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II Adar
29, 5765 / April 9,
2005
II Adar
29, 5768 / April
5,
2008
II Adar
27, 5771 / April 2,
2011
I Adar
29, 5774 / March
1,
2014
I Adar
25, 5776 / March 5,
2016
I Adar
25, 5779 / March 2,
2019
Ha-Hodesh
/ This Month
SCRIPTURES should be read first
Exodus 12
Verse 2 is the song we sing for Rosh
Hodesh (New Moon): “Hahodesh hazeh lahem rosh hadashim risho hu lahem
lehodshey Hashanah” – “This month shall be the beginning of months for
you; it is to be the first month of the year to you.”
As we approach the New Year for
Festivals, let us consider the following three months – the major events of which we
partake. It would be good for everyone here to understand these Scriptures that
confuse so many.
On the tenth day of the first month
(Nisan), a lamb was to be chosen for each family.
On the fourteenth day, between noon
and sunset, it was to be slain and roasted. Common translations of Leviticus
23:5 and Numbers 9:3 cause much confusion:
“In the first month, on the
fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the LORD’s passover”
– Lev 23:5 NASB.
“In the first month, on the
fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, there shall be a passover offering to
the LORD” – Lev 23:5 JPS.
It was the day for preparation /
offering of the passover – which is a lamb, not a Feast day. The preparation /
offering was performed “between the evenings” (literal from Hebrew) –
that is between noon and sunset, not “at twilight”.
That evening, which is the
fifteenth, is our Passover Seder. That means the order of service for eating the
passover – the lamb – at the beginning of the seven-day Feast of Unleavened
Breads.
“They shall eat the flesh that
same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and
bitter herbs” – Exodus 12:8.
For the seven days of this Feast, no
bread-leaven may be found with us (a negative command). Eating of unleavened
breads is required (a positive command).
“Seven days you shall eat
unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses;
for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day,
that person shall be cut off from Israel” – Exodus 12:15.
The first day and seventh day are
Holy Days. We will have the required worship
services on the first night – the Passover Seder, and on the seventh night.
“On the first day you shall have
a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all
shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may
be prepared by you” – Exodus 12:16.
On the sixteenth day of this month,
we start counting the days. For fifty days we count, until Pentecost, which
means fiftieth. It is the beginning of the grain harvest, when the first
ephah of the first grain – barley – was made into one omer of fine
flour, mixed with oil, and upon a lamb was waved “before Yahweh”. This is the
second day of the Feast of Unleavened Breads.
Another subject of widespread
confusion exists here:
“Speak to the sons of Israel and
say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap
its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your
harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be
accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it’ ” –
Leviticus 23:10-11 NASB.
There is no word for “sheaf” here:
the word is omer. There is no word for “first fruits” here: the word is
beginning (Hebrew reshit). It is an omer of the
beginning of the grain harvest. No sheaf of anything was ever waved at the
Temple, and no second “feast” exists here in the midst of the Feast of
Unleavened Breads.
The fiftieth day (which is the sixth
day of the third month) is the Day of the Firstfruits (Yom haBikkurim), a Holy
Day. It is also called the Feast of Weeks (Hag Shavuot), as
it follows the counting of seven weeks.
Ezekiel 45:16 – 46:18
This
prophecy concerns a Holy Temple of the future – God’s calendar of
celebrating Sabbaths, New Moons, and Feasts with their Holy Days, during
the millennial reign of Messiah.
45:17 “And
it shall be the prince's part to provide the (burnt) elevation offerings,
the grain offerings, and the libations, at the feasts, on the new moons,
and on the Sabbaths: at all the appointed times . . .”
46:3 “The
people of the land shall also worship at the doorway of that gate (the
eastern gate of the inner court) before Yahweh on the Sabbaths and on
the new moons.”
Colossians 2
This
passage is often misused because of traditional preconceptions. We must
not pit one Scripture against another, but place precept upon precept.
Paul is contrasting “man’s religion” against Torah instruction.
(V.8) “See
to it that no one takes you captive
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through philosophy and empty deception,
according to the tradition of men,
according to the elementary principles of the world,
This is a warning against man’s deceptive philosophies and inventions
(including Pagan celebrations?). |
rather than according to Messiah.”
God’s appointed times are not “tradition of men.” Through the Holy
Days, Yeshua is shown to be Messiah. |
(V.11-15) Paul is writing to Gentiles (Colossians):
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“When you were dead in transgressions
(of the Torah), and you were uncircumcised in your flesh . . .”
When you had a “certificate of debt”
decreed “against” you, |
“You were also circumcised with a
circumcision made without hands”, the work of the Holy Spirit on
the heart.
Yeshua took the death decree by being
nailed on a cross. This was not to abolish the Torah (Matthew 5:17) –
which is God’s eternal instruction for man – but rather confirms that
it applied to us! |
Here are
some of the things that are “according to Messiah” (v.8).
(V.16)
Both Jew and Gentile would condemn us for observing Sabbaths, New Moons,
and Festivals. But, Paul says, “Let no one condemn you . . . for
observing a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day . . .”. Using a
common translation “judge” instead of “condemn”, some twist this verse say
that we shouldn’t let anyone tell us whether or not to do these things –
all the while they are using it to say that we shouldn’t do them! One
popular translation actually adds the word “not”, saying that we should
let no one condemn us for “not” doing these things! But, Gentiles need
accept no condemnation from Jew or Gentile for keeping God’s appointments.
Why?
(V.17)
Because – and here is a comparison – Sabbaths and festivals “are a
shadow of that which is to come”, but “Messiah is the
substance/body” to come – that which is casting the shadow. In
observing Sabbaths and festivals, we see a shadow picture of Yeshua: we
learn about what He is doing for us! Some translations make a mockery of
God’s shadow pictures, calling them such things as “mere” shadows,
implying that they have no present value. It is commonly taught that,
being fulfilled (they are not), these ordinances are also abolished
(contrary to Yeshua’s words).
Here are
some of the things that are “empty deception”, and “tradition of
men” (v.8).
(V.18-19) “Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by
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delighting in self-abasement
and the worship of the messengers,
taking his stand on visions he has seen,
inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,
Today we see, on every side, people who
are “star-struck” with the messengers, and those who take their own
intuition to be the Holy Spirit – putting it above the study of God’s
Word. |
not holding fast to the head, from whom
the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and
ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.”
We are commanded to be part of a regular assembly (Hebrews 10:25),
working together with others to learn obedience. |
Paul’s
conclusion:
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(V.20-23) “If you have died with
Messiah, . . . why do you submit yourself to . . . self-made religion
. . . of no value against fleshly indulgence?” |
(V.3:1-5) “ If then you have been
raised up with Messiah, . . . set your mind on things above. . .
consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality,
impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.” |
Readings:
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who chose us from among all peoples by
giving us Your Torah.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, giver of the
Torah."
Reader 1* Amen.
1 Now Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
2 "This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be
the first month of the year to you.
Reader 2* Amen.
3 "Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, 'On the
tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according
to their fathers' households, a lamb for each household. 4 'Now if
the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his
house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to
what each man should eat, you are to divide the lamb. 5 'Your lamb
shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from
the goats.
Reader 3* Amen.
6 'You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same
month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at
twilight. 7 'Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it
on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
8 'They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they
shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
Reader 4* Amen.
9 'Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but
rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails.
10 'And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but
whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire. 11
'Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on
your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste-- it is
Yahweh's Passover.
Reader 5* Amen.
12 'For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and
will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and
against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments-- I am Yahweh. 13
'The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see
the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you
when I strike the land of Egypt. 14 'Now this day will be a memorial
to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to Yahweh; throughout your
generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.
Reader 6* Amen.
15 'Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the
first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything
leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off
from Israel. 16 'On the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and
another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them,
except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be prepared by you.
17 'You shall also observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this
very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall
observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance.
Reader 7* Amen.
18 'In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at
evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month
at evening. 19 'Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your
houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the
congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land. 20
'You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat
unleavened bread.'"
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who in giving us Yeshua, the Living
Torah, has planted everlasting life in our midst.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, giver of the
Torah."
______________________
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who selected good prophets, delighting
in their words which were spoken truthfully.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, Who chose the
Torah, Your servant Moses, Your people Israel,
and the prophets of truth and
righteousness."
Psalm 48
Ezekiel 45:16 – 46:18
Reader 8* Amen.
16 "All the people of the land shall give to this offering for
the prince in Israel. 17 "It shall be the prince's part to provide
the elevation offerings, the grain offerings and the drink offerings, at the
Feasts, on the heads-of-the-months, and on the Sabbaths, at all the appointed
feasts of the house of Israel; he shall provide the sin offering, the grain
offering, the elevation offering and the peace offerings, to make atonement for
the house of Israel." 18 'Thus says Lord Yahweh, "In the first month,
on the first of the month, you shall take a young bull without blemish and
cleanse the sanctuary. 19 "The priest shall take some of the blood
from the sin offering and put it on the door posts of the house, on the four
corners of the ledge of the altar and on the posts of the gate of the inner
court. 20 "Thus you shall do on the seventh day of the month for
everyone who goes astray or is naive; so you shall make atonement for the house.
Reader 9* Amen.
21 "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month,
you shall sacrifice the Passover, having a feast of seven days; unleavened bread
shall be eaten. 22 "On that day the prince shall provide for himself
and all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering. 23 "During
the seven days of the feast he shall provide as a burnt offering to Yahweh seven
bulls and seven rams without blemish on every day of the seven days, and a male
goat daily for a sin offering. 24 "He shall provide as a grain
offering an ephah with a bull, an ephah with a ram and a hin of oil with an
ephah. 25 "In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month,
at the feast, he shall provide like this, seven days for the sin offering, the
elevation offering, the grain offering and the oil."
Reader 10* Amen.
46:1 'Thus says Lord Yahweh, "The gate of the inner court
facing east shall be shut the six working days; but it shall be opened on the
sabbath day and opened on the day of the new moon. 2 "The prince
shall enter by way of the porch of the gate from outside and stand by the post
of the gate. Then the priests shall provide his elevation offering and his peace
offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate and then go out;
but the gate shall not be shut until the evening. 3 "The people of
the land shall also worship at the doorway of that gate before Yahweh on the
Sabbaths and on the heads-of-the-months. 4 "The elevation offering
which the prince shall offer to Yahweh on the Sabbath day shall be six lambs
without blemish and a ram without blemish; 5 and the grain offering
shall be an ephah with the ram, and the grain offering with the lambs as much as
he is able to give, and a hin of oil with an ephah.
Reader 11* Amen.
6 "On the day of the head-of-the-month he shall offer a young
bull without blemish, also six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish.
7 "And he shall provide a grain offering, an ephah with the bull and
an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he is able, and a hin of
oil with an ephah. 8 "When the prince enters, he shall go in by way
of the porch of the gate and go out by the same way. 9 "But when the
people of the land come before Yahweh at the appointed feasts, he who enters by
way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate. And he
who enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. No
one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered but shall go straight
out. 10 "When they go in, the prince shall go in among them; and when
they go out, he shall go out.
Reader 12* Amen.
11 "At the festivals and the appointed feasts the grain
offering shall be an ephah with a bull and an ephah with a ram, and with the
lambs as much as one is able to give, and a hin of oil with an ephah. 12
"When the prince provides a freewill offering, an elevation offering, or peace
offerings as a freewill offering to Yahweh, the gate facing east shall be opened
for him. And he shall provide his elevation offering and his peace offerings as
he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and the gate shall be shut
after he goes out. 13 "And you shall provide a lamb a year old
without blemish for a burnt offering to Yahweh daily; morning by morning you
shall provide it. 14 "Also you shall provide a grain offering with it
morning by morning, a sixth of an ephah and a third of a hin of oil to moisten
the fine flour, a grain offering to Yahweh continually by a perpetual ordinance.
15 "Thus they shall provide the lamb, the grain offering and the oil,
morning by morning, for a continual elevation offering."
Reader 13* Amen.
16 'Thus says Lord Yahweh, "If the prince gives a gift out of
his inheritance to any of his sons, it shall belong to his sons; it is their
possession by inheritance. 17 "But if he gives a gift from his
inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his until the year of liberty;
then it shall return to the prince. His inheritance shall be only his sons'; it
shall belong to them. 18 "The prince shall not take from the people's
inheritance, thrusting them out of their possession; he shall give his sons
inheritance from his own possession so that My people will not be scattered,
anyone from his possession."'"
Colossians 2:1 – 3:7
Reader 13* Amen.
1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your
behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not
personally seen my face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged,
having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes
from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's
mystery, that is, Messiah Himself, 3 in whom are hidden all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this so that no one will
delude you with persuasive argument. 5 For even though I am absent in
body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good
discipline and the stability of your faith in Messiah. 6 Therefore as
you have received Messiah Yeshua the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having
been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith,
just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
Reader 14* Amen.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy
and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the
elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Messiah. 9
For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in
Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;
11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made
without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of
Messiah; 12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were
also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from
the dead. 13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having
forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the
certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us;
and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15
When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of
them, having triumphed over them through Him.
Reader 15* Amen.
16 Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food
or drink or in respect to a festival or a head-of-the-month celebration or a
Sabbath day-- 17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come,
the body casting the shadow being Messiah. 18 Let no one keep
defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of
the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by
his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the
entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows
with a growth which is from God. 20 If you have died with Messiah to
the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world,
do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, 21 "Do not handle, do not
taste, do not touch!" 22 (which all refer to things destined to
perish with use)-- in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?
23 These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom
in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but
are of no value against fleshly indulgence.
Reader 16* Amen.
3:1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Messiah, keep
seeking the things above, where Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on
earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Messiah in
God. 4 When Messiah, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will
be revealed with Him in glory. 5 Therefore consider the members of
your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and
greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things
that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, 7 and
in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.
"Blessed are You, Yahweh
our God, King of the Universe,
Rock of Ages, righteous
throughout all generations.
You are the faithful God,
promising and then performing, speaking and then fulfilling,
for all Your words are true
and righteous.
Faithful are You, Yahweh
our God, and faithful are Your words,
for no word of Yours shall
remain unfulfilled;
You are a faithful and
merciful God and King.
Blessed are You, Yahweh our
God, Who are faithful in fulfilling all Your words."
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