Yearly Feasts of Yahweh
2024-12-27 | 1-2 Maccabees | Hanukkah-Christianity 167 Years before Christ
Feast Notes
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Hanukkah: Christianity 167 Years before Christ
It was the Feast of Dedication and Y’shua was fully aware of what was about to happen and to what He was alluding. Today, Jews around the world, and even some Christians who have come to understand its deeper truths, commemorate this Festival of Lights. You might recognize the holiday as Hanukkah and it’s all about the fire of rededication.
It would be 200 years after the historical events from which the Feast of Dedication originates that Y’shua would declare to the world, at this celebration of lights, that He was indeed the Messiah, “I told you, and you don’t believe Me. The entire historical event began to testify of Me 167 years before I was born. My sheep heard My voice then, and they followed Me; they still do to this very day. I am the giver of eternal life; none of My sheep will perish. And no one can snatch any of them out of My hand, no matter how great the persecution. That is the true miracle of Hanukkah and the force behind the fierce dedication and courageous faith of the Maccabees. They were the warriors for My truth and radical faith based obedience to God. They were responsible for rebuilding and cleansing the altar, and for lighting the fire of the eight day rededication of My temple. And that is the imagery of what it means to dedicate your temple to Me!”
They couldn’t have known then, but we do know now, the deeper meaning of why Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication, would become known as the Festival of Lights. At conception, at the moment the human egg becomes fertilized, there is a burst of light.
That is precisely what occurred when Y’shua, the light of life, was supernaturally conceived. That is also what happened the moment you were born again, when that light of life came into your life and you became dedicated as the temple of the Holy Spirit. He is the light of the world and you too are the light of the world. Let us now rededicate our temples and may our fire shine into this world with such intense brightness that all the world would see the immense burst of light and would come to know the glory of our heavenly Father.
2024-10-25 | Leviticus 23:36-39 | Wedding Day | The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
It was a betrothal and today we have all but lost the dense significance of such customs. Once the image was diluted it did not take long before the tradition was replaced by something much less meaningful. Marriage today is most often preceded by engagement, an offer of marriage and loose promise between two people, if accepted, to get married one day. And why would that event be anything significant when all the benefits of marriage are readily available outside of marriage and shared already—including sexual intimacy and cohabitation. Gone are the binding commitments and isn’t that most obvious by how often marriages end, as if they are disposable inconveniences that have run their useful course. Why own when you can rent? Why buy when you can use someone else’s property, for a while, and just walk away when something breaks or upkeep becomes too much work?
Betrothal is different, but in order to even begin to grasp why, you must learn to see marriage differently. Marriage was the one institution, the only institution, designed by God to indicate mankind was created in His image. Adam was created and even before Eve was pulled from his bones, Adam already had within him everything that represented God—man, woman, and child. But we could not see the woman and child, so God extracted the woman and presented her to Adam, really to all of us. That is when we recognized the family that was inside of him all along—God’s image. And then came marriage. God instructed, “Let Me assure you that even though I took her from you, she is still one with you.” Marriage is simply, but profoundly, God’s way of telling us, we are one with Him, created in His image, forevermore.
When you consider this idea, does it not make so much more sense now when we read in the Scriptures that marriage is about Christ’s oneness with His bride, the church? Yes, His bride but yet to have arrived at the altar of marriage. His bride, but presently His betrothed, bound in a covenant as strong as marriage, but quite not married. All the permanence minus two things, sexual intimacy and cohabitation. Think back when Joseph thought that Mary had been unfaithful, having been found with child. Did he not consider divorce, even though they were yet only betrothed? That is the binding nature of betrothal. Do you see how much more powerful this is than the idea of engagement? And do you see how harmful it is to engage in the things reserved ONLY for marriage, OUTSIDE of marriage? It cheapens marriage, weakens it. It has diluted the meaning of marriage so badly that we’ve arrived at a cultural crossroads; marriage is unnecessary. Marriage is an outdated institution, and by extension, so is the family. In other words, seeing the human family as the expressed image of God has become obsolete; it’s a relic best designated to the museum reserved for all things archaic.
And all of this is to bring us to this one point. The Eighth Day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Last Great Day, has been the rehearsal dinner for the marriage supper of the Lamb for thousands of years. The bride, that’s you, must make herself ready by putting on her pure white wedding garment because the wedding day is approaching and the Groom is on His way—don’t be found without your garment! It will be a holy convocation, a sacred assembly. It’s a day designated “The Joy of the Law.” Maybe that’s because when the Groom arrives and after He takes care of some much needed business, we will be legally transitioned from His betrothed to His wife. Could there be anything more joyful than that?
2024-10-18 | Leviticus 23:33-44 | It’s Temporary | Tabernacles 2024
The Word became flesh and pitched a tent among us. He tabernacled with us and we beheld His glory. Yet He was here for what seemed like just a vapor of time and that is because He was never meant to stay. “I am in this world but not of this world,” He would say. Y’shua’s life bears the striking symbolism of God’s people after their exodus from Egypt, as they ventured into freedom and tabernacled in the wilderness. Pitch a tent, but be sure it’s built as a temporary structure because you won’t be staying very long. This is not your land; you are just sojourners passing through and your permanent home is elsewhere.
It was true for the Israelites in the wilderness; it was true for Y’shua when He was born into this world; and it is true even for you. This is not your permanent home and the body in which you live is not your permanent body. In this world you will have trials, but He has overcome this world. In your permanent body and in your permanent home there will be no more trials, no more tears, no more pain. There will be only righteousness, peace and joy.
The imagery in the Feast of Tabernacles is striking. But that should come as no surprise because that is what all the Feasts of the Lord offer. The stories are real and knowing about the historical events and their prophetic significance is both important and profitable. God makes promises and we should never settle for less than what He has guaranteed. Had Israel settled in the wilderness, built permanent housing and walled cities, they would have never inherited the fullness of God’s covenant; they would have fallen short of God’s destination. Do you do that? The implications for such are staggering, both personally and prophetically.
What does it look like personally? “This world is all there is and the things of this world are what I am after to satisfy my soul.” Yet, it is after those very things the Gentiles seek; don’t! For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—are not of the Father. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God will tabernacle forever. And that is precisely the prophetic implication, to tabernacle forever. This is not your land; you are just sojourners passing through; your permanent home is elsewhere. Your ultimate citizenship is in heaven; here on earth you have no permanent city, so you must seek the one to come. You are heading for a permanent place to dwell in permanent glorified dwellings! Knowing this is to your great advantage!
2024-10-11 | Leviticus 16 | Become the Righteousness of God | Yom Kippur 2024
“Once and for all means once and for all,” doesn’t it? If there is one Feast of Yahweh, more than any other, that Christians believe no longer has any relevance for them, it has to be Yom Kippur. “The blood of Christ has paid for our sins past, present, and future, so why do I need to pay attention to a holiday that foreshadowed the sacrifice needed to cover the sins of the world?”
It’s a worthy question and one worth exploring, especially in light of these difficult to explain scriptures written decades AFTER the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
• “The Feasts of the Lord are shadows of things to come.”
• “Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come.”
• “The Law, having a shadow of the good things to come.”
The Feasts, the High Priest, and the Law, all shadows of things yet to come, even decades after Christ. These are mysteries worth unlocking; secrets with discoveries relevant to every Christian serious about the future of their faith.
2024-10-04 | Leviticus 23:23-25 | Eyes that See and Ears that Hear | Feast of Trumpets 2024
“Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years.” It’s easy to miss. The cycles of the sun and the moon are given for seasons, and for days and years. But, what are the signs? Y’shua rebuked religious leaders for not knowing. “Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.” Can you discern the signs of the times? Paul assumed you could; “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night… We are not of the night nor of darkness.
Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober and watching.” For what signs should you be watching? The yearly cycle of Biblical Feasts is precisely to which Yahweh, Y’shua, and Paul are referring. The Feasts are God’s prophetic calendar for mankind’s history and future. However, if you don’t prioritize their prophetic significance, tragically, you won’t be able to tell what time it is; you won’t be capable of recognizing the signs of the times. Worse yet, you won’t even know what signs to watch for. In the coming weeks we will look at the Fall Biblical Feast cycle by starting with the Feast of Trumpets. Synchronize your calendar and you will know perfectly well what time it is!
2024-06-07 | Pentecost 2024 | A Power Worthy Church
Are you perfectly content with commemorating Hallmark holidays that are dedicated to man-made traditions, while completely ignoring the Feasts of the Lord—Yahweh’s Biblical Holidays? When you explore the prophetic relevance and magnificent imagery of Pentecost, you will no longer be satisfied with celebrating pagan holidays. Certainly Pentecost is a holy day that Christians would be interested in remembering, seeing that it was then that the Holy Spirit became available to possess all who believe that Y’shua is the long-awaited Messiah of Israel.
Unfortunately, it would seem that while the world remains inundated with lies and wrapped in chaos, the Church often bows to a lower authority. Instead of being the dominant power in and influence over the world, in many cases the world has overpowered the Church and become the dominant influence, ruling God’s people as if they have no authority in the earth. Have Church leaders and thus church-goers been deceived? Have God’s people become devoid of power because they are prophetically ignorant and untrained in the times and seasons? It’s time to wake up and reclaim access to Divine power! Let’s begin with a deep dive into Pentecost, the Festival of Truth and Spirit.