Rosh Hashanah and the Second Coming

The B'rit Chadasha Pages | 9/20/06 | Michael D. Bugg

[Buggman]

As many of you already know, we are entering into the fall High Holy Days, comprised of the Feasts of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. Just as the spring Feastdays celebrate the First Coming of Messiah Yeshua, and Shavuot (Pentecost) celebrates the giving of the Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit) to the Ekklesia in between the visitations of Yeshua, the Fall Feastdays look forward to His Second Coming—and in particular, the Feast of Trumpets looks forward to His Glorious Appearance in the clouds of heaven!

The day which this year falls on September 23 (beginning at sundown the previous night) is known by many names, but is little understood. The most commonly used today is Rosh Hashanah, the Head of the Year or New Year, and is regarded as the start of the Jewish civil calendar. (The religious calendar begins on the first of Nisan, fourteen days before Passover, in accordance with Exo. 12:2.) For this reasons, Jews will greet each other with the phrase, “L’shana tova u-metukah,” “May you have a good and sweet new year” or simply “Shanah tova,” “A good year.” In anticipation of this sweet new year, it is customary to eat a sweet fruit, like an apple or carrot dipped in honey.

The Talmud records the belief that “In the month of Tishri, the world was created” (Rosh Hashanah 10b), and its probably due to this belief that it became known as the Jewish New Year. The belief that the world was created on Rosh Hashanah came out of an anagram: The letters of the first word in the Bible, “In the beginning . . .” (B’resheit) can be rearranged to say, “1 Tishri” (Aleph b’Tishri). Perhaps because so little is directly said in Scripture about this day—unlike all of the other Feastdays, there is no historical precedent given to explain why Rosh Hashanah should be celebrated—the rabbis also speculated that Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Samuel were all born on this day.

However, that’s not it’s Biblical name, which is Yom Teruah, the Day of the [Trumpet] Blast:

And YHVH spake unto Moses, saying, “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing (Heb. zikrown teruah) [of trumpets], an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto YHVH.’” (Lev. 23:23-25)

And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing (teruah) [the trumpets] unto you. (Num. 29:1)

In each of these passages, I’ve placed “trumpets” in brackets because it’s not actually in the Hebrew text; however, teruah can and usually does mean to sound the trumpet (though it can mean to shout with a voice as well) and the use of a trumpet on this day is considered so axiomatic that there is literally no debate in Jewish tradition on the matter. Specifically, the trumpet used is the shofar. The shofar is traditionally always made from the horn of a ram, in honor of the ram that God substituted for Isaac, and never from a bull’s horn, in memory of the sin of the golden calf.

The shofar first appears in Scripture as heralding the visible appearance of God coming down on Mt. Sinai to meet with His people (Ex. 19:16-19). It is also linked with His Coming in Zec. 9:14 and with Him going up (making aliyah) to Jerusalem in Psa. 47:5. Small wonder then that Yeshua said He would Come again with the sound of a trumpet, a shofar, in Mat. 24:31, which is echoed by Sha’ul (Paul) in 1 Th. 4:16 and 1 Co. 15:52. Indeed, many commentators have recognized that by “the last trump,” Sha’ul was referring to the final shofar blast, called the Tekia HaGadol, of the Feast of Trumpets.

This visitation by YHVH is closely associated with the second of this Feastdays names: Yom Zikkroun, the Day of Remembrance. This is not primarily meant to be a day when the people remember God, but when God remembers His people—not that He has forgotten them, but in which He fulfills His promises to them by Coming to them. In Isa. 27:13, it is the instrument used to call God’s people Israel back to the Land. In Psalm 27, which is traditionally read in the month leading up to Yom Teruah, we see the Psalmist looking forward to God rescuing him from his enemies:

Though an host should encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear:
Though war should rise against me,
In this will I be confident . . .

For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion:
In the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me;
He shall set me up upon a rock. . .

Among the rabbis, the shofar is often associated with the Coming of the Messiah and the Resurrection of the Dead as well. “According to the Alphabet Midrash of Rabbi Akiva, seven shofars announce successive steps of the resurrection process, with Zechariah 9:14 quoted as a proof text: ‘And Adonai the Lord will blow the shofar’” (Stern, David H., Jewish New Testament Commentary, 489f). “And it is the shofar that the Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to blow when the Son of David, our righteous one, will reveal himself, as it is said, ‘And the Lord GOD will blow the shofar’” (Tanna debe Eliyahu Zutta XXII). It’s interesting that the rabbis, without the benefit of the New Covenant writings, have come to the same conclusions as the Apostles: That YHVH would visit His people in the person of the Messiah and raise the dead on Yom Teruah (also in the Bablyonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 16b). On Yom Teruah, the shofar not only rouses the people from their complacency, but the very dead from their graves. (See Job 19:25-27, Isa. 26:19, and Dan. 12:2 for the Tanakh’s primary passages on the Resurrection.)

The shofar is an instrument that is very much associated with war (Jdg. 3:27, 2 Sa. 20:1, Neh. 4:18-22, Ezk. 33:3-6). It was used to destroy the walls of Jericho (Jdg. 6:20). In Joel 2:1, it sounds the start of the Day of the Lord, the time in which God will make war on His enemies: “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the Day of YHVH cometh, for it is nigh at hand” (cf. v. 15). This again matches perfectly with the NT, where Sha’ul describes the Lord’s coming with a trumpet immediately preceding the Day of the Lord (1 Th. 4:16, 5:2).

This brings us to the next name for this Feastday, Yom HaDin, Judgment Day. Not only did the shofar sound the call for war, but also the coronation of kings (2 Sa. 15:10; 1 Ki. 1:34, 29; 2 Ki. 9:13, 11:12-14). Therefore, the rabbis have always associated this day with God’s sovereign Kingship over all mankind: “On Rosh Hashanah all human beings pass before Him as troops, as it is said, ‘The LORD looketh from heaven; He beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of His habitation He looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashioneth their hearts alike; He considereth all their works’” (Rosh Hashanah 6b, quoting Psa. 53:13-15). To remember God’s Kingship, it is traditional to eat round objects to remind us of God’s crown (oriental crowns being shaped as skullcaps instead of circlets). For example, challah is made to be round instead of braided as it normally is.

Because this day is associated with God’s judgment, it is also considered a time of repentance (t’shuva) in preparation for Yom Kippur. The Casting (Tashlikh) Ceremony, in which observant Jews gather together at the shores of oceans, lakes, and rivers and cast in stones and/or crumbs of bread to symbolize “casting off” their sins, is performed on this day to a prayer comprised of Mic. 7:18-20, Psa. 118:5-9, Psa. 33 and 130, and often finishing with Isa. 11:9.

He will turn again,
He will have compassion upon us;
He will subdue our iniquities;
And Thou wilt cast all their sins
Into the depths of the sea.
(Mic. 7:19)

The Talmud (ibid.) goes on to say that on this day, all mankind is divided into three types of people. The wholly righteous were immediately written in the Book of Life (Exo. 32:33, Psa. 69:28) for another year. The wholly wicked were blotted out of the Book of Life, condemned to die in the coming year. Those in between, if they truly repented before the end of Yom Kippur, could likewise be scribed in the Book of Life for another year. For this reason, a common greeting at this time is “L’shana tova tikatevu,” which means, “May you be inscribed [in the Book of Life] for a good new year.”

The Bible, of course, is clear that one is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (cf. Php. 4:3; Rev. 3:5, 13:8, 17:8, and 21:27) not by one’s own righteousness, but by receiving the Messiah’s righteousness by faith, trusting in Him, and that there is no in-between; one either trusts God or one doesn’t. Nevertheless, a great eschatological truth is preserved for us in this rabbinical tradition. At the time of Yeshua’s Second Coming, all mankind will be divided into three groups. Those who have already trusted in the Messiah will be Resurrected and Raptured to be with Him immediately upon His Coming on the clouds of the sky. Those who have taken the mark of the Beast and have chosen to remain with the Wicked One will be slated to die in the Day of the Lord, which for reasons that are beyond the scope of this essay to address, I believe will last for about a year.

However, there will also be a third group, who neither had believed in the Messiah until they saw Him Coming on the clouds but who also had not taken the mark of the Beast. Many of these will be Jews, who will mourn at His coming and so have a fount of forgiveness opened to them (Rev. 1:7, Zec. 12:10-13:2)—most prominently, the 144,000 of Rev. 7 and 14. Others will be Gentiles who will be shown mercy because they showed mercy to the children of God (Mat. 25:31ff). These are given the opportunity to repent during the period between the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonment, called the Days of Awe—a reference, I believe, to the Day of the Lord.

Finally, this day is known as Yom HaKeseh, the Hidden Day. It was a day that could not be calculated, only looked for. Ancient Israel kept its calendar simply by observing the phases of the moon. If a day were overcast, it might cause a delay in the observance of the beginning of the month, the new moon (Rosh Chodesh), the first tiny crescent of light. Every other Feast was at least a few days after the beginning of the month so that it could be calculated and prepared for in advance. For example, after the new moon that marked the beginning of the month of Nisan, the observant Jew knew that he had fourteen days to prepare for the Passover.

Not so Yom HaKeseh. In the absence of reliable astronomical charts and calculations (which were made only centuries after God commanded the Feasts to be observed), the Feast of Trumpets could be anticipated, estimated to be arriving soon, but until two or more witnesses reported the first breaking of the moon’s light after the darkest time of the month, no one knew “the day or hour.” Therefore, it was a tradition not to sleep on Rosh Hashanah, but to remain awake and alert, a tradition alluded to by Sha’ul: “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober” (1 Th. 5:4-6).

Because of the difficulty of alerting the Jews in the Diaspora when the Sanhedron had decreed the start of the Feast to be, it became traditional to celebrate the first and second day of Tishri together as Yoma Arikhta, “One Long Day.” Is this meant to remind us, perhaps, of when another Y’hoshua (Yeshua) won against his enemies because God cast down great hailstones (like the hailstones of Rev. 16:21) and called upon the Sun to stand still so that they would not escape (Jos. 10:10ff)?

Yom Teruah is a day which ultimately calls all of God’s people together in repentance in anticipation of the glorious Second Coming, in which He will once again visit His people in the Person of the Messiah Yeshua to Resurrect the dead, awaken the living, and judge all mankind together.

Shalom, and Maranatha!

[topcat54]

No OT Law means all bets are off, dude.

You misunderstand my position.

No OT ceremonial law in the new covenant era, e.g., no slaughtering animal and smearing blood as a token of propiatiation of sins, no keeping of judaic festival days, no dividing of men along racial lines in the covenant community.

II. This law, after his fall, continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness, and, as such, was delivered by God upon Mount Sinai, in ten commandments, and written in two tables: the four first commandments containing our duty towards God; and the other six our duty to man.

III. Beside this law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to give to the people of Israel, as a church under age, ceremonial laws, containing several typical ordinances, partly of worship, prefiguring Christ, His graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits; and partly holding forth divers instructions of moral duties. All which ceremonial laws are now abrogated, under the New Testament.

IV. To them also, as a body politic, He gave sundry judicial laws, which expired together with the State of that people; not obliging any other now, further than the general equity thereof may require. (Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 19)

Texts:

James i. 25; James ii. 8, 10, 11, 12; Rom. xiii. 8, 9; Deut. v. 32; Deut. x. 4; Ex. xxxiv. 1; Matt. xxii. 37, 38, 39, 40.

Heb. ix chapter; Heb. x. 1; Gal. lv. 1, 2, 3; Col. ii. 17; 1 Cor. v. 7; 2 Cor vi. 17; Jude ver. 23; Col. ii. 14, 16, 17; Dan. ix. 27; Eph. ii. 15, 16.

Ex. xxi chap.; Ex. xxii. 1 to 29; Gen. xlix. 10 with 1 Pet. ii. 13, 14; Matt. v. 17 with ver. 38, 39; 1 Cor. ix. 8, 9, 10.

Homosexuality is not a ceremonial issue. It is a moral issue, and the moral law is still in effect for all men regardless of the ethnicity.

[topcat54]

"for example, in 1 Cor. 11 which is devoid of any uniquely Jewish trappings."

That's one thing you got right.

Then what is your argument?

[topcat54]

Once it hit me that the sheep Paul were pastoring had never heard of the Law until Paul taught them of it, all of his letters took on a more coherent meaning. It doesn't make sense for Paul to have taught people what the Law was, and then spend years telling them not to follow it.

Of course Paul carefully differentiated among the various portions of the law, just as Jesus did.

Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Do not defraud,' 'Honor your father and your mother.' " And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth." Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me." (Mark 10:17-21)

Now the judaizers would read verse 19 this way:

You know the commandments: 'Do not wear a garment of mixed linen and wool,' 'Eat the right type of food,' 'Do not let your livestock breed with another kind,' 'Do not shave around the sides of your head, and do not disfigure the edges of your beard. ,' 'Do not sow your field with mixed seed,' 'You shall kill a goat for a sin offering.' "

But in all the lists of laws that are to govern the people of God mentioned in the New Testament, none of them ... let me repeat ... none of them includes the sort of peculiar ceremonial laws mentioned in the judaic ceremonial code.

E.g.,

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, (Rom. 1:28-32)

For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Rom. 13:9-10)

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal. 5:18-21)

For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. (James 2:10-12)

The reason is plain enough, they are not suitable for a racially integrated covenant community.

These lists all parallel the moral code as summarized in the Ten Commandments. None of them mention ceremonial issues.

This is a peculiar thing that modern judaizers cannot seem to account for. They brutally assert that this ceremoninal code is still in effect, but a careful study of the Scripture does not support their theory.

[blue-duncan]

"And another angel followed, saying, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."

"Babylon" was ancient Jerusalem that committed spiritual idolatry with the nations and was judged by God in AD70."

Where do you get this? One of the great results of the second exile was that Israel did not return to idolatry. In fact, even with all of the allure of Grecian culture and Roman power Israel did not succumb to their gods.

Where did Israel cause "nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication"? Israel was just a small pawn used by Rome and Egypt as a buffer. It had no influence or power beyond its own borders and its religion was a source of disdain since it was monotheistic and held by what was seen as a defeated country. The only major party that was friendly with Rome was the aristocratic Sadducees. The Pharisees and the Zealots were both against anything Roman or Greek.

There is no factual evidence in Israel's history to show that this prophecy in Revelation has been fulfilled. It takes gross spiritualizing to the point of fiction to read "spiritual idolatry" into what happened in 70 A.D.

[kerryusama04]

You misunderstand my position.

I understand your position completely and am trying to point out the inconsistency.

In keeping the feast day WITHOUT the ceremony we're actually very close to what you list. I personally do not think anyone is required to "do" anything beyond the two true sacraments in the NT - Adult Baptism and The Lord's Supper and keeping the 10 Commandments. I do know that the Lord's Supper was performed as a Passover meal because the Lord was slaughtered as the Lamb of God. However, I also know that one must not grieve the Holy Spirit. Once I understood what the true Biblical Holy Days were all about, I felt compelled to keep them. I feel that this obedience is a product of my faith.

You wish to pick and choose which Laws of the OT to follow. Homosexuality falls under unclean and immoral. I ask you, do you keep the Sabbath Day Holy? Do you have crosses in your residence or your church?

[kerryusama04]

There is no factual evidence in Israel's history to show that this prophecy in Revelation has been fulfilled. It takes gross spiritualizing to the point of fiction to read "spiritual idolatry" into what happened in 70 A.D.

Is this post to me?

[blue-duncan]

It was in response to TC's post #170 to you.

[kerryusama04]

Thank you, I missed that one.

[kerryusama04]

"Babylon" was ancient Jerusalem that committed spiritual idolatry with the nations and was judged by God in AD70.

Babylon has not fallen yet:

Rev 14:8 And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality."

2Co 11:2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy. For I have espoused you to one Man, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

Christ's bride is the virgin church that has never allowed pagan practices to enter into it. Babylon is the whore who commits "spiritual adultery" by allowing pagan practices to masquerade as Christianity.

[DouglasKC]

What you have failed to address is how one goes about keeping the old covenant feast days without all the cultic trappings of the old covenant, in particular the animal sacrifices and the levitical priesthood.

Are you looking for instruction? If you don't know how to celebrate the days that God ordained then I suggest that you do some research on how various Christians observe them.

There is no instruction on how to keep Rosh Hashanah in a fashion pleasing to God without animal sacrifices, a levitical priesthood and a temple in which to bring the sacrifice before God.

There is plenty of instruction. God tells us exactly when to celebrate the feast of trumpets:

Lev 23:24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.

He tells us it is a memorial of "blowing of trumpets":

Lev 23:24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.

He tells us that those who worship Him should gather together on that day:

Lev 23:24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets,a holy convocation.

He tells us that we are to do no servile work on that day:

Lev 23:25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

Now we've already discussed the fact that the church of the Lord, our messiah, Jesus Christ, in the book of Hebrews, tells us that the sacrifice of Christ is now sufficient for offerings. What is pleasing to God is that people honor the days he created. He created them for a reason, for our benefit..and that is pleasing to God.

You need to invent an extra-biblical tradition just as the apostate Jewish rabbis have invented a tradition to celebrate these days without all the physical trappings outlined in the Mosaic ceremonial code.

What exactly are you saying I invented? The day? Not working? Blowing a trumpet? What?

Hebrews doesn't just say that the sacrifices and priesthood have changed. It says they are are decayed and were passing away in the first century along with the rest of the old covenant ceremonial laws.

Here again is where you make a major leap and insert topcat54 doctrine into the doctrine of God. The priesthood, according to the word of God, is CHANGED, not done away with:

Heb 7:11 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
Heb 7:12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

Jesus Christ is now our high priest AND our sacrifice. Therefore, Levitical priesthood functions under the new covenant ARE changed. The creation AND observance of the feast days of the Lord were NOT functions of the priesthood. They were, and are, created through Jesus Christ himself and ARE his feast days:

Lev 23:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.

This is the major stumbling block to your understanding. You can't resist the urge to "do away" with the things that Hebrews doesn't do away with. You invent your own idea of what the "old covenant" is versus the "new covenant" and then proceed to build your theology upon it.

[Buggman]

The Christian church recognizes that the Lord's Supper has replaced Passover in God's new covenant economy. I don't think this basic fact in dispute.

Ah, once again, lacking any Biblical argument, you fall back on the supposed "unbroken" tradition of the Church (never mind that there has consistantly been a persecuted minority which kept the Feasts). If you're going to constantly choose tradition over Scripture, why don't you just go all the way and convert to Catholicism?

You've still not shown any Biblical argument that any part of the Torah was understood by the Apostles to be done away with along with the Old Covenant in place of the new. Are you ever going to attempt to find one for us?

Note, it does not say, "Let us therefore keep all the feast days of the Jews as the Jews", which is apparently what you think it says.

It says, "Let us therefore keep the (Passover) Feast." In what way do you suppose that they were keeping it other than the way that Yeshua Himself kept it and commanded it to be kept? What Scripture can you cite in support of your view?

You believe gentiles should become religiously Jewish. That is not the NT take on things.

I believe that Gentile believers should keep the Torah on the basis that our Lord kept the Torah, and we are supposed to be emulating Him by the power of His Spirit, and because having the Torah written on our hearts is a specific promise of the New Covenant. I agree with the Apostles, however, that no one is saved on the basis of keeping the Torah, but on the basis of their trust in Yeshua the Messiah. I further agree that no one is saved on the basis of their Jewishness, and that Jewishness and Gentileness is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God (in faith, by the power of His Spirit, not in our own ability) is what matters.

What you refuse to see is that the New Testament commands Jews to stay Jewish and to keep the whole Torah (1 Co. 7:18, Gal. 5:3). There was never any question in their minds that Jewish believers should keep the Torah; in fact, when Sha'ul was charged with teaching otherwise, he took a Nazrite oath and went to sacrifice in the Temple in order to prove the charge false (Acts 21:20ff).

Now, if Yeshua taught His Jewish disciples to keep the whole Torah, which He plainly did and you have not yet even attempted to refute, and if He commanded them to "and teach all nations (i.e. Gentiles) . . . Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Mat. 28:19-20), which you yourself cited, how then are we to suppose that they took that to mean that the Gentiles should be taught to violate the Torah?

The debate of the NT, I believe, is not about whether men should keep the whole Torah in faith, but on two things:

1) Whether a person had to be Jewish (circumcised) to be saved. The answer is a resounding no.

2) The proper relationship between grace, faith, and works. The answer was that salvation was by God's grace alone, received by faith (trusting in the Messiah and His sacrifice), which would in turn result in repentence from sin and keeping God's commands.

Sha'ul claims to keep the whole Torah (ibid., Acts 25:8) and to remain a Pharisee (23:6). Either he was telling the truth, in which case he both kept the Feastdays and taught others to do the same, or he is a liar and his books should not be in the Bible.

It is ludicrous to interpret the letters of Sha'ul to contradict the actions of Sha'ul.

The fact remains that there is no authority in the New Testament for observing all the old covenant feast days according to an arbitrary tradition invented in an era that is post-apostolic and post-temple.

Already answered, and simply repeating yourself doesn't constitute a counter-argument: Show me where in the NT is there any authorization to cease to observe the Sabbath and the other Feastdays.

You keep saying that the "law has changed" as a matter of rote. Prove that it has. At best, you can make a case (which causes a contradiction in Scripture) that the sacrifices have been transferred to the Cross, but that says nothing about whether we should continue to observe God's Appointed Times.

Again, the simple fact is that the very passage in Hebrews (chapter 8) which speaks of a change in the covenants quotes from Jer. 31, which states in no uncertain terms that the New Covenant includes the Torah!

Your entire hang-up about "rabbinical tradition" in observing the Feasts is hypocritical. On the one hand, you decry extra-Biblical (but not yet shown to be anti-Biblical) tradition in keeping the Feasts of the Lord, but you keep your own extra-Biblical traditions in observing Sunday, for example.

That's a rather hollow claim since we all agree that "Torah" has been significantly altered in the new covenant.

You're still presuming that which you have yet to prove, I see. And it's obvious that you've either not read my arguments on my blog or that you have no answer to them.

Has God written the law on our hearts that we ought to observe the judaistic Passover or feast of trumpets? Has God witten the law on our hearts that we ought not to shave around the sides of our heads, or not to wear clothing of mixed materials?

I know He has on mine. I can't speak for what's written on your heart.

What "tradition" shall we follow on these things?

Why don't you agree to follow God's written commands, and then worry about the "traditional" details?

It might do well to consider Edersheim's comments of the matter of trumpets:

Funny, that seems pretty close to what I wrote.

Note that (ethnically Jewish but religiously Christian) Edershiem does not go to the excess of suggesting that the Second Coming will be on the old covenant day called "Rosh Hashanah".

So?

No one can know that, and there is certainly not enough information in the Scripture to draw such a conclusion, otherwise I'm sure Edershiem would have made that connection.

Oi vey. You've not yet presented anything other than uncertainties and mud in the water. You've not presented a single argument from Scripture to show that I'm wrong--all you've done is make another silly argument from silence: "Well, if Edersheim didn't say it, it can't be true."

Moreover, you've once again applied a double-standard out of your kneejerk dislike for anything Messianic or Jewish: You quote Edersheim, who essentially agrees with me about the symbolism of the Feast of Trumpets and who does so because he read the same Jewish traditional sources that I did.

How do you not see the hypocrisy of that? Seriously, did it never occur to you for even a moment that Edersheim was probably one of my sources?

I swear TC, you're making it more evident with every post that if I said the sky was blue, you'd go out of your way to argue that it was mauve.

The trumpet sounding was not limited to one day of the year in ancient Israel.

True. Yet God singled out one of those New Moons in particular. Did you ever wonder why? Or did you just dismiss such a question as irrelevant because of your Reform bias?

Romish Christmas and judaizing Rosh Hashanah are the same in my book.

You have no Feasts to honor the Lord at all in your life then? Small wonder your posts sound so bitter. And you also loose all right to ever use the "Church tradition" argument ever again, since the universal tradition of the Church is to have special days to particularly remember and reinact what God has done for us.

We've been here and done this, TC. And you once again demonstrate that you do not have a cogent, logical, Biblical argument against my Messianic beliefs.

[Buggman]

Very nicely and succinctly put, Doug. You cut to the heart of the matter while I was dickering on details. My hat's off to you.

[ET(end tyranny)]

1) Whether a person had to be Jewish (circumcised) to be saved. The answer is a resounding no.

That's true. James determined that circumcision wasn't necessary for Gentiles. In Acts 15:19-20 James, who is in charge of the early church states what IS necessary:

19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:
20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.

Paul chose to ignore what James directed.

Galatians 2:6,9
6 But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man's person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me:

9 And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
10 Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.

Paul conveniently forgot about this part:
20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.

James was the Head of Christianity of his day, which as you pointed out was a sect within Judaism. Bishop of Jerusalem is not simply one among equals, but the leader. This is why Paul resented James so much, and it is why James sent others to spy on Paul. And this is why Peter left the table at Antioch. If Peter had been 'in charge', why feel guilty about breaking table fellowship with gentiles? Answer, because James was in charge and Head of the Church

Galatians 2
11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
13 And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.

They left because James who was in authority sent people to check up on things in Antioch, and they got caught with their hands in the cookie jar so to speak.

[topcat54]

Are you looking for instruction? If you don't know how to celebrate the days that God ordained then I suggest that you do some research on how various Christians observe them.

If I wanted a rabbi I would ask a rabbi. If I were interested in mere human tradition I have lots to choose from.

Actually, you folks are doing a masterful job avoiding the issue.

On the one hand you are saying that the law regarding feasts has not changed and all Christians regardless of their racial background are obligated to observe these feasts, while on the other hand you are ignoring the details of the law and just placing emphasis in the mere timing of the feasts.

You are picking and choosing to suit your odd situation.

Let's face it that the modern day judaizers are in worse shape than their 1st century cousins since at least those folks had a temple to point the gentiles to in order to place them under the ceremonial law.

Modern judaizers have no such instructions, but are making things up on the fly, using the same tactics that the apostate rabbis used after their temple was destroyed and the implication of the passing of the ceremonial law became apparent.

Thankfully most of the Christian church left these judaizing tendencies long ago.

[P-Marlowe]

Thankfully most of the Christian church left these judaizing tendencies long ago.

Most of the Christian Church prays the rosary, prays to dead people, "venerates" Mary and the Pope, bows to graven images...

Seems when they threw out the old traditions they brought in some new ones. At least the old traditions were scriptural.

[topcat54]

Seems when they threw out the old traditions they brought in some new ones. At least the old traditions were scriptural.

Hardly. The Christian church blowing horns on Rosh Hashanah is no more Scriptural (i.e., OT + NT) that splashing holy water on yourself or praying to Mary.

Blowing a horn on a depleted "Rosh Hashanah" "in Jesus' name" is no different or any more appropriate in the new covenant than sacrificing a goat "in Jesus' name".

As Calvin put it, they are both a form of "will worship" since they have their foundation in the traditions of men, not the Word of God.

The modern judaizers have no Levites to show them how to call a "holy convocation" on these alleged holy days.

"Everyone did what was right in his own eyes."

[jude24]

Blowing a horn on a depleted "Rosh Hashanah" "in Jesus' name" is no different or any more appropriate in the new covenant than sacrificing a goat "in Jesus' name".

Well, now I wouldn't go that far. Sacrificing goats "in Jesus' name" would be an explicit denial of the efficiency of Christ's atonement. (There is no indication Acts 22 is in any way normative.)

Basically, all someone is doing in celebrating a "depleted" Rosh Hashanah (which is a very good description!) is blowing a rams horn and shouting some Hebrew words. If you see Christian symbolism in that, well and good for you. I have no quarrel with this. My quarrel is when people start talking about these Jewish holy days being normative for Christians. That is simply unacceptable. Consider:

"Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days – these are only the shadow of the things to come, but the reality is Christ!" - Col. 2:16-17 [NET]

Likewise, Romans 14 is explicit that the person who recognizes the holy day - to the glory of God - is neither inferior nor superior to the one who considers all days equal. Therefore, if celebrating the Old Testament feast days helps you comprehend the reality that was Christ's finished work, those feast days have never been forbidden - but at the same time, they have never been declared normative for the Christian church. Those who start critiquing other Christians who don't celebrate the Day of Atonement or Passover have completely missed the boat. They belong to an old economy which has been irrevocably swept away (Heb. 8:13 and following).

[jude24]

Meant to include you on the above reply.

[kerryusama04]

I don't know how to reply to all of those folks.

As Calvin put it...

Of course Calvin didn't believe in the LAW - it convicted him of his murderous deeds.

1Ki 18:21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people did not answer him a word.

I choose the LORD.

[P-Marlowe]

You avoided my point. Nice dodge. But the Christian Church, after removing all the scriptural Jewish feasts and holy days, created their own non-scriptural feast and holy days. After eliminating many of the traditions of the Jews, they adopted many of the traditions of the pagans.

So arguing that because th Christian Church abandoned all these Jewish practices that they were inappropriate after Christ is meaningless since the Christian Church later adopted many pagan practices to take their place. At least the Jewish practices honored the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob.