived and influenced by this evil spirit to forget all the goodness and joy of living in the presence of Messiah, only to give it all up.

God says He tests the hearts and minds of the people to see if they truly love Him and will follow Him, or are simply paying lip service and their hearts are far from Him.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?

I, the LORD, search the mind, I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. Jeremiah 17:9-10

Sadly, after a 1,000 years of peace and global prosperity, man will once again succumb to his humanity.

They went up over the breadth of the earth, and surrounded the camp of the holy ones, and the beloved city. Fire came down out of heaven from God, and devoured them. Revelation 20:9

The Great White Throne Judgment

This will be the final judgment of God upon mankind and evil. Before God the Father, YHVH Elohim, can dwell with us, all sin must be removed, He cannot dwell in the presence of sin.

The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them.

I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.

The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and She'ol gave up the dead who were in them. They were judged, each one according to his works.

Death and She'ol were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:10-15

How this final judgment upon all who ever lived, will be worked out is still a bit of a mystery, but we can surmise, that the Creator who knows all things, knows who is worthy to be part of His family and who is not, who will accept Yeshua and who will not, who will obey and who will rebel.

New Beginnings

After the final judgment, it is not the end of the world, but the beginning of a new era in God’s plan for mankind.

Imagine the Father, will dwell in the midst of His children!

I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.

I saw the holy city, New Yerushalayim, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband.

I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, "Behold, God's dwelling is with people, and He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.

He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away."

He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." He said, "Write, for these words of God are faithful and true." Revelation 21:1-5

Can you imagine what this new heaven and earth will look like, if it is anything like the beauty and awesomeness of this first earth, we can be assured it will be of tremendous splendor.

But it will be a totally spiritual Kingdom, no more humans, no more death nor pain, crying or mourning!

The New Jerusalem

He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Yerushalayim, coming down out of heaven from God,

having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, as if it was a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

having a great and high wall; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Yisra'el.

On the east were three gates; and on the north three gates; and on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve Emissaries of the Lamb.

He who spoke with me had for a measure, a golden reed, to measure the city, its gates, and its walls.

The city lies foursquare, and its length is as great as its breadth. He measured the city with the reed, Twelve thousand twelve stadia. Its length, breadth, and height are equal.

Its wall is one hundred forty-four cubits, by the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.

The construction of its wall was jasper. The city was pure gold, like pure glass.

The foundations of the city's wall were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sappir; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, yahalom;

the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprasus; the eleventh, jacinth; and the twelfth, amethyst.

The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each one of the gates was made of one pearl. The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. Revelation 21:10-22

Jerusalem itself, will be a city some 1,500 miles squared-now that’s a city as big as from Maine to Florida and over past the Mississippi River!

Will there be a sun and moon?

It’s hard to say whether even the sun and moon will be part of the new creation, it’s quite possible that the whole solar system may be changed, though this could be speaking that the glory of God is so bright in Jerusalem, it out shines the sun!

The city has no need for the sun, neither of the moon, to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

The nations will walk in its light. The kings of the earth bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.

Its gates will in no way be shut by day (for there will be no night there),

and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it so that they may enter.

There will in no way enter into it anything profane, or one who causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. Revelation 21:23-27

This is an interesting scripture, for it appears that those whose names are in the Book of Life, will have some kind of authority given to them to setup nations and be kings of those nations.

Perhaps the original 70 nations will go back to their ancestral heritage and the peoples of those nations will dwell together.

The scriptures just don’t give us enough details of this future time period and we’ll have to wait and see how it all works out.

We do know that nothing profane will be allowed at that time, only those written in the book of life.

The River of Life

He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,

in the middle of its street. On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

There will be no curse any more. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants serve Him.

They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.

There will be no night, and they need no lamp light; for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever. Revelation 22:1-5

The Sages believe that the leaves referenced here to heal the nations are the pages, called leaves, of the Torah.

The Torah of truth will heal the nations and teach them God’s ways.

Remember, during the Millennium, only those living and who have survived at that time, will know Messiah, thereafter— after the rebellion is put down and HaSatan banished forever and those who followed them; only those, whose hearts God knows will be accepting of Him, will be allowed to enter into the new heavens and new earth.

But even then, they will need to be taught as spiritual babes the ways of Torah, all we can speculate is that we will have already had a 1,000 year learning period being spirit beings with Messiah and they will need to catch up.

It’ll be a learning process for all and since we have all eternity, we have lots of time!

Come!

The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" He who hears, let him say, "Come!" He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely. Revelation 22:17

We pray this booklet has been helpful and will aid in your walk with Messiah as we all await His return.

Please consider supporting the work of this ministry.

He who testifies these things says, "Yes, I come quickly." Amein! Yes, come, Lord Yeshua.

The grace of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with all the holy ones. Amein. Revelation 22:20-21

Bibliography:

The Hebrew Names Version (HNV) of the World English Bible— Public Domain.

The Artscroll Series / Stone Edition—The Chumash; Copyright 1998, 2000 by Mesorah Publications, Ltd.

Bible. English. New King James. 1993: Life Application Study Bible: New King James Version; Copyright 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1996 by Tyndale House Publishers

The Artscroll Series / Stone Edition—The Tanach; Copyright 1996 by Mesorah Publications, Ltd.

Tabernacles-Succot, When the Messiah Feasts with Jews and Gentiles; Copyright 1999 by Zaide Reuven

Gentiles; Copyright 1999 by Zaide Reuven

2005 by the Philadelphia Church or God

The Mountains of Israel, The Bible & the West Bank; Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 by Norma Parrish

The New Bible Dictionary-2nd Edition; Copyright 1962 by Inter

-Varsity Fellowship, published by Tyndale House Publishers

New Strong’s Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Hebrew Bible; Copyright 1995, James Strong, Nelson Publishers

Published by

Tzedek Shuva Ministries

All Rights Reserved

Ever since the fall of our parents Adam and Eve being driven away from God’s presence, mankind has fallen deeper and deeper away from right living and the knowledge of Him who created us. Being separated from God, chaos and confusion have set in and man has made up his own rules and ways of living, that which seem right to him but the ends thereof are death.

© 2010, Tzedek Shuva Ministries

www.tzedekshuva.org