Making a Case to be Holy–Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections–87

by | Jul 22, 2017 | Podcasts

Making a Case to be Holy–Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections–87

Making a Case to be Holy

by Rod Thomas | Sabbath Thoughts & Reflections

A Case for Holiness

As I was conducting my Torah studies week-before-last, I came to Exodus, chapter 19.

This of course, is a well-known passage of Torah to our community, for it is the place that marks that point in our history that we officially received our Creator’s perfect Law.

We had just arrived at the base of Mount Sinai, just three-months prior, having been freed from our Egyptian taskmasters. Upon our arrival, Father summoned Mosheh to the top of the mountain and it was at this point in our history that Abba laid out the terms of the contract to Mosheh that we would either agree to abide by or reject; the option being entirely ours. It was not a one-way contractual agreement such that we were being forced to become Yahovah’s children. Well, Yah has always worked that way has He not? He has always been the God of choice—choose ye today whom you shall serve(Joshua 24:15).

It is certainly easy to recall that when we were in Mitsrayim (i.e., the land of Egypt), we did not have a choice when it came to serving our Egyptian taskmasters, but here, at the foot of Mount Sinai, we were being exposed to a taste of true freedom where we had the option of saying yes to serving the Creator or no to serving Him.

When I think about this whole thing and reflect upon how we must have felt or viewed things collectively and individually as they were transpiring before us. I can not help but think that most of our mixed company coming out of Egypt had no idea what was in store for us.

Abba was not quick to show us His plan but sought to prove us worthy at every step leading up to the revealing of His plan to us.

I would imagine that many of us believed that we would simply be freed from bondage by this mysterious God who would lead us to a land of great opportunities where we could live out our days as we so chose; similar to the mindset that many in churchianity and even our Hebrew Roots community possess today.

Instead, Sinai for us was a precursor of that narrow gate and straight way that Father swore would lead us to a life that just three months prior, was unimaginable. Life would not be easy for us under the terms of the agreement that Abba was laying out before Mosheh and ultimately before us as a nation. Nevertheless, if we could see beyond and live the nuts and bolts of that agreement without compromise (because Abba is a jealous God and He does not share His glory and authority with any other supposed god or power over our set-apart lives), we would reap the unfathomable benefits of being the Creator of the Universe’s chosen, prized possessions in all the earth. Imagine that!

Of the billions of people who have ever lived on this planet, we stand as the Creator’s chosen few. What an amazing truth.

As we proceed through the chapter, we come to two places where Father severely warns Mosheh and ultimately us as a body, that we are not to invade the established boundaries of the mountain, lest we suffer termination with extreme prejudice—that is, execution by stone and or arrow. The verses where this admonishment is found in verses 12 and 13; 21 through 23.

This admonishment by Yahuah has always intrigued me, given that in chapter 20 of Exodus, it was revealed that when we saw the thunder and the lightning and heard that ear-piercing shofar and saw the mountain in such an infernal state, we stood trembling at a distance from the mountain (verse 18). We even told Mosheh to speak to Yahovah on our behalf because we were outright terrified of our Father’s manifested presence before us.

Let us be honest about this thing here: this was the first-time we’d been formally introduced to Yahovah. Yes, we saw His power and might and authority magnificently manifested in Egypt an along our journey to Sinai, but we’d never had a face-to-face, let’s talk and explain the situation, type meeting with Yahuah, our Redeemer until this time in our history. What happens when one goes out to meet someone special for the first-time? Well, he or she puts their best foot forward. Indeed, Abbah instructed us to prepare ourselves for that meeting by washing and purifying ourselves and readying our hearts and minds. We were to put our best foot forward at this meeting. Yahuah came to our meeting in his great splendor; dressed to impress.

I guess this is a far cry from how we view and treat the presence of our Father today. In many cases, that fear that we had towards Father has been replaced with outright irreverence and disregard by so many, but for now I wish to focus on why Father admonished us to not invade the boundaries of the mountain when He obviously knew that we would not.

So I guess I am mystified that our omniscient Father would pose such a stern warning to Mosheh knowing that we would by no stretch of the imagination violate the boundaries of the mountain. My first inclination was that, hey, Father was just making a rule that we, His children, would have to obey and I went with that for a long time. Yet with this latest read, that curiosity once again hit me like a ton of bricks that I just could not dig myself from under. To me, this admonishment by Abba to Mosheh had to be more than a simple “don’t violate the boundaries of My mountain because I said so.” One thing I am certain of is that our Creator does nothing without a reason. Now some of those reasons may not be readily apparent, or for that matter, not available to us for whatever reason and I want to resist engaging in eisigesis (i.e., reading into the text) for purposes of surmising a reason why. Nevertheless, I will take slight liberty and reflect upon a potential reason for Father prohibiting us from broaching the boundaries of the mountain. Hey, this is Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections by the way.

Apart from Yahuah giving the command (twice given) and us simply obeying it because Father said so and because we did not want to die violating the command, I would submit that Father was intending to teach us a lesson here. I believe that Father gave Mosheh this admonishment for purposes of establishing boundaries between the common and the holy. That’s right, I believe that Yahovah wanted to make it perfectly clear to us that He is our God and our Creator and that which He deems holy we are not to treat as we would everything else in our life or within our sphere of existence. I envision Father saying: “Today, I am establishing a clear line of demarcation that I will expect you to respect and observe; and I am going to make that line of demarcation very clear to you; and for that matter, very easy for you to respect and observe. I know that you will be too terrified to cross the boundaries that I am setting up before you, but I also want you to know that wherever My presence rests and wherever I place My Name, you will respect those places and things or face dire consequences. In this case, you cross over and touch the mountain, you die.”

Separating the common from the holy: now that is a concept that has lost a lot of meaning and respect by us humans over the centuries. As it relates to this particular story and situation, we had just arrived in town (i.e., Sinai), having just a couple months ago, beat-feet out of Egypt and trekking across the desert and we were a green, snotty-nosed, mixed-lot of souls who obviously did not know the things of our God. In fact, we came out of pagan-Egypt with all her idols and false gods and we knew nothing of true holiness. Evil (as in paganism) only begets evil and nothing good ever comes out of evil. Thus, we knew nothing apart from that which we were exposed to in Egypt; years spent in abject servitude and bondage.

In the midst of our servitude and bondage, we picked up paganism, whorshipping the gods of our Egyptian over-lords. When we fled Egypt on eagles’ wings, we did not know anything about Yahovah, the Creator of the Universe, apart from Word being handed down about Him being the God of our father’s Avraham, Yitsak and Yaachob. Obviously this was the case because we quickly returned to the worship of the golden calf when Mosheh went up the mountain for an extended period of time soon after this Sinai encounter (Exodus 32).

 

Definition of Holy

That which was dedicated to God was conceived of as entering the sphere of the “holy.” This included the various elements of Levitical worship called “holy things” in Lev 5:15-16, the produce of the land (Lev 19:24), personal property (Lev 27:28), and spoils obtained in military action (Josh 6:19). The sacrifices that were to be eaten only by the priests were denominated “holy” by virtue of their absolute dedication to the sphere of the sacred as represented by the priesthood (Lev 19:8).

While the realm of the holy was conceptually distinct from the world with its imperfections, it could nevertheless operate within the world as long as its integrity was strictly maintained. The maintenance of the integrity of the “holy” was a function of the Israelite cultus. The holy God came to man in redeeming love within the context of regulations and proscriptions that were designed to maintain the purity of holiness the characterized God’s essential nature. Even before the establishment of the Levitical system, this principle was recognized (see Exo 3:5). (TWOT Lexicon)

Essentially, that which Yahovah/Yahuah/Yahweh, the Creator of the Universe, has declared sacred or holy, special to Him and His operations, is holy. Otherwise, anything not declared sacred or holy or special to Him is man’s mess; in some cases, it is hasatan’s mess and is essentially profane. God knows how much of hasatan’s mess is mixed in with that which Father has set apart as special and holy and that is not only problematic, it is a no-no.

Yet millions hang on to a religion that is a mixture of the profane and that which is supposed to be holy according to our God, out of a fear and respect for their denomination, faith community, culture and traditions. Unfortunately, Yah does not care for such behavior and His Messiah will ultimately put an end to it all.

Holiness According to the Bible

Yahovah established with us “right off the bat” an uncompromising “holiness factor” that He insisted be honored and observed by us at all times. There was no question as to what was holy/sacred/set-apart then, and for all intents and purposes, there should be no confusion on this subject as it relates to our understanding and observance of the holy things of Yahuah our Elohim today.

Yet I would submit to and ask you: have we not forsaken that “holiness factor” in our Faith Community today? I mean: in certain sects of fundamental churchianity, especially in some of the fundamental Christian sects that I was exposed to growing up, holiness was more of a “man-made factor” than a “God-ordained factor” or biblically supported factor. Outside of the Christian sects that I was exposed to growing up, there was always the Catholics who worked the heck of this holiness thing. Virtually everything related to Catholic edifices and houses of worship, their masses and their various relics strewn around the world, was assigned by the powers to be at the Vatican, a holiness factor. In terms of the Christian sects I grew up around, the holiness factor was assigned to pulpits, traditions, doctrines, preachers, pastors and ministers.

Looking back at this stuff from my current station in life and filtering most things through my Netsarim worldview or lenses, I clearly see that none of these things that were deemed holy were deemed holy by Abba or the bible; in fact, everyone of them was deemed holy by men, plain and simple; and who is man to assign a holiness factor to anything without the Father’s permission or direction? Yet, is that not the way things work in the mundane, common world: man determines what is what and who is who and damn God and His Scriptures for man believes he runs the show here? Oh how it must insult the Creator to know and see that man is running the show (running it badly I might add) that He established and set in operation.

Even in some segments of our Hebrew Roots Community, we have crossed that line from God-ordained holiness over into man-made holiness. Case in point: Torah worship; sacred names; the Talmud; and certain practices and traditions that are germane to Judaism; and members of our community who are tied to these sects will almost go to fisticuffs over these things that they and their sects deem as holy. Yet when it comes down to the things that Father has actually deemed as holy, many in our Faith have crossed over those boundaries and profaned the established things of Yahovah that are truly holy such as Sabbath-keeping; the Feast Days; our perfectly lived Torah-observant lives; the ways of Yahovah; our Master Yeshua Messiah (yes, believe it or not, we have many in our Community who are Yeshua-haters); and the list goes on as delineated in Scripture.

What is Holy to Father?

So needless to say, I went on a search through the Word for that which Abba has deemed holy. It would stand to reason that Father would reveal to us that which He considered and demanded that we observe as holy.

Well, I was taken aback to find that Father has set apart unto Himself a rather broad and large number of things that He has deemed holy. Some of those things no longer are in existence and thus the holiness factor would not be applicable in this day and age. Certainly there are other things that remain as holy elements to our Faith and I have come to conclude these things demand that we honor and respect them as holy unto Yahovah our Elohim.

Allow me to mention some of them; and know that this is not an exhaustive list.

  • The Mountain of Yahuah (Exodus 3:5; Isaiah 56:7) (Held in abeyance)
  • Collectively and individually as a nation of people dedicated and separated unto Yahovah; serving Him as a nation of priests and living holy and righteous lives; we as engrafted Israelites (Exodus 19:6; 22:31; Leviticus 19:2; 20:7; Deuteronomy 7:6; 23:14; Ephesians 1:4; Colossians 1:22; 3:12; I Timothy 2:8; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:8; I Peter 1:16; 2:5; 2:9; 2 Peter 3:11) (Active)
  • The Sabbath Day (Exodus 20:8) (Active)
  • The inner-sanctum of the Tabernacle and Temple (Exodus 26:33,34) (Held in abeyance)
  • The garments of the Levitical High Priests (Exodus 28:2; 29:6,29) (Held in abeyance)
  • A portion of the atonement sacrifice as food for the Levitical priesthood (Exodus 29:33,34; Leviticus 2:3-10; 6:18; 10:10; 11:44,45) (Held in abeyance yet controversial)
  • The sacrificial alter (Exodus 29:37; 30:10) (Held in abeyance)
  • The implements of the tabernacle (Exodus 30-40) (Held in abeyance)
  • Our heavenly Father (Leviticus 11:44,45; Joshua 24:19; I Samuel 2:2; 6:20; Psalm 99:5; Proverbs 9:10; 30:3) (Active)
  • The fourth-year fruit upon our entering the land of promise (Leviticus 19:23)(Held in abeyance)
  • The Name of Yahuah our Elohim (Leviticus 20:3; Psalm 103:1) (Active)
  • The offerings of fire that we brought to Yahovah (Leviticus 21:6) (Held in abeyance)
  • That which has been gifted and dedicated unto the service of Yahuah our Elohim that He has ordained as holy cannot be in the presence, possession of, or consumed by any impure or unclean individual for Abba requires that we be in a state of perpetual purity or cleanness, especially when it comes to our being near, consuming or touching that which He has ordained as holy (Leviticus 22:3-16) (Active but remain controversial)
  • The Feasts of Yahweh as convocations and the offerings and tithes that we give during these moedim (Leviticus 23:2-36; Numbers 29:7; Exodus 12:16; Numbers 28:18) (Active)
  • The obedient Nazarite (Numbers 6:5-20) (Active)
  • The firstling offerings (Numbers 18:17) (Held in abeyance)
  • Our tithes (2 Chronicles 31:6) (Active but remain controversial)
  • Jerusalem (Nehemiah 11:1; Isaiah 52:1) (Held in abeyance but remain controversial)
  • The Spirit of Yahovah (Psalm 51:11) (Active)
  • The Word of Yahuah/Torah (Psalm 105:42; Romans 7:12) (Active)
  • The Works of Yahovah (Psalm 145:17) (Active)
  • A remnant of Jerusalem in the end days (Isaiah 4:3) (Future)
  • Yahuah’s covenant with us (Daniel 11:28; Romans 7:12) (Active yet remains controversial)
  • The angels (Matthew 25:31) (Active yet remain controversial)
  • A Tzaddik such as John the Immerser (Mark 6:20) (Active but remain controversial)
  • The prophets of old (Luke 1:70) (Active)
  • The apostles (Ephesians 3:5) (Active)
  • Our faith (Jude 1:20) (Active)

Considerations

Again, this list that I have provided is not intended to be an exhaustive listing of that which Father has deemed holy or that which the writers of the Holy Writ were inspired by the Ruach Kodesh to deem as holy. Instead, I see this list as a primer of sorts, that gave me a sense of the great many things that Father has ordained as holy unto Him.

I also came across some considerations as it relates to this holiness factor that I saw as important to pass on.

To begin with, that which Abba has deemed as holy is not to be worshiped by us as Yahweh’s chosen people. Unfortunately, our Faith community is populated by individuals who have taken on religion to the full extent of the meaning, the most prominent of our lot being those who practice Judaism. Many worship the implements of our Faith that are deemed Holy by Father such as the Torah, the Names of our Creator, tzitzits, the Temple (albeit the temple no longer exists, people worship the land of Israel), and even worship some of our Hebrew Roots leaders. Although Abba set before us a list of the things that He deems as holy, not once did He ever command us to worship these implements. Yet it seems hardwired within man to worship those sacred elements of their chosen religion and Faith. Certainly, there is an inherent temptation to worship that which is set apart, but Yahuah our Elohim is the only being that is to be worshiped by us.

The other thing is our holiness: Father requires that we be holy as He is holy and by far, that delineation is mentioned more times than any other element of our Faith. Over and over we are reminded that we are holy unto Father and that we are to be holy in all our ways.

This issue is driven home a great deal in Leviticus 20: 7,8 where we are reminded that our principles, affections and aims must be holy (Matthew Henry Commentary on the Bible). Matthew Henry continues on as it relates to this passage: “We must then cleanse ourselves from all the pollutions of sin, consecrate ourselves to the service and honour of God, and conform ourselves in everything to His holy will and image…(This is part of the sanctification process). In all our actions and in the whole course of our conversation…” (must be obedient to Torah (i.e., you shall keep my statutes).

It then becomes the criteria by which we are then sanctified when we honour and obey Abba’s Torah. Yet we lack the ability to keep Torah to the extent and manner that Father desires, unless we have the Ruach Kodesh working within us (which we should have)—that His Ruach (i.e., His Spirit) writes His Torah upon our hearts and in our minds (Hebrews 8:10; cf. Jeremiah 31:33). In order for this process to work within us as potentially Abba’s holy people, we must have a cleaned up and purified Temple/Tabernacles that can house the Ruach Kodesh and allow Him to operate within us effectively.

So one reflects: why must we go to such a great extent as it relates to the holiness that Father requires of us? (1) Yahuah our Elohim commands it of us; (2) we want to please our Heavenly Father; and (3) to bring glory to His Holy Name.

Of this concern, Matthew Henry comments: “Yahovah (corrected) sanctifies us through special privileges, laws and favours,” all of which are designed to bring us to that special, “peculiar people” status that Father so desires us to be in this world, as well as bring us to the place where we become Yahovah’s special possession. Henry continues: “ Yahovah’s people are, must be, persons of distinction. Yahovah has distinguished us by His holy covenant” (corrected).

Of this same issue, according to Gill’s Bible Commentary, we are to sanctify ourselves by abstaining from all idolatrous practices and then we are to observe Abba’s Torah. In doing such, we become a holy, set apart people from all others in the world in the manner of our conversation and worship.

Yet many self-professing Netsarim are very open to profane and disgusting converation, even castigating those of us who take exception to their practices and talk. Why are they like that? I have read where some feel that it is just words and that their use of profanity is an organic form of expression that would make no difference to God. Really? The common world freely uses profanity as a means of communicating at all levels and on various things. If we are supposed to be holy in all areas of our existence, why would our conversation (that is our vocabulary) not be included in that holiness factor?

As I have mentioned in prior episodes of Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections, the holiness factor requires a “dying to self” as alluded to in Matthew 16:24,25; Mark 8:34,35; Luke 14:27. It becomes the critical decision that we all must make of deciding upon which side of this thing we are going to settle upon and if we decide that Yahovah’s way is the way we want to go, it then becomes the very difficult process of letting go of the things of this life that do not mesh with the things of Yahovah and then walk out our Faith and our salvation in “fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12); relying upon Yahovah’s Ruach HaKodesh to empower us to stay within the confines of that narrow way.

Oh how I can attest that this is definitely not an easy thing to pick-up and do. Nevertheless, it absolutely must be done, more sooner than later, by each of us. As we have so clearly seen in the passages discussing the holiness factor, especially those elements of the holiness factor that apply specifically to us as individual Netsarim, Abba requires we be holy as He is holy.

In chapter 20, verse 26 of Leviticus, Father once again reiterates His requirement that we be Holy, more so that that holiness factor will have led to Him actually “setting us apart from the nations of the world to be His special possession.” Despite all the protests and teachings to the contrary, we cannot be His special possession unless we are holy.

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Closing Thoughts and Reflections

Given the extensive treatment of the concept of holiness in the Holy Writ, it is safe to conclude that holiness is not only an important concept to our Father, it must also be an important concept for us—His Children–to understand, discern, guard and of course observe with all the reverence we can muster.

Why? For a few reasons: that which is important to Father must naturally be of importance to us. If we dare call ourselves Children of Yahovah/Yahweh/Yahuah, yet we profane that which Father has deemed holy, we stand the risk of offending Him, marginalizing His Torah and sullying our witness and distinct purpose in this world.

Take for instance the Sabbath, which Father sanctified and separated it as holy and special from the other six-days of the week: when we treat the day as we treat any other day, we have by default violated Abba’s established holiness provision for the day and falsely demonstrated to a profane world that the day is just like any other day. I would submit that the same mindset applies to our observance of Torah, although our observance must be profoundly tempered by the Holy Spirit actively operating in our lives.

I am not in the least advocating Torah worship or any such religiosity that would obviously be a prescription for disaster. What I am advocating, however, is Teshuvah—a heart-felt, zealous, intelligent, uncompromising return to to the ways of our Creator as He originally intended and as our Master taught and modeled for us.

As we grow in the imagine and likeness of our Master, individually and collectively, I look forward, with the greatest of expectations, to being that holy thing that Father has so desperately sought of His people. What an amazing journey we have embarked upon; what an amazing God we serve.

So let us press forward towards that mark of the prize of the high calling of Yahuah in Yeshua HaMashiyach (Philippians 3:14). With the aid of the Ruach Kodesh, bang out and apply this holiness factor in every aspect of our being so that we become that peculiar, holy nation of priests—special possessions of Yah—holy and acceptable to Him—and effectively fulfilling His perfect will in the earth.

Until next time, fellow saints in training, may you be most blessed. Shalom. Shavuatov. Take care.

Why Aren’t We Wearing Tzitzits or Fringes?

by | Jun 28, 2017 | Blog

Why Aren’t We Wearing Tzitzits or Fringes?

38 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves atassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue.
39 “It shall be a tassel for you 1to look at and aremember all the commandments of the LORD, so as to do them and not 2follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot,
40 so that you may remember to do all My commandments and abe holy to your God.
(Num 15:38-40 NAU)

 

A Million-Dollar Question

One of several things that interest me greatly as it relates to present-day practices of members of our Faith Community is the overwhelming number of us who do not wear tzitzits as commanded of us by Yahuah our Elohim. I guess the question I have for our community is: why is the wearing of tzitzits by members of our community such a rare thing?

Likely Excuses

I would imagine a great many in our community who choose not to wear these divinely commanded implements would offer as a defense that we, living in 21st-century western society, no longer wear four-cornered garments; ergo, the expectation that one wear tzitzits is at best a moot assumption.

I would concede that, yes, we generally do not wear four-cornered garments in 21st-century western society. Thus, we must reconcile the practicality of wearing tzitzits with articles of western attire that are not cornered.

Others might contend that when Abba gave the command to wear these implements as reminders of Him and His Torah in our day-to-day walk, as it relates to 21st-century western life, with the Spirit writing Torah on our minds and in our hearts, the tzitzit is now an archaic relic of our desert dwelling forefathers and would no longer be a requirement for us.

I guess this particular line of thinking is similar to the logic that argues an adherence to the Calculated Jewish Calendar over that of the Biblically inspired Observational Calendar. A fellow Hebrew Rooter and staunch adherer to the Calculated Jewish Calender once criticized: why rely upon an observational calendar when we have a perfectly good calculated calendar that we can reference today and even a hundred years in the future if need be; beside, the observational calendar is too subjective whereas the calculated calendar is much more accurate.

Yep–I would contend that under the renewed covenant, Torah should exist in our hearts and dwell eternally on our minds (Hebrews 8:8 and 10:16). Nevertheless, does the renewed covenant negate every element of Torah?

Questions Begging Answers

As with so many aspects of Torah as it relates to applicability and relevancy to the 21st-century Netsarim’s day-to-day walk, our wearing of tzitzits also poses a lot of questions. And the funny thing about Torah and our Community/Movement is that when questions arise over applicability and relevancy in our modern-day lives, we tend to take the path of least resistence and ignore the issue altogether. I would contend that the issue of tzitzit wearing by Netsarim in 21-century western society is probably one of those issues that the majority of us choose to ignore rationalizing that there are just too many questions without good answers to justify wearing them. Right?

What I am finding to be most helpful when it comes to my adherence or non-adherence to Torah commands, particularly as it relates to those questions of Torah that have no good answers attached to them, is to answer those answerless questions with follow-up questions. Those follow-up questions often clarify an issue and settle them in my mind better than simply taking a non-comforming stance on the issue in question.

I have some follow-up questions to the questions posed above regarding the wearing of tzitzits by modern-day Torah Observant Believers in Yeshua Messiah:

  • Should our wearing (or non-wearing) of tzitzits be wholly contingent upon the existence of four-cornered-garments common to 21-century western garb?
  • Does the existence of the Renewed/New Covenant negate the commandment to wear tzitzits? (And yes, I realize that many of you may disagree with me that the renewed covenant has not been implemented yet and to those of you who hold to this belief, then it stands to reason that there is no good sense to ignore this commandment. Right?)

Somehow I believe that the non-existence of four-cornered garments and the renewed covenant are not deal breakers as it relates to this commandment. I mean, if one desires to debate the present day relevancy of individual commandments such as the wearing of tzitzits by Torah Observant Believers in Yeshua Messiah, then I would argue that one must be prepared to turn over their Torah-Keeping card because he or she has officially entered the realm of picking and choosing which applicable Torah commandments he/she will be keeping at any given time of their lives based upon preferences and personal opinions.

What Part of “In All Our Generations…” Don’t We Understand?

Abba stipulated that this mitzvah was non-negotiable since it was to be followed “in all our generations.” We have no problem keeping the seven-mandated-feasts of Yahovah/Yahweh/Yahuah, but tzitzit wearing appears to be one of those negotiable items of Torah that we have chosen to keep or ignore as a community.

I further contend that tzitzit wearing for some in our community may be too much of a challenge for our fragile 21st-century Hebrew Roots egos and could be one of the primary reasons why tzitzit wearing by members of our community is such a rare occurrence.

The Virtues of Tzitzit Wearing

Tzitzit wearing is a conspicuous practice. As a result of that conspicuousness, those simple but strangely adoring little buggers have the capacity to any wearer in our society. Not do tzitzits appear foreign to virtually every member of our society (with the exception of the Jew) and not only do they cause people to wonder what in the world those things are hanging from the wearer’s person, they also force the blessed and obedient wearer to be everso prepared to give an explanation to any who ask why he or she is wearing them.

I can readily attest that this virtue was one of the biggest impediments to my diving headlong into the wearing of these implements in the first place, until just recently (i.e., just in the last four-years). The wearing of tzitzits out in public certainly places an often unwanted spotlight light on you and it tends to do so at the most inopportune times. It is not uncommon to have some random individual come up to you on the street or in a workplace or a business and inquire what those things hanging from your waist are and why are you wearing them.

Yet, tzitzit wearing probably offers one of the greatest witnessing opportunities available to us, short of engaging in old-fashion street-corner evangelism and personal, individual witnessing.

As unwelcoming and as disconcerting as such random inquiries may be, especially to natural introverts such as me, it is those opportunities that that tzitzit wearing offers to the Torah Observant Believer in Yahoshua Messiah that is one of greatest virtues associated with the wearing of these commanded implements. The other great virtues of wearing tzitzits, of course, are the opportunities to obey Yahuah/Yahovah/Yahweh our Elohim  and to be reminded of Him and His commandments and desired way of life that He has set out before us throughout each and everyday.

 Where do you Stand on Tzitzit Wearing?

So I must ask you, dear Saint, dear Son and Daughter of the Most High Elohim: If you do not wear tzitzits in public, each and everyday, and you are a Torah Observant Believer in Yahoshua Messiah, may I ask you why you do not wear them? I would love to hear your perspective on this matter. Simply write your position in the comment section that proceeds this post.

Bear in mind: I do not judge nor condemn any who chooses not to wear tzitzits: wearing or not wearing tzitzits is between you and our Creator.

I will touch upon this subject in coming postings and I hope that you will return and read, reflect, share and opine at your convenience and leisure. We are all in this walk both individually and collectively and it is my greatest desire that this journey of mine (for lack of a better discriptor) wil not so much “talk at you” about issues and topics that I find to be of significance to us as Torah Observant Believers in Yeshua Messiah, but moreso to encourage you and cause you to reflect upon these issues; and as a result, that you, like me, will seek Abba Father regarding His eternal will for our lives that will glorify Him and bring a smile to His Face.

Until next time me friend and brother and sister in the Faith Once Delivered, I bid you Shalom.

Faithfully Yours in Yahoshua our Master,

Rod Thomas

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Post Passover–Feast of Unleavened Bread Thoughts and Reflections–STAR-85

by | Apr 29, 2017 | Blog, Podcasts

Post Passover–Feast of Unleavened Bread Thoughts and Reflections–STAR-85

Post Passover-Feast of Unleavened Bread Thoughts and Reflections--STAR-85

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer's Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections

This is Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections—Episode 85—My Post-Passover-Feast of Unleavened Bread Thoughts and Reflections

 

Greetings fellow Saints in Training. I am trusting that this episode of Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections finds you, your families and fellowships well and bless.

 

Hey, how was your Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread celebration? I hope they were spiritually enriching and that you received the blessings that you were hoping and looking for.

 

As I am posting this episode, we find ourselves just having entered the second Biblical Month of the Creator’s Calendar Year, with the renewed moon sighted over the land of Israel yesterday, 4/28/2017. Having just concluded Passover and the 7-Day Observance of the Feasts of Unleavened Bread (aka Matzah) less than 2-weeks ago, we now turn our sights to Shavuot (aka Pentecost), the final installment of the Spring Feasts of Yahuwah, which will hit us on 6/4/2017.

 

As it relates to my Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread observance this year, Hilary and I stayed local, but we did vacate our home and checked in to a hotel for the week. We realize that we cannot keep Passover and Unleavened Bread the way Torah expressly lays out for us given that the Romans in 70 C.E. destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem and that Yeshua’s sacrifice replaced the animal sacrifices. Nevertheless, the once majestic temple that once stood in Jerusalem is gone but has been replaced by these bodies of ours  and it is our bodies that Abba’s Ruach dwells (I Corinthians 3:16; 6:19). Thus we honor the Feasts of Yahuwah as Abba commanded (Leviticus 23) through fellowshipping with other like-minded Believers in Yeshua Messiah as Father provides. It becomes our greatest pleasure, or it should be, to welcome each feast as it comes with joy and great anticipation, for these are Abba’s appointed times—the sacred moedim of Yahuwah. Father did not abolish His feasts as so many of our cousins in Christianity are quick to point out to us. They are to remain in perpetuity and they serve a divine purpose of reminding us of the great things that Father has done for us through His Son Yeshua Messiah and the great things to come for those who are His and await His coming and the establishment of His Kingdom here on earth.

 

We know for a fact that Yeshua kept the feasts as did the apostles, especially Paul who wrote to the Corinthian Assembly of Believers: “Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (I Corinthians 5:8, NAS).’

 

So who are we to shirk the feasts? While the world is falling apart by its seams, we are blessed to have Yeshua, Torah and the Feasts of Yahuwah. Amein.

 

With that my beloved, let us get on with some post Thoughts and Reflections on Passover and Unleavened Bread.

In Love With the Feast of Yah!

 

I am a “down-right,” “bought and paid-for,” fanatic when it comes to the Feasts of Yahuwah/Yahovah/Yahweh. Ever since I officially began observing the feasts back in 2004, I take the greatest joy in their observance and the celebratory opportunities they provide the Torah observant believer in Yeshua Messiah.

 

Looking Back at the Beginning

 

When I first began observing them, I, as I am certain any new believer to our Faith has experienced, met each Feast with somewhat of a tense sense of anticipation. What I mean by this is that, we begin our “Feasts-honoring-careers” (if you will) with a deep, heartfelt desire to “do the Feasts” properly (knowing now that there is no Biblical-specifics as to what constitutes “proper” when it comes to 21st-century Feast observances) and in such a manner that it would be pleasing to Abba; we did not want to screw any of these celebrations up.

 

So at the beginning of my Feasts-honoring-career,” I began to over-do them (the Feasts that is) to such an extent that the Feasts became somewhat burdensome for me and I began to question: were we doing this thing correctly; were we dishonoring Father in the way we were observing the Feasts; what will my family members and co-workers think of me taking off so much time from work and life in general to observe—what?—dead Jewish holidays that even the Jews don’t truly observe anymore; do we have the correct dates for the Feasts; would we be ready in time to begin the observance; what is the point behind the observances anyway? Yaddy…yaddy…yaddy.

 

Still Concerned About the Feasts

 

These questions and concerns haunted me in the first couple years back when I first converted, and to a lesser extent, they still haunt me even to this day. Oh, these questions and concerns have somewhat morphed over the years, I’ll be honest to say, taking on more of a deeper, personal concern: will we squander the opportunities the feasts provide by not seeking out every possible opportunity; what does Abba want us to gain from the experience; who are the best persons to observe the feasts with—just Hilary, friends or a particular fellowship-gathering; what is reasonable to spend (money-wise) in order to honor Yah through observing His feasts in the spirit that Abba would justly require?

 

This Passover a Bust?

 

This particular Passover celebration season proved a challenging one for me in terms of these and other stated concerns. This particular year was quite odd in that my concerns centered upon what Abba wanted me to gain from the celebration period. (Yes, I know, touching on being a bit inwardly focused in my concerns, but I am giving you my sincerest thoughts.)

 

I will be honest with you: for much of the 8-day observance period (i.e., the day we identify as Passover, followed by the 7-days of Unleavened Bread), I felt troubled and frankly, empty. I just could not identify what I was supposed to be getting out of the weeklong observance. Oh, I delved into some moderately deep Scriptural studies; some teachings online; and some personal reflections and prayer throughout the week, yet by week’s end, I was still unclear what I gained (spiritually speaking that is) from the celebration week.

 

Yes, I believe (it’s a quirk of mine) that we are to gain or get something out of each feast observance—that we must leave each feast celebration in a better spiritual place than when we began the feast, otherwise I feel as though I’ve missed what Father would have in store for me. Moreover, I do not want to miss a thing that Father has for me.

 

Father’s Feasts

 

These are supposed to be Abba’s appointed times that He established at the very beginning to meet with us (Genesis 1:14; Leviticus 23:4; Psalm 104:19; Daniel 2:21) collectively and individually, especially during the three-pilgrimage Feasts of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23), Shavuot (aka Pentecost or Feast of Weeks) and Sukkot (aka Feast of Tabernacles or Booths). I believe that is one of the distinct reasons Father commanded us to pack up and go to where He chose to place his Name and to celebrate these times before Him in joy and in reverence and in anticipation of a spiritual blessing (Leviticus 23; Deuteronomy 12, 14, 16 and 26). These feasts gatherings are “dates” we are privileged to have with the Most High and they should be some of the most memorable, beautiful, spiritually romantic, substantive periods in our lives.

 

A Date with the Creator

 

I remember when I was courting my lovely wife, Hilary, back in the day: oh, how I looked forward with indescribable anticipation the dates we would have. Each date we’d set would result in my mind being almost entirely focused upon the plans that we’d made and how I could make those plans even more special for her. When the time came for our date to begin, there was a joy and an anticipation of a wondrous time that I would have with her and how much closer we would become because of the experience. Those were heady and crazy times, looking back 36-years ago. Talk about “first love.”

 

Somehow, I believe my dates—those set, annual, appointed times with Yahuwah—must exceed the dating experiences I used to experience with Hilary three and a half decades ago.

 

The question for me becomes–how do I capture that same sense of anticipation and joy in my celebration of the feasts, and for that matter, exceed them?

 

Not Much Joy this Passover

 

Sadly, I was lacking that sense of anticipation and joy this year and that has somewhat disappointed me. Do I feel that the entire Passover period was a spiritual bust for me? No, not in the least, but it was not joyous nor inspiring. I will explain in just a second.

 

Introspective—Testing—Bitter Sweet—Revelatory Type Passover

 

This Passover for me was more of introspection and a time of testing and spiritual self-inventory; it was more of a bitter experience than a pleasant one. Now this does not mean that the experience was not spiritually good for me. On the contrary, I believe it proved to be a most spiritually beneficial feast for me as a Spirit-Filled Torah Observant Believer in Yeshua Messiah. No, it was not one of those “hang out with the brethren” Feasts this year—it was something else: revelation; introspection; inquiry; concern; regrets are just a few of the descriptors of my time last week. Again, it all came down to what I gained from the experience. It is all about spiritual gain: growth; spiritual development; spiritual and personal insight; fellowship (when available); rest, both spiritually and physically; peace; opportunity; worship; and celebration—celebration of life, who I am as a Son of the Most High, of my redemption, of my tremendous good fortune in Father’s adoption of me as His child. Of course, there is much more.

 

So what did I come away with—or what did I gain—from this year’s Passover? I came away with the following things that, quite frankly, I’m still working through even as I write this post: first, the “love of the many” has seemingly “waxed cold” in our Faith Community and I’m afraid to say that even I may also be infected with this malady; secondly, the Passover-Unleavened Bread observance was more than just a reminder that sin must be purged from our lives; and thirdly, as much as I prefer introversion as my primary framework for worship, I found that I missed fellowshipping with other like-minded believers apart from Hilary.

 

I know, a bummer, right? Well, not exactly. What these elements have begun to teach me is that I, Rod, have a ton of work that needs to be completed in my life and that I must decide where my heart, mind and soul truly will lay in my remaining years on this earth before Master returns.

 

Allow me to reflect upon each of these 3-areas if you don’t mind.

The Love of the Many…in Hebrew Roots

 

The first of these 3-reflective areas of Passover has to do with my perception—dare I say heartfelt concern—that love is quickly vanishing from the ranks of our Faith Community, if it has not already done so by now.

 

Despite the reality of our abject preoccupation with Torah, one of the central, dare I say essential criterion of being a member of the Hebrew Roots Community, is that Yahoshua/Yahshua is our Master and we are compelled to obey Him as we obey our Creator Yahuwah. For some odd reason, a huge swath of Torah-keeping believers have all but abandoned Yeshua and have turned their lives almost entirely to a radical form of Judaism or have adopted a Judaistic-like worldview. One believer that I came across in social media aptly dubbed these individuals as “Yeshua-haters;” and indeed, given the excessive venom and vile disdain these individuals have for anyone who doesn’t see the things of our Faith as they do, this title certainly fits these individuals to a tee.

 

Nevertheless, Master Yeshua and His teachings if ignored will have eternal repercussions.

 

Shaul (aka the Apostle Paul), in his letter to the Assembly of Believers in Philippi, so eloquently wrote of our Master: “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Messiah Yahoshua, who, although He existed in the form of Yahuwah/Yahweh/Yahovah (i.e., having the qualities and characteristics of His Father), did not regard equality with Yahuwah a thing to be grasped (i.e., a thing to take hold of), but emptied Himself (He essentially set aside His favored status with the Father), taking the form of a bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, Yahuwah highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name (i.e., above every authority), so that at the name of Yeshua every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth (i.e., every created being that has ever existed), and that every tongue will confess that Yeshua Messiah is Master, to the glory of Yahuwah the Father (Philippians 2: 5-11; NAS, amended by me).

 

So with this knowledge being set firmly in our hearts and minds, it makes undeniable sense that we should do what Yeshua tells us to do; that of course assumes that He is indeed Master over our lives, having been appointed as such by Yahuwah His Father. I would further submit that this point is not up for debate, nor is it optional.

 

Now, Master gave us a commandment, that He stipulated as a “new” instruction or commandment, and that instruction is found exclusively in John’s gospel, chapters 13 and 15 which reads: “A new commandment I give to you that you love one another just as I have loved you; you also are to love one another” (13:34, ESV); and “This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you” (15:12; ESV).

 

As an aside, I find it fascinating how this concept of love for one another seemed to resonate so profoundly with John, whom the writing suggests the Master loved exceptionally so. This commandment resonated with John so much that he even referenced it in his first and second general epistles—I John 4:21; 2 John 1:5.

 

So the question I have for our community today is–where is the love? Why is our Faith Community so devoid of love for one another? Why do we persistently hate on one another? Why do we despise one another over the most innocuous things and cut off fellowship with one another because we interpret elements of our Faith differently from one another? This thing is worse than money and politics in the carnal world, for these are just two examples of things that have the potential to sever most relationships between once respecting and even loving peoples.

 

For some bizarre reason we have many angry and mean folks attaching themselves to our community who seem quite obtuse to the aforementioned Johannine passages.

 

Yes, people in our Faith Community can be exceptionally mean and these exceptionally mean people have no problem eating you alive in person or online over the most innocuous Torah topics. I got into, yet, another fight on Facebook the week of Passover, this time over the Biblical validity of what I often refer to as the Lunar Sabbath debacle. That on-line conflict essentially ruined an entire day of the Feast for me; I was outraged at the arrogance of the two individuals who insisted that we Torah-keepers are for all-intents and purposes lower forms of life and, as one of them called me, infidels, for not adopting this evil, baseless doctrine that seems to be setting up shop in our community. How does such a ridiculous doctrine, obviously from the pit of hades itself, find such a zealous home in the hearts of once devout Hebrew Rooters? I just do not get it. Then those very same Hebrew Rooters, now converted Lunar Sabbatarians, take on a sense of brutal arrogance that seeks to shut down those of us who do not agree with it.

 

Another Facebook conflict happened to me just this week, although I was not a willing participant in this conflict, which involved a long-time Facebook friend (whatever that actually means these days), who posted a scathing retort on my Facebook page over my referring to Abba as—wait, here it comes—God! Yes, I dared to refer to Yahuwah, our Elohim, by the title of God. Okay, since when did it become a crime in Hebrew Roots to use the title God? Honestly, how many of us grew up calling our Creator by what we presume to be His true name today—Yahweh—Yahovah—Yahuwah? I can pretty much guess, not very many of us, and oh, by the way, our best guesses at the Creator’s Name is just that—best guesses. No one alive today truly knows the correct pronunciation of the Creator’s Name. However, there are certain members of this sacred names sect that will cut you down just as quick as the lunar Sabbatarians. Again, where is the love that Master commanded us to show towards one another? Indeed, the love of the many in our community has waxed ever so cold.

 

Nevertheless, what Father has revealed to me in the midst of my outrage and disappointment (in those who are supposed to be Spirit-filled and possess love for God and for brother/sister) is that the tares and wheat MUST grow together until the time of harvest, otherwise in uprooting the tares to free the wheat, the wheat will be uprooted in the process (Matthew 13:24-30). Furthermore, it’s too bad that my little feelings were hurt as a result of a couple of personal attacks over such non-issues and topics as the Lunar Sabbath debacle or even the Pharisaic attempts by some to stamp out the use of the term God from all Hebrew Rooter vernacular. In addition, I am almost certain that many of you listening to me today have endured such attacks from the ultra-conservative, radical arm of our community. These and other such fights are not mine to wage, as much as my ire towards those who seek to harm our Faith Community with their lies is so easily kindled when they so arrogantly go about their trolling for new converts to their confederacy of evil.

The Bread of Affliction

Unleavened Bread—A Time to Embrace Affliction

 

The second of my three reflective areas for this Passover season has to do with the concept of affliction. Allow me to explain.

 

This past Passover and Unleavened Bread season was particularly challenging for me on a couple of levels. To begin with, Hilary and I are working through some major life-changes that involve relocating cross-country to attend to ailing family members and initiate a full-time ministry. Can I just say—this is one of the most challenging things we have ever done in our 3-1/2-decades of married life. I will not bore you with the particulars, but suffice to say, this is turning out to be something that I will be happy to see come to a complete end here shortly, Abba willing and the crick don’t rise.

 

Along with that, the situation back East with my aging and ailing loved ones seems to have taken quite a turn for the worse and I’m having to deal with a great deal of guilt over not being there, and of course, the tremendous anxiety of not getting this whole “relocation” thing over and done with fast enough. I guess it comes down to a “woe is me” situation playing out in my head. It is weighing heavy on it adversely affected, not just and me how I was relating to my beloved Hilary, but it was weighing heavy on my focus during the entire Passover week.

 

Therefore, I struggled to maintain a positive focus during the week of Passover and Unleavened Bread in the midst of my guilt and worries, while at the same time fighting to identify what it was I was supposed to be learning for the Feast-week.

 

With all, that I have mentioned that was going on with me during that week, turns out that I did not gain an understanding of what Father had for me in terms of that Passover week until the Last Day of Unleavened Bread. Upon tuning in to House of Israel in Charlotte North Carolina from Hilary and my hotel room (having vacated our home in honor of the Feast week), I received the understanding I was searching for. That understanding was something that I have always known about in the back of my mind, but never thought to apply it to myself, David, a minister at House of Israel, delivered it to me.

 

David reminded me that most of us place quite a bit of focus on sin as it relates to the Feast of Unleavened Bread; that is, the elimination of sin from our lives. The popular teaching in our Faith Community is that the Feast of Unleavened Bread provides a prophetic-framework that reminds us that Abba’s plan of salvation and His purpose for sending us Master Yeshua was to vanquish sin from our lives—both imputed vanquishing of past sins through Abba’s grace and Yeshua’s sacrifice, and our daily work of eliminating sin from every aspect of our lives through obedience to Torah and the transformative work of the Ruach HaKodesh (i.e., the Holy Spirit) in our lives.

 

Indeed, this is a crucial aspect of our lives that I believe we must keep in the forefront of our thoughts, and thus we fight the good fight daily of dying to self.

 

Yet until David’s teaching, I felt as though Abba was shortchanging me this Feast. Oh, how wrong could I have been!

 

The other aspect of Unleavened Bread we tend to overlook in our Faith Community is the historical link between the consumption of Unleavened Bread during the 7-day Feast week and the years of horrendous bondage that we endured in Egypt. Abba referred to those years of bondage as “affliction” (that is, “oniy”) (Exodus 3:17) and that affliction is memorialized in the leavened bread that we consume during the week and the bitter herbs we cringe to eat during the Pecach meal (Deuteronomy 16:3).

 

Affliction, the consuming of matzah and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are intricately linked. Unleavened bread is symbolic of affliction. Let us face it, leavened products can be quite pleasing to the pallet and appealing to the eyes; whereas unleavened products tend to appear bland and taste equally so. It is often a challenge to willingly submit oneself to consuming something that is as distasteful as unleavened bread (aka matzah) for seven days, especially when there is so many other options readily available to us.

 

Have you noticed breads, cakes and cookies seem to find their way in our line of vision annoying so during the week of Unleavened Bread? Fortunately, I love the celebrating this feast more than I care for leavened foods.

 

What then is the nexus between unleavened bread and affliction? Well, for me, affliction is certainly not something that I relish taking place in my life. Yet I am not so naive to know that bad times come upon us when they come and often there is little that we can do about them. Often times they come as a result of something bad that we’ve done, thus affliction is the reaping of that which we’ve badly sown (Galatians 6:7-9). The Tanakh is filled with examples of affliction brought about through disobedience or evil deeds.

 

Afflictions come to us at times to prove us and build us up in the areas of our lives that are spiritually lacking and if those areas are not refined and molded properly, we become useless to Father (Job 4, 8, 11, 18), and this my dear friends is one of the areas of affliction that seems to applied to me the most. There are many areas of my life that need refining and strengthening in order for me, and yes you, to be the vessels that Father is desirous of us to work out His purpose in the earth.

 

Afflictions come to us at times to test us—to show to Father, the world and to us, that we’ve overcome our weaknesses and have died to self and are ready to truly be Yahushua’s disciples (again, see the story of Job).

 

Afflictions come to us at times to bring Abba glory. I know, how strange to apply such a concept—affliction—to the glory of Yahuwah, but David did a fantastic job pointing out that the Scriptures are filled with examples of people being healed and miracles transpiring all over the place for the express purpose of our God gaining the glory He so justly deserves (John 9:1-5).

 

Afflictions come to us at times to draw us closer to Father and to put us into “a right relationship with Yahuwah.”

 

In the case of our Master, afflictions came to Him to atone for the sins of the world. We deserved to be on that execution stake, but our Master took on that penalty for us and thus we’ve been gloriously released from the eternal sin debt that haunts all mankind from birth (Isaiah 53:3-7).

 

The first thing that comes to my mind whenever I sense affliction has come to my world is that God is out to get me. I recall growing up in Baltimore during the 1960’s and 1970’s, in a Southern Baptist environment, and whenever someone would be afflicted with whatever, the common thinking amongst the holy rollers was that God was getting some payback. In some cases, this may have been true, but the more accurate way of looking at these situations should have been that Father was not intending to destroy those who were being afflicted (as with us today), but was simply working these individuals through any of the above noted situations.

 

What I came away with this Unleavened Bread season was that afflictions are a big part of our walk with Messiah and as distasteful as afflictions may be (just like the taste of matzah), there is a divine purpose behind them. Our desire should be, then, to readily accept those afflictions and endure them (2 Timothy 2:10), no matter how bad they may get. As the affliction progresses, it then becomes our responsibility to turn fully to Yahuwah and resist the temptation to complain to the world about our issues (Colossians 1:24); to rejoice  in Yahuwah for the great things He is presently doing and is going to do in our lives (Philippians 4:4) and give Abba thanks, even though when afflictions hit, it’s often a challenge to do so (I Thessalonians 5:18).

 

This is the life we signed up for and it took this Unleavened Bread season for me to have this reality revealed to me. Praise Yahuwah for David’s teaching and for delivering to me that missing piece of the Unleavened Bread puzzle that eluded me for most of the Feast this past season.

 

Missing Fellowship

 

The last reflection has to do with my missing the joy of formal fellowship this Passover season. This was one of the first years in a few years where we, Hilary and I, celebrated Pecach and the Feast of Unleavened Bread alone, outside of a formal fellowship-type gathering. I must admit that I missed having that formal-fellowship this season. We were blessed to be able to tune into the Michael Rood Passover celebration, broadcasted on the internet for a fee by the Rood organization. I have some personal misgivings about this whole thing that I will save discussing for another time, but we did get some semblance of fellowship through this live-internet broadcast. Additionally, House of Israel broadcasts first and last day of Unleavened Bread teachings and praise and worship services that I found helped lessen my feelings of missing fellowship.

 

It was not the same, and I am hoping that next year, if Master tarries, Hilary and I will have the blessing of fellowshipping with a group of like-minded Spirit-Filled Torah Observant Believers in Yeshua Messiah.

 

King David wrote, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” (Psalm 133:1, KJV). As convenient and cost effective as on-line programs such as was offered by House of Israel and the Rood organization, I can attest that tuning in to on-line programs during the feasts does not compare to actually being with and in the midst of the brethren.

Concluding Thoughts and Reflections

 

I’ve shared with you just a few thoughts and reflections that I gained from last week’s Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread celebration. Looking back to that week, I can honestly say that it was bitter sweet for me. Part of me wished that it would have been different; that it would have been like in years past when we fellowshipped with other like-minded believers in a formal fellowship setting and that things were going along in our lives swimmingly and without the problems that I described to you earlier. Turns out, I did not have such a pleasant experience this go-round.

 

I should say that I cannot attest for Hilary’s experience this season, but I think she spent a great amount of time putting together some teachings that you might find of spiritual value; and you may find them at www.itsnotasyouperceive.com.

 

The other part of me, however, is thankful for the week. I can say, without reservation that I’ve gained more spiritually from this year’s Passover/Unleavened Bread season than I’ve gained spiritually in past years. I’m still “feasting,” if you will, from the various elements of this year’s feast, as bitter as those elements turned out to be, and I am seeing myself from the perspective of someone who remains a “work in progress” and who has a long ways to go as it relates to meeting that mark for the prize of the high calling of Yahuwah in Messiah Yeshua.

 

It is my hope and trust that you too had a blessed Passover/Unleavened Bread season, not just celebratory-wise, but spiritual-wise. I do not know what is going on in your life today nor do I know what transpired in your life during the Feast last week. All I know is that Father is preparing for Himself a people who will finally fulfill the void left behind by our forefathers who chose to follow other elohim. Father is going to fix that problem soon and eventually, all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:26). As it relates to us today, Abba is preparing a nation of priests for this world and it is my sincerest hope that we all find ourselves busy at work doing that which Father has commanded us to do and that we ultimately find ourselves happily and eternally housed in the soon coming Kingdom of Yahuwah.

 

I would have once said, hasten and come now Master Yahoshua, come now, but after this past feast season, I’m hoping He tarries just a little longer so that I can get my act together and fulfill the mission that He’s given me; there’s just so much remaining that needs to be done.

 

Nevertheless, may Yahuwah bless you and keep you and may His glorious face shine ever so brightly upon you and that you live in complete shalom. Until next week my dear friends and fellow saints in training.

 

Faithfully

 

Rod Thomas

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Interpreting the Bible Literally and Eating Unleavened Bread for 7-Days?

by | Apr 18, 2017 | Blog

Interpreting the Bible Literally and Eating Unleavened Bread for 7-Days?

Feast of Unleavened Bread–Thus Saith the LORD!

As is my typical custom during this time of the Biblical Calendar year, i read and re-read Torah’s account and instructions regarding the Passover.

What I especially enjoy doing, though, is reading entire passages of Torah surrounding Passover (e.g., the entire chapter of Exodus 12 and 16, etc.)  through the lenses of various translations. I have found that most, if not all, of the mainstream, authorized translations (whatever that truly means) are in sync with one another. Thus, there is little to no variation in the rending of the various aspects of Passover and Unleavened Bread, from one translations to the next.

I came to the passage of Torah where Abba instructed us to eat Unleavened Bread for 7-days (Exodus 12:15; 13:6,7; 23:15; 34:18; Num. 28:17; and Deut. 16:3). Regardless what translation I would use to read these specific passages, the instruction from Abba Father remained unequivocal: we are to eat unleavened bread during this 7-day observance, period.

Taking into account the teachings of some of our more conservative Torah and Bible teachers, a literal read of Scripture is always preferred and considered wise and safe than an allegorical or mystical or whatever, read of Scripture. One Torah teacher–who I fully respect in terms of him as a person and his ministry/teaching–in his Discipleship 101 course teaches that a literal read of Scripture is always preferred over any other method of interpretation.

I have always leaned towards a literal read and interpretation of the Holy Writ. However, as I delve deeper and deeper into Biblical studies and am more and more exposed to various teachings from other Torah-centered teachers, I’m finding that a full literal read and interpretation of Scripture may not always be the wisest course of study to take.

Literal Interpretation

By the way, a literal interpretation or read of Scripture is simply taking any Scriptural passage of interest and assuming an interpretatin or understanding of that passage as it is written (literally that is). The problem with relying solely upon a literal intepretation or understanding of Scripture is that, when one embarks upon such a method of interpretation, they will invariably run into passages where the literal interpretation is risky at best. (For example, if one’s eye offends one, pluck it out: thus one should literally gouge out his or her eye if it causes them to stumble? Not likely the optimal thing to do when there are other options available to one with an erring eye.)

On the other hand, an allegorical interpretation or read of Scripture assumes a great deal more liberty in one’s understanding of the passage in question. When one chooses to read Scripture from a less than literal sense (e.g., allegorical or mystical), one’s interpretation is left up to one’s unique worldview, which of course, is shaped by a great number of things, including culture and religion, just to name a couple things. The problem with taking on a less than literal interpretation of Scripture is that there is no one true interpretation: any interpretation or understanding of any passage of Scripture is highly subject to so many variables, and thus, such a method is often not a reliable means of interpreting or understanding the Holy Writ.

Do we eat Unleavened Bread Exclusively for 7-Days?

Eat Unleavened Bread 7-Days says Yahuah our Elohim

Take for instance this passage where Abba instructed us to consume Unleavened Bread for 7-days. How many teachings have you come across where we were instructed to consume just unleavened bread and nothing more? For that matter, assuming a less severe read of these passages, how many teachings have you come across where we are taught to actually consume unleavened bread each of the 7-days of the feast of unleavened bread. And if so, are we actually carrying through with such understanding?

A Question of a Literal Translation or Just an Ideal?

I entered into this Faith Community through two of the Church of God splinter groups. It was here where I became indoctrinated (for lack of a better word) into the practice of buying a massive size box of matzah for the family and consuming matzah each day during the 7-day Feast cycle, and I to this day, continue to practice this without hesitation.

Neverthess, I still come back to this command to eat unleavened bread for 7-days: do we eat unleavened bread as our sole source of sustenance during this 7-day period or do we simply augment our diets with unleavened bread throughout the 7-day feast cycle? I’m inclined to say the latter, but I still wonder about the former. There seems to be no question that we subsisted solely upon leaven for 7-days on our journey toward Mount Sinai. Did Father intend for that application to fade away under the renewed covenant in Yeshua Messiah, or to remain as a lesson and Faith building tool? Most of us continue to abstain from any food on Atonement; why then do we presume that eat unleavened bread 7-days does not mean eat unleavened bread 7-days? Curious situation.

Journeying across the desert eating unleavened bread

But…But…But!

This is where I start to really reflect and think about what Abba was trying to get across to us during our journey from Goshen to Sinai. Indeed, all indications are that we subsisted during this 7-day jaunt across the desert solely upon unleavened bread (and I’m assuming water as well). Clearly, our abrupt exodus out of Egypt necessitated, in great part, our use of unleavened bread. Yet, there was obviously a greater lesson to be had in this subsistence on unleavened bread for 7-days.

I happened upon a Facebook post this morning where a wise brother in our Faith Community, summed up this very thing: that of having our souls brought into strick obedience to Abba’s instructions, even to the point of our subsistence on unleavened bread. We provided through Abba’s providence, unleavened bread for our sustenance. However, at the end of the 7-days subsisting on unleavened bread, Father provided us bread (i.e., mannah) that was not made by man.

Your Word is Truth Abba

Literal Read or What?

Obviously, Father intended that we eat unleavened bread for 7-days as we transversed the Sinai desert; the fulness of that intention I believe must be fleshed out if we are to truly understand and observe Passover/Unleavened Bread to its fullest purpose.

As much as I am a proponent for a rational interepretation and understanding of Scripture (for the most part), I believe there are some passages of the Holy Writ where we should actually take what Father says literally. In this case, I would venture to say that maybe–just maybe–subsisting on just unleavened bread for the entirety of 7-days might be something to seriously consider if we are interested in manifesting our profession of Faith into action.

What mysteries and spiritual growth opportunities await us if we were to simply step out in Faith and eat just unleavened bread? I don’t know. In this day of hip-hop Christianity and declining Christian Church rolls, one has to to ask: what separates us from them? Sure, we observe the 7-Feasts of Yahuah; we keep the Sabbath; we don’t eat pork; and we abhor Christmas and Easter. So what? We’ve shown that we can be obedient in a few areas. But what about the weightier aspects of Torah as Master suggested? What about the exploits that Master and His disciples displayed and experienced? Why is our Faith Community lacking in so many areas? Why has our loved waxed cold?

Maybe I’m making a moutain out of a mole hill, or am I? Just maybe, next year this time, I’ll put this Torah commandment to a literal test and see where it leads me. Couldn’t hurt–apart from hunger pains and eventually becoming tired of eating matzah.

Faithfully

Rod

One of the Greatest Passover Mysteries of the Ages Revealed-STAR-84

by | Apr 12, 2017 | Blog, Podcasts

One of the Greatest Passover Mysteries of the Ages Revealed-STAR-84

One of the Greatest Passover Mysteries of the Ages Revealed-STAR-84

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer's Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections

The Greatest Passover Mystery of the Ages is Found in the Knowledge and Understanding of Who Yeshua HaMashiyach Is.

For some strange reason, a rather sizable chunk of Rooters seem to be more focused upon the mechanical observance of Passover than upon the revealed renewed covenant observance of the event.

What I mean by this is that in so many discussions that I’ve recently seen or read online about Passover, Yeshua is virtually never mentioned in terms of observance and focus. It’s almost as if we are blind to the fact that under the renewed covenant (see the Cepher of Hebrews for a detailed explanation), as Spirit-Filled Torah Observant Believers in Yeshua Messiah, our focus is no longer centered upon the Levitical-based administration of the Feasts of Yahweh/Yahovah/Yahuah. It’s a shocking thing to witness. Many of us have regressed back to a point where we were at Sinai when we worshiped the Creator through mechanical obedience to His written instruction to Mosheh. And this is where our Fundamental Christianity cousins peg us in many cases rather accurately: that we’ve become these legalists who seek to purchase our salvation through works that Shaul (i.e., Paul) seemed to struggle in ad nauseum with first-century Judaizers in the assemblies he was instrumental in founding.

I used to reject that line of thinking and accusation. However, given what I’ve been reading and hearing of late, maybe our cousins are not too far off as it relates to a certain segment of our Faith Community.

Somehow, someway, we must pack our spiritual bags and move from under Mount Sinai before it’s too late. As the redeemed of the Most High, we’ve been called to a life way way beyond that of Sinai living. Sinai served it’s great purpose, and for all intents and purposes, so did Yerushalayim and her Mishkin.

The Renewed Covenant Inbound to a Believer Near You!

Master revealed to the Samaritan woman at the well in Shechem: Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (Joh 4:21-24 KJV)

Now many in our crowd would challenge me, asserting that this time that Master is referring to has not arrived yet and that this time in which He speaks is during the latter rain and outpouring of the Ruach HaKodesh (aka, the Holy Spirit). These believe that we should continue in the ways of the Old Covenant until such time when Mashiyach pours out His Spirit on all flesh and reveals His new covenant to the world, regardless in many cases of Torah obedience when taking care of business at the Temple in Yerushalayim was necessary.

I personally believe that thinking to be hogwash. Bognosh. Foolishness. Fodder from the pit of hell.

The Temple—the Mishkin—was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E. (and if you’re a Rood follower, 68 C.E.). With the Temple gone and Yerushalayim made a desolate place at that time in history, a huge chunk of how we observe Torah changed. And that changed didn’t just occur because the Temple went bye-bye. It changed because our Older Brother, Yahoshua HaMashiyach, paid the death penalty on our behalf and made a great deal of the Temple rites obsolete.

Yeshua is our New High Priest Superseding the Old Levitical Priesthood

The Book of Hebrews, chapters 9 and 10 go into great detail to spell out for us the changes that came about when Master paid the ultimate price for us. Essentially, the old covenant transitioned from that mechanical obedience to Torah and using the blood of animals as a means of sin propitiation. That sin propitiation did not eliminate the sin for good in the eyes of a Holy God. Nor did that sin propitiation pay in full the debt that we each owed for our sins which is eternal death.

The Old Temple rites served only as a temporary measure to address the sin issue that has haunted each and every human since the fall in the Garden of Eden. This was administered via the Levitical Priesthood through the Temple services and rites.

So along come Master Yeshua, bringing with Him the Gospel of the Kingdom as his primary purpose, but who also assumed the covert mission of dealing with the sin issue once and for all and making available to all men the opportunity to escape eternal death. Master Yahoshua, after His passion on the execution stake, assumed the most central role in all of humanity—the role of the High Priest, not under the old Levitical Priesthood, but under the Priesthood of the Melekzedek (aka Melchizidek).

Worshiping Father in Spirit and in Truth Today!

If we but pay close attention to the words Master spoke to the Samarittan woman, it would seem crystal clear that the enactment of the renewed covenant is not to take place in some obscure time in the unforeseen future, but was happening right around the time Master delivered this news.

Master said: “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.”

And of the type of worshiper Abba is looking for even back then, Master was clear: “for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.”

So I would encourage that we stop this non-sense talk which on serves, in my opinion, to put us back at the base of Mount Sinai and blindly obey Torah, thinking that there is coming a day when the new covenant will alter somehow the way we worship the Creator. That new way is already here and has been here for some 2,000 or so years. It’s already here and in effect! That new covenant and new way that we are to worship Yahuah our Elohim took effect right after Master rose from the grave and presented Himself before His Father in heaven.

Why do we Stay at Sinai?

So my question to the Body of Mashiyach this Passover/Unleavened Bread season is: why do we insist on staying hunkered down at the base of Mount Sinai? What practical purpose does it serve? Why have we ceremoniously relegated Master Yahoshua, after what He greatly accomplished on our behalf, to a tertiary role in our Faith.

Why tertiary? Because first we listen and obey the teachings of the Rabbis and the “jack-legs of our Faith over that which is instructed in the Bible. From there we pay obligatory service, although meager at best, to Torah by reading into Torah that which is no longer applicable.

One sister in the Faith posted a comment to me on YouTube the other day stating that according to Torah, all “Ger” (whatever that means) and Torah Observers must pilgrim over to Jerusalem every Passover, regardless whether there is a Temple standing or no. So I asked her to provide me some biblical support for this Torah commandment. I’m still waiting to receive those support passages. Nevertheless, I believe I know where she’s getting this idea of every believer having to pilgrim over to Jerusalem for Passover. Torah does assign the Feasts of Passover/Unleavened Bread, Shavuot (Pentecost) and Sukkot (Tabernacles) as pilgrim feasts. And when were were assigned to go to the “place where Abba placed His Name,” namely Shiloh and Jerusalem, we did so with clear understanding of what we were to do there and it all had to do with worship of Yahuah via the Temple service and the Levitical Priesthood.

Now commonsense should tell anyone who thinks as this dear sister thinks, that we all must pilgrim over to Jerusalem, that when we get to Jerusalem, what are we supposed to do? How are we to worship the Creator when there is no Temple nor Levites to administer the services of Yahuah? This is where rote, blind obedience to Torah, devoid of commonsense buys us—blind obedience to Laws that we won’t even take the time to examine and understand why we did them in the first place. Typically, this can be accomplished via a detailed study and understanding of the New Testament (i.e., the Brit HaDashah). Unfortunately, that is not something that interests many in our Faith Community. It’s just so much easier to blindly follow what is written in the Book. The problem is: by blindly following what’s written in the book without understanding in these days, one ends up displeasing the Father because we fail to worship Him as He has revealed to us how He wants to be worshiped.

Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God and Abba’s Righteousness

Certainly, there are some things in Torah that we simply do without having to do deep exegetical examinations: don’t steal; keep the Sabbath; don’t commit adultery or murder, and the like. But what about what Master instructed? Did He not tell us to “seek after His Kingdom and the righteousness of Yahuah before we did anything else?” And that by seeking after His Kingdom and His righteousness (that comes only through following Master’s example and teachings) first and foremost, everything else would fall into its proper order? I believe He did instruct that and it’s found in Matthew 6:33.

So many of us have been fed only a diet of Torah, Torah, Torah, but only a meager helping of Yeshua. I get it. For many of us, Hebrew Roots offered us a haven away from religiosity and thus rescued us from Western Christianity. So as part of a survival mechanism, if you will, we’ve developed this pseudo-amnesia as it relates to the renewed covenant, the work of the Ruach Kodesh in believers’ lives, and the sacrifice of Yeshua. We hide in Torah. We do stuff in Torah that frankly doesn’t make sense. But we do them anyway because Torah, in mechanical obedience to what is written and that is devoid of any revelation of the Ruach Kodesh and the teachings of Mashiyach, makes us feel that we are doing what we’re supposed to do. Case in point: traveling over to Jerusalem each year at Passover and hanging out I guess.

Or how about this: One dear Hebrew Roots brother and Torah teacher who I greatly respect and who is quite popular in our Hebrew Roots Community on YouTube, published a post this past week on the subject of Passover. I found virtually all of the content of that post to be spot on in terms of being biblically sound. However, he added one little piece to what otherwise was a brilliant post that essentially ruined the whole thing for me. He proudly declared that he butchers a lamb and applies the lamb’s blood to the door posts of his home each Passover. He cited Exodus 12 as the basis for this act. And Exodus 12 does clearly lay out the first Passover event that included slaying a lamb and applying the blood of that lamb to the lintels and door posts of each Hebrew home for purposes of escaping the “destroyer.” We all know the story.

This brother further supported the reason for his slaughtering a lamb and applying its blood on the door posts of his home by citing 12:24-28, which served to command us to guard the Pecach service as an ordinance forever as Yahuah’s Pecach. But this practice of slaughtering the pecach and applying the blood to our door posts is not explicitly mentioned in Leviticus 23, Numbers 9, nor in Numbers 33, all of which addresses various aspects of the Passover ordinance service, including the aspect of each participant of the ordinance being by necessity in a state of ritual purity.

But in Deuteronomy 16, just prior to our entering the land of promise, the Passover ordinance service changed somewhat and it was the Creator who changed it. And this change was not discussed by this dear brother in his YouTube post. And that change had to do with a prohibition being given against sacrificing the pecach in our gates—within the realm of our homes that is. The pecach, instead, had to sacrificed at the place that the Creator placed His eternal Name. In addition, we were instructed to turn over the whole process of sacrificing the pacech to the Levitical Priests who would administer the rites that were originally given back in Exodus. But this time, those rites would be applied to the alter at the Tabernacle and Temple. From there, the priests would apportion the pecach to our families for consumption and we were of course to consume the portions before sunup and whatever had not been consumed, it would have to be incinerated.

Yeshua is our Passover—Our Pecach

I said all this, not for purposes of brow-beating this dear brother and sister for their respective ideas and religious practices as related to Passover. But more so to provide a plausible example of how we can get ourselves in spiritual trouble.

And please, don’t misunderstand where I’m coming from. I have not in any way arrived. I am constantly searching for the Truth of any matter. I believe that whenever we get to the point that we feel we don’t need to search out matters of Faith anymore (Proverbs 25:2) , we condemn ourselves to the whims and foolish pandering of the rabbis and the crazies that have found homes in our Faith Community. But I’m preaching to the choir I’m sure.

I perceive Passover to be one of the Great Mysteries of the Ages. Passover was foretold to us back in the Garden at the Fall of man: I will put animosity between you and the woman, and between your descendant and her descendant; he will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.” (Gen 3:15 CJB). Father, in His infinite wisdom and genius, created Passover from the tragic events of our time in Egypt and our eventual escape from bondage. The artistry of our Father is a thing to behold that I’m afraid most of the world has never stopped to understand and admire. Our bondage in Egypt—that is, a parallel of our life of bondage to sin and the penalty that is associated with that life of sin—coupled with the “destroyer going through the land of Egypt on that fateful night and we who were under the blood were saved from the destroyer, foretells of the Passion of our Master Yeshua some 1,500 years or so later. Every aspect of the Exodus—Passover—service is detailed in the Passion of our Master: from the bondage that we endured in Egypt to the killing of the Pecach; the applying of the blood of the pecach to our homes; to the eating of unleavened bread and the pecach; to the escape from bondage by night; everything Father did on our behalf in Mitsrayim (aka Egypt) translated into the most perfect application of these two events woven into a single tapestry of love—Abba’s love for us, His fallen creation.

Yochanan Ben Zachariah (aka John the Baptist/Immerser) proclaimed of our Master as Yeshua returned from His time in the wilderness: “Behold the Lamb of Yahuah, which takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1: 29)

When Will We Finally Begin Keeping Passover?

When will we begin to see and keep Passover the way Abba has always intended for us to keep it? I say, let us begin this Passover to keep Passover with the full understanding that Yahoshua HaMashiyach is our Pecach—our Passover. It’s no longer about blindly sacrificing lambs and following the traditions of the so-called sages. It’s about that which Shaul proclaimed to the Corinthian Assembly of Believers in Yeshua:

7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:1 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.1 (1Co 5:7-8 KJV)

It’s so easy to get caught up in the rote, mechanical aspects of the Exodus Pecach service and lose clear sight of the big picture that Abba painted on the canvas of time, space and even eternity for us. It’s all about Him and His Son Yahoshua. It’s not about us and how we see things and how we believe things should be done. And that’s the Spirit in which I plan to observe Passover this season.

In Summary and in Closing

In these days of nations rising up against other nations with rumors of wars abounding throughout the 24-7 news media machine; the moral decline of our world’s population; the fear of evil threatening our very existence; and hasatan seeming to have total and complete control over every aspect of life on this planet—let us realize that it is a great time to keep Passover! Why? Because the only stable and firm foundation available to the citizens of this shaken world of ours is Torah the way our older Brother Yeshua taught us.

Yeshua is our Passover and He is the only hope for this world. Yet He’s commissioned us to assist Him in saving the world. So I must ask myself everyday: Rod, what are you doing to assist Yeshua in saving the world today? May I not fail in fulfilling that role—that assigned responsibility–of doing His bidding and following and obeying His instructions.

My simple call to action—my heartfelt admonishment–to you this Spring Feast Season, is for you and your family to keep the Month of the Aviv; keep Pecach and Unleavened Bread as you are so led by the Ruach HaKodesh; that you keep this Feast with as much passion and love that you can muster. Let the world know what we’re doing through our faithfulness, our love for all and obedience. Let the world see Yeshua in us.

Have a wonderful and blessed Pecach and Unleavened Bread. Until next time, may you be most blessed, fellow Saints in Training. Shalom. Pecach Semeach.

Faithfully yours in Yeshua our Master, this is Rod Thomas signing out.