Holy Days and Sabbath
STUDIES & DOC
The Sabbath and The Holy Days
Presented by your servant, Dan Baxley
What follows is the record of instructions for how to set up and observe the weekly Sabbath, and the Holy Days. This presentation is for sound doctrine in truth. Some who have found the Jewish way, or have come into it because of a truth they have embraced, mainly the revelation that our Savior’s Birth Name is YaHshua and not Jesus. This revelation often leads to other questions and concerns about the Old and New Testaments. The problem arises when the those newly initiated into this truth, begin their study into the Old Testament writings and begin to listen to those of the Circumcision. It all sounds very good, when words like, forever, eternal, throughout all generations, and commandments, are tossed about. It is a profound love for our Savior and our Heavenly Father that a believers expresses a strong desire to serve Him in all truth. This desire and love is, many times, misdirected by others seeking to build on this new excitement, for reasons only they know.
I am a New Covenant follower, and though at one time in my journey I attempted to be one who would please my God and Savior by observing all of the “forever” Holy Days, and all 613 Commandments found in the Old Covenant. My failure, however, led me off into a religious depression, that took me some time to over come. Never once deny my Savior, YaHshua, I continued to look and search for the proper way.
This presentation is to help others understand what it has taken me years, literally, to understand. The education gained is immeasurable. The frustration in trying to live as a Jew, or a reformed Israeli, has given me much insight. I never abandoned my Savior and I thank Him for not abandoning me. I do see this as a process that I now see His hand in along the way.
I do hope that what is being shared here is a benefit to anyone
Lev 23:1 YaHWeH spoke to Moses, saying,
Lev 23:3 " 'Six days shall work be done: but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no manner of work. It is a Sabbath to YaHWeH in all your dwellings.
The Passover #1
Lev 23:4 " 'These are the set feasts of YaHWeH, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed season.
Lev 23:5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is YaHWeH's Passover. (First month of the Hebrew Calendar is Nisan, or Abib - usually falling in March or April)
Feast of Unleavened Bread #2
(Lev 23:6) On the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to YaHWeH. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.(Lev 23:7) In the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work.
(Lev 23:8) But you shall offer an offering made by fire to YaHWeH seven days. In the seventh day is a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work.' "
The first day and the seventh day are Sabbaths -- two Sabbaths not counting the regular weekly Sabbath. Usually, in this 7 day period there will be 3 Sabbath, where not regular work is done.
Feast of First Fruits #2
Lev 23:9 YaHWeH spoke to Moses, saying,
Lev 23:10 "Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its the harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest:
Lev 23:11 and he shall wave the sheaf before YaHWeH, to be accepted for you. On the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.
Lev 23:12 On the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb without blemish a year old for a burnt offering to YaHWeH.
Lev 23:13 The meal offering with it shall be two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire to YaHWeH for a pleasant aroma; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin.
Lev 23:14 You shall eat neither bread, nor roasted grain, nor fresh grain, until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Feast of Weeks -- Pentecost #3
(Lev 23:15) " 'You shall count from the next day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be completed: (Lev 23:16) even to the next day after the seventh Sabbath you shall number fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to YaHWeH.
(Lev 23:17) You shall bring out of your habitations two loaves of bread for a wave offering made of two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour. They shall be baked with yeast, for first fruits to YaHWeH.
(Lev 23:18) You shall present with the bread seven lambs without blemish a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to YaHWeH, with their meal offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to YaHWeH.
(Lev 23:19) You shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
(Lev 23:20) The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before YaHWeH, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to YaHWeH for the priest.
(Lev 23:21) You shall make proclamation on the same day: there shall be a holy convocation to you; you shall do no regular work. This is a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. (Lev 23:25) You shall do no regular work; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to YaHWeH.' "
The Feast of Trumpets #4
Lev 23:23 YaHWeH spoke to Moses, saying,
Lev 23:24 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest to you, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.
Lev 23:25 You shall do no regular work; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to YaHWeH.' "
The Day of Atonement #5
Lev 23:26 YaHWeH spoke to Moses, saying,
(Lev 23:27) "However on the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to YaHWeH.
(Lev 23:28) You shall do no manner of work in that same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before YaHWeH your God.
(Lev 23:29) For whoever it is who shall not deny himself in that same day; shall be cut off from his people. (Lev 23:30) Whoever it is who does any manner of work in that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.(Lev 23:31) You shall do no manner of work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
(Lev 23:32) It shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall deny yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall keep your Sabbath." (From the eveving of the 9th day to the evening of the 10th day is a Holy Sabbath)
Feast of Booth -- or Tents #7
Also called the Feast of Tabernacles
Lev 23:33 YaHWeH spoke to Moses, saying,
(Lev 23:34) "Speak to the children of Israel, and say, 'On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of tents for seven days to YaHWeH.
(Lev 23:35) On the first day shall be a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work.
Last Great Day #8
(Lev 23:36) Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to YaHWeH. On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation to you; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to YaHWeH. It is a solemn assembly; you shall do no regular work.
(Lev 23:37) " 'These are the appointed feasts of YaHWeH, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to YaHWeH, a burnt offering, and a meal offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, each on its own day; (Lev 23:38) besides the Sabbaths of YaHWeH, and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to YaHWeH.
(Lev 23:39) " 'So on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you shall keep the feast of YaHWeH seven days: on the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. (The First Fruits happens in and around March April, the first spring harvest. This gathering is the Fruits of the Land, the Fall Harvest.)
(Lev 23:40) You shall take on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before YaHWeH your God seven days.
(Lev 23:41) You shall keep it a feast to YaHWeH seven days in the year: it is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall keep it in the seventh month.
(Lev 23:42) You shall dwell in booths seven days. All who are native-born in Israel shall dwell in booths, (Lev 23:43) that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am YaHWeH your God.' "
Second Temple – Holy Days Introduced -- Again
(Neh 8:14) They found written in the law, how that YaHWeH had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month;
(Neh 8:15) and that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem (YaHshalayim), saying, Go forth to the mountain, and get olive branches, and branches of wild olive, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.
(Neh 8:16) So the people went forth, and brought them, and made themselves booths, everyone on the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the broad place of the water gate, and in the broad place of the gate of Ephraim.
(Neh 8:17) All the assembly of those who were come again out of the captivity made booths, and lived in the booths; for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the children of Israel had not done so. There was very great gladness.
(Neh 8:18) Also day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. They kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according to the ordinance.
NATIVE BORN: Feast of Weeks, or Feast of Tabernacles -- 7 days in length
(Lev 23:41) You shall keep it a feast to YaHWeH seven days in the year: it is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall keep it in the seventh month.
(Lev 23:42) You shall dwell in booths seven days. All who are native-born in Israel shall dwell in booths, (Lev 23:43) that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am YaHWeH your God.' "
If a person desired to honor the Holy Days then the outline, just read should be followed, and these instructions are said to be, a statute forever -- more about that later. But, notice, all of this is for NATIVE Born in Israel. Are you native born? If this can be understood we can then see the reason why our Lord and the Apostles kept referring to the Torah as the Law of Moses. John 1:17, Acts 15:5
Joshua 8:30-32 Then Yahoshua (YaHshua) built an altar to YaHWeH, the God of Israel, in Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of YaHWeH commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of uncut stones, on which no man had lifted up any iron. They offered burnt offerings on it to YaHWeH, and sacrificed peace offerings. He wrote there on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.
(John 10:34) YaHshua answered them, "Isn't it written in your law, 'I said, you are Gods?'
(Luke 2:22) When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem (YaHshalayim), to present him to the Lord
(Luke 24:44) He (YaHshua) said to them, "This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled."
(John 7:19) Didn't Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill me?"
(John 7:23) If a boy receives circumcision on the Sabbath, that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me, because I made a man completely healthy on the Sabbath?
(Mat 8:4) YaHshua said to him, "See that you tell nobody, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."
A popular verse quoted by those attempting to restore the Old Covenant. But notice how John does not say the Law of Moses. This is much broader in scope, not limited to the Law of Moses but to all Law – all Law according to our Creator. Wrong thoughts, for example, are not seen as sin or breaking the Law of Moses, but according to our Lord impure thoughts is sin. Yes, we must repent even of our bad thoughts.
(1Jn 3:4) Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
Strong’s Greek Dictionary: LAW= G458 - wickedness, unrighteousness, iniquity - a violation of law (this would be any law)
This verse cannot be used in regards to the Covenant Law made with Israel, nor the Law or Torah of Moses exclusively. This verse applies to all law, the rule of government, civil law, as well as moral law -- the latter seems to be changing all the time in a society that has lost its way. Impure thoughts and actions can mean a natural feeling about right and wrong, knowing instinctively what is right or wrong, but as believers we are given direction toward proper thinking, and something we can trust to be correct for all people -- what nature teaches us, is almost always in line with the Biblical moral Law -- those who would rebel, of course, desire the lust of their own hearts, finding approval for their own bad conduct in their own law. The verses before this, in context, demonstrates the believer gains their true purity from YaHshua not by any act they do, which this verse makes plain, is impossible with the flesh. The flesh is always at conflict with the Spirit -- Romans 8:7-8 -- Gal 5:16-17 -- 1 Cor 15:50. Sorry, but feeding the flesh does not lead to salvation.
God spoke and Moses wrote and then delivered the message, the rules, the Law to the People. This became known as the Law of Moses. Of course our God and Creator, in the very beginning Spoke personally to the People and delivered those TEN WORD to the people. Part of the Old Covenant, yes, but more than that, these TEN WORD (the Ten Commandments) express a moral code for life.
(Exo 24:4) And Moses wrote all the words of YaHWeH and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
(Exo 34:28) And he was there with YaHWeH forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
When our Savior, YaHshua, says anything about the conduct of mankind He reduces everything to just Two Commands.
(Mar 12:30) And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: This is the first commandment.
(Mar 12:31) And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. KJV
(Luke 10:26) He said unto him, What is written in the law? How read you?
(Luke 10:27) And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as yourself.
(Luke 10:28) And he said unto him, Thou have answered right: this do, and you shall live.
The Apostle Paul confirms the commandments for a guide to proper conduct among that should be exercised among believers, in Romans Chapter 13. Neither he nor our Savior, YaHshua, include anything about the Holy Days. Only one is mentioned as a time to hold in Remembrance, and that is the Passover dinner our Savior shared with His Disciples, just before His crucifixion.
The Commandments reinforced by YaHshua and His Apostles just happens to be the Ten Words, or, as most commonly known -- the Ten Commandments, which our Savior encapsulated into Two Commandments. First, Love God, our Father, with all your heart and mind, and Second, love your fellow man as yourself. No mention is made concerning Holy Days, or about not cutting the corners of your head, or about the three tithes or about divorce and remarriage, something Moses allowed, but was not intended from the beginning. And circumcision, a requirement for all that would become a Jew or turn to the Jewish way. Reading Acts 15 and we read how this was a major dispute among the Jewish brethern and the gentiles entering the New Covenant. At this special meeting it was decided that the Gentile converts were not to have any of the Torah demands place over them other than, avoiding idols worship, sexual immorality, the eating of animals that died by strangulation and the drinking of blood. Let's read some of what was being considered, and remember, the Law of Moses, is the Torah -- The Law. And the sign of The Law keeper was circumcision among all male believers.
(Act 15:1) Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved."
Is circumcision a sin? No. Paul, in fact, took Timothy, a prized student Paul was mentor to, and circumcised him to avoid the contorversy among the Jewish brethren, because he wanted Timothy to be accepted (Acts 16:3). And this was after the decision that this was no longer a requirement for those entering the New Covenant. Of course, as we find out later, this was all for nothing. Still, by this one act we can see that circumcision was not seen as a sin either way, only in the eyes of some, and at that time, the sin was sin as not obeying the Law of Circumcision. The Law of Circumcision was the signature of blood on the whole LAW, or Torah, from Abraham all the way to the circumcision of our our Savior on the 8th day of His birth.
Paul explains his actions in a letter to the Corinthians:
(1Co 9:20) To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.
The requirements laid on the Gentile brothers at the Jerusalem council. This did not end the argument but it cleared the way for converts from the nations to enter the Body of the Messiah without blood letting. James, the lead Aposltes, at that time, made the final decision -- it is now a matter of record. Still, many who would be Jews or Israelis do not accept this. Many did not then and do not now. Each must decide for themselves what this decision says to the ecclesia (The Called).
After hearing all of the evidence, James says,
(Act 15:19-20) "Therefore my judgment is that we don't trouble those from among the Gentiles who turn to God, but that we write to them that they abstain from the pollution of idols, from sexual immorality, from what is strangled, and from blood.
Paul, in a later letter to the Galatian, who were still being bothered by the Jewish brethren concerning the Law of Circumcision, a Law they saw as the Covenant Law, which embodied the whole Law, as a signature in their own blood, and that you could not expect to gain salvation without doing this, as we already have read in Acts 15:1. Now, Paul follows up to discover those of the Gentile comminity of brothers are still being hassled by those of the Circumcision, as Paul puts it. I other words the Jewish brothers.
(Gal 5:2) Behold, I, Paul, tell you that if you receive circumcision, the messiah will profit you nothing.
(Gal 5:3) Yes, I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
(Gal 3:11) Now that no man is justified by the Law (Torah) before the FATHER is evident, for, "The righteous will live by faith."(Gal 3:12) The Law is not of faith, but, "The man who does them will live by them."(Gal 3:13) the messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,"
(Gal 5:6) For in the messiah YaHshua neither circumcision amounts to anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love.(Gal 5:11) But I, brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been removed.(Gal 5:12) I wish that those who disturb you would cut themselves off.(Gal 5:13) For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don't use your freedom for gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another.(Gal 5:14) For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
And while it might seem to some that I, myself, am being too harsh toward those that would make you Jews of the Circumcision, demanding Torah, or the Law of Moses to rule you, and this harshness in my writing is actually out of Love, Love for all those who would come to Him in Spirit and repentance, for He is the Door, and not the Old Covenant, which failed. Still, my love for all who would answer His calling, in His Love, I must call out, no matter how harsh it may sound for at least a few, if any, would listen and stop listening to those who would turn you away from the more perfect truth. The Jewish brethern who continued to push the Torah demands onto the Gentiles, grew to hate Paul, and some, in this same kind of spirit, today, hate Paul. Some call him a heretic. Why? Because they cannot over come his arguments against them.
What has this to do with observing or not observing the Holy Days and the Feast Days? Everything, because, reading Galaitans 5:3, again, it is clear that you cannot keep only part of the LAW. If you are to keep any of it, then you must keep all of it -- you become a debtor to the Whole Law. The problem is, the penalty for breaking even one part of the LAW is death. This is one reason our Savior came, to save us from this penalty, and to set us free to live at peace with all men. But, others would bind us up again to a Covenant that failed. Forever is forever, so long as the party of the first part still lives -- ever wonder why YaHshua went to the Cross and DIED? A covenant is only as good as long as both parties are alive and well, when one dies the covenant is finished, and even the forever clause is no long required to be fulfilled. Of course, Israel and Judah are still present, but where is the One whom they entered into this Agreement? They, Jews and the Romans, hung Him on the Cross, bringing about a change -- After Paul outlined the law in a marriage covenant with that of the New Covenant we are entered into. Paul makes it clear that so long as the Husband lives, in a marriage, live the marriage covenant is good and active, but if the Husband were to die, then the woman (the Church) would be free to marry another. And from this example, Paul contiues with this statement:
(Rom 7:4) Therefore, my brothers, you also were made dead to the Law through the Body of the Messiah, that you would be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit to the FATHER .
His Death on the Cross, brought about the end of the First Marriage Covenant, and released the Woman, that would be the Congregation of Israel, to marry another, being freed from the first Covenant. This dying of the Husband on the Cross, and His resurrection back to life as a different person, and able to marry whomever He wanted, set before us a New Covenant, not because He failed as the Husband in a Previous Glory, because He never failed, it was the wife, or the Congregation of Israel and Judah that failed. Had they not failed, there would have been no need for their God to go the Cross and bring in something new. Their failure made a way for us, and opening for us, for all Gentiles to enter into this, one time, exclusive offer in a Union like that of a Marriage agreement. Read all of Romans Chapter 7, and see this is a clear teaching, but a teaching that those within the Circumcision, and those who would join themselves to the Law of Circumcision, must restore the Old Covenant, the Covenant that failed at the hands of the people, is a grave error. I say this in love -- Join with Him in a new marriage, in His and your Spirit, and not the flesh, for the flesh is fading away.
A New Covenant Promise:
Our conduct, as New Covenant participants, are, by proxy, the children of the Living God (Father), children of the coming Kingdom. And we are awaiting the rebirth, to be reborn, from the flesh into a new creation, given a body fit for eternity, a body that will be like His.
(Php 3:20-21) But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord YaHshua the Anointed, who, by the Power (The Father) that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.
Send Questions and Comments to: dan@servantsofyahshua.com