Part 4
YEHOVAH BLESSED DAY
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Wayyiqra/Leviticus
23:1-4 “And Yehovah spoke to Moses, saying, ‘speak to the children of Israel,
and say to them: “The feasts of Yehovah, which you shall proclaim to be holy
convocations, these are My feasts. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh
day is a Shabbat of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do not work on
it; it is the Shabbat of Yehovah in all your dwellings. These are the feasts of
Yehovah, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.”
When reading Leviticus 23 some people think that the
Shabbat/Sabbath is an appointed time
BUT if you continue reading this chapter, you will
find the list all the Feasts. However, the Shabbat is a weekly day of rest, not
a feast. The Shabbat is celebrated at home with the family, not in Yerushalayim/Jerusalem
as the other three feasts.
All the feasts include Shabbats, but the weekly Shabbat
is separate from the Feasts. I have spoken about all the Feasts before,
therefore, I only want to mention now that each feast includes a special Shabbat
at the beginning, and there may be one weekly Shabbat in between, but also ends
with a special Shabbat day of rest. Please read Wayyiqra/Leviticus 23 at
this time. Thank you.
The word convocation comes from the Hebrew word
Miqra. It means that it is a set apart assembly or gathering together, and it
can also mean rehearsal of things to come.
At times we may read in the Scriptures “qadosh
miqra” or set apart –holy- convocation.
Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement it is a “Shabbat,” a
day of complete rest and fasting to afflict the soul, however, it is not on the
seventh day of the week necessarily, but it is always on the tenth day of the
seventh Biblical month of Yehovah’s calendar.
Wayyiqra/Leviticus
23: 27-32 “Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement.
It shall be a holy convocation of you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an
offering made by fire to Yehovah. And you shall do not work on that same day,
for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before Yehovah your
Elohim. For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be
cut off from his people. And any person who does any work on that same day,
that person I will destroy from among his people, you shall do no manner of
work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your
dwellings. It shall be to you a Shabbat of solemn rest, and you shall afflict
your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening,
you shall celebrate your Shabbat.”
The Feast of Unleavened Bread begins with a special Shabbat,
and may have a weekly Shabbat in between, but also ends with a special Shabbat
day of rest.
Yom Teruah which is the day of blowing the trumpets
is the first day of the seventh Biblical month. That day is a special Shabbat, and
it does not matter what day of the week it may be. Everyone needs to rest,
although they may cook and eat their food, according to what I have learned,
because it is a day of celebration, and we do not have to eat cold foods on
that day, if we do not want to.
On the Feast of Tabernacles, the first and last day
are days called Shabbats. In between may be one weekly Shabbat.
Wayyiqra/Leviticus
23:39 “Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered
in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of Yehovah for seven days;
on the first day there shall be a Shabbat –rest, and on the eight day a Shabbat
–rest.”
The Feast of Pentecost,
or Shavuot, is also a day of Rest, or Shabbat, even though it is on the first
day of the week, or Sunday.
Wayyiqra/Leviticus
23:15-21: “And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Shabbat,
for the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Shabbats
shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Shabbat; then
you shall offer a new grain offering to Yehovah. You shall bring from your
dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine
flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to Yehovah.
And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without
blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to
Yehovah. Then you shall sacrifice one kid on the goats as a sin offering, and
two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. The priest
shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before
Yehovah, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to Yehovah for the priest. And
you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You
shall do not customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your
dwellings throughout your generations.”
There are other Shabbats or special days to abstain
from work, and fellowship with our Creator. However, SUNday is not one of them.
Sunday is the original day designated to worship the sun.
The three main Feasts are connected with the
harvest. The Feast of Unleavened Bread and First Fruits is connected with the barley.
The Feast of Shavuot with the wheat. The Feast of Tabernacles with the fall
fruits. All the men are required to appear in Yerushalayim/Jerusalem three
times a year, for the appointed feasts. Presently the Temple is destroyed; therefore
we do not keep the commandment as when we had the Temple. Nevertheless, we do
celebrate the Feasts of Yehovah the best way we can away from Yehrushalayim.
On the Shabbat, we stay at home with the family. The believers can go the Synagogue for the reading
of the Torah, but they do not have to do it. It is not a commandment. However,
it is important to have fellowship with our Creator, by reading the Scriptures
and prayer and worship with other brothers and sisters.
Many people do not have much time to have such sweet
communion with Yehovah during the week, because of work schedules. However, on
the Shabbat He has commanded to stop working and to rest, therefore we can be
blessed by His wonderful presence. He desires to speak to us, and we need to
desire to speak with Him also. Never feel burdened to keep the Shabbat Day
Holy, for it is a great privilege to be having a meeting with our Creator. Do
not let religion stop you from serving Yehovah, for He deserves all your
devotion.
The Shabbat is not a moadi, or an appointed feast. The
feasts are connected with the moon, while the weekly Shabbat is not. The
Shabbat day is always to remember the seventh day of creation, and it is a
sign, as we shall see.
The weekly Shabbat has different meaning as we have
already said, and will continue to differentiate in other Scriptures.
Yehovah wants to fellowship with man. He has given
the feasts to tell us the past events, the present, and the future. In the
feasts we see the life and ministry of the Mashiach/ Messiah, Yahoshua haMashiach.
It is a time of great joy and fellowship with the brethren. It is not a burden,
as some people who are ignorant of their meaning, would imply. When we truly
love our Creator we do everything He commands us to do.
(I am using the word Shabbat instead of Sabbath, as
it is written in the Hebrew Bible, because Sabbath may have a pagan origin, as
Saturday and all the other days of the week have.)
The New Moon is also a special day because it marks
the beginning of the month, from which the dates of the feasts depend from,
however it is not a Shabbat. Rosh Chodesh, or New Moon, although is not a
Shabbat, as stated, it is important, and it is mentioned in many places in the
Scriptures. Let us remember though, that Yehovah does not want lip service, but
our heart. He hates worship done out of obligation. He wants us to offer our
worship with all our heart. Only that worship is received and appreciated by
Him. The following are same verses of
Scriptures concerning the Shabbats and the New Moon, we need to know.
Divrey
Ha’Yamim 1/1Chronicles 23:30-31: “To stand every morning to thank and praise
Yehovah, and so at evening: and for all the burnt offerings to Yehovah on the
Shabbathoth and on the New Moons and on the Appointed Times, by number
according to the Right-Ruling upon them, continually before Yehovah.” HS
Divrey
Ha’yamim 2/2 Chronicles 2:4 “See, I am building a House for the Name of Yehovah my Elohim, to qadosh it to Him, to burn before Him sweet incense,
for the continual showbread, for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on
the Shabbathoth, and on the New Moons,
and on the Appointed Times of Yehovah our Elohim. This is for Yisra’el forever.”HS
Divrey
Ha’Yamim 2/2 Chronicles 8:12-14 “Then Shelomoh / Solomon offered burnt
offerings to Yehovah on the altar of Yehovah which he had built before the porch,
even as the duty of every day required, offering according to the command of
Mosheh, for the Shabbathoth, and for the New Moons, and for the Appointed Times
three times a year: the Festival of Shavuoth, and the Festival of Sukkoth. And
according to the ruling of Dawid his father, he appointed the divisions of the
kohenim for their service, the Lewites for their duties, to praise and serve
before the kohenim (priests), as the duty of each day required, and the
gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate, for so was the command of Dawid
the man of Elohim. HS
Divrey
Ha’Yamim 2/2 Chronicles 31:2-3 “And Hizqiyahu/Hezekiah appointed the divisions
of the kohenim (priests) and of the Levites according to their divisions, each
man according to his service, the priests and Lewites/Levites for burnt
offerings and peace offerings, to serve, to give thanks, and to praise in the
gates of the camp of Yehovah. And the sovereign allotted from his possessions for the burnt offerings: for
the morning and evening burnt offerings, the burnt offerings for the
Shabbathoth and for the New Moons and
for the Appointed Times, as it is written in the Torah of Yehovah.”HS
Nechemyah/Nehemiah
10:32-33 “And we imposed commands on ourselves, to give from ourselves yearly
one-third of a sheqel for the service of the house of our Elohim: For the
showbread, for the continual grain offering, for the continual burnt offering
of the Shabbathoth, of the New Moons, for the Appointed Times; for the qodesh
offerings, and for the sin offerings to
make atonement for Yisra’el, and all the work of the house of our Elohim.”HS
Next we hear the voice of Yehovah complaining for they did not offer the offerings from their hearts. They probably had sin in their lives when they offered the sacrifices, and they lost their first love.
Yeshayahu/Isaiah
1:13-14 “ Stop bringing futile offerings; incense is an abomination to Me. The
New Moons, the Shabbathoth, and the calling of meetings –I am unable to bear
unrighteousness and assembly. My being hates your new moons and your appointed
times, they are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them.”HS
Those are very harsh words from the Almighty. But
did they repent?
Yechezqel/Ezekiel
44:24 “And they are to stand as judges
in a dispute, and judge it according to My Right Rulings. And they are to guard
My Torot and My Laws in all My appointed
Festivals, and qadosh My Shabbathoth.”HS
Eykhah/Lamentations
2:6: “He has demolished His booth like a garden, He has destroyed His place of
meeting. Yehovah has made the Appointed Times and Shabbathoth to be forgotten
in Tsiyon and despises sovereign and kohen in His raging displeasure.”HS
Yehovah has made forget, but He will restore.
Please note how many times we read about the Rosh
Chodesh, or Head of the Month, the New Moon. This is very important for all the
feasts depend on the time the renewed moon appears on the sky. Most of the
world, which includes the church, uses the pagan calendar which is under the
solar system in order to honor the sun god and his days of worship. Although
they think that they are doing it to Yehovah. However, many people are now
reading the Scriptures and realizing that something is wrong with that system,
and are beginning to honor Yehovah’s calendar and His ways.
The Shabbat is not one of the festivals, but is
separate, as I have already stated. However, it is very important to the
Creator, as we will read in the next passages of Scriptures.
I will continue on the Shabbat, on my next messages.
Be ready to meet your Maker any day of the week, but keep the Shabbat holy.
Obedience is better than sacrifice! Amen.
Friday is the sixth day of the week, and the Sabbath
begins at sundown, it ends on the Sabbath sundown.
Shabbat Shalom!
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