News Letter 5852-022
The Shemitah Year
The 11th day of the 5th month 5852 years after the creation of Adam
The 5th Month in the Seventh year of the Third Sabbatical Cycle
The 3rd Sabbatical Cycle after the 119th Jubilee Cycle
The Sabbatical Cycle of Earthquakes, Famines and Pestilence
The Year of letting the land rest
The Sabbatical year that begins March 10, Aviv 2016 and goes to Aviv 2017
July 16, 2016
Shabbat Shalom to The Royal Family of Yehovah, or should I say Sabbatical Shalom in this year of the Shemitah.
Are you ready to begin to obey the rulings of the court?”
Last week I left you with a question about should we have two witnesses or can you rely on one that has proven himself trustworthy and accurate?
You may recall that we had only Dr. Roy Hoffman who was able to sight the new moon and he provided a picture as well.
I also asked where is this commanded in scriptures? And I then used the one witness of Roy Hoffman to number my days of the month. Last Sabbath I said it was the 4th day and wonder if I should change the date this week to be the 10th or the 11th. Why am I debating this?
Is going with one witness biblical? To set the precedent now in the fourth month will eventually lead to another great controversy in the 1st of 7th month when the Holy Days come.
How do we resolve this?
Where in scripture does it say we need two witnesses? This was the question I asked you all.
Deu 19:15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be made sure.
Deu 17:6 At the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses shall he that is worthy of death be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
Psalm 89:37 It shall be established forever like the moon, and like a faithful witness in the heavens.
We also have two witnesses in Daniel 8 and in Revelation 11.
Dan 8:13 Then I heard a certain holy one speaking, and another holy one said to that one who spoke, Until when shall the vision last, concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression that astounds, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled?
Rev 11:3 And I will give power to My two witnesses, and they will prophesy a thousand, two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. 4 These are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands standing before the God of the earth.
When Yehshua was at the temple they used two witnesses to sight the moon then. I have the following statement that says before that time the witness of one respected Jew was testimony enough. This comes from the writings of Rambam on the crescent moon.
Accordingly, in the early generations, testimony regarding [the sighting of] the new [moon] was accepted from any Jew [without further enquiry], for any Jew can be presumed to be an acceptable witness unless one knows with certainty that he is unacceptable. When the followers of Baithos 8 began conducting themselves in a debased manner and would hire people 9 to testify that they had seen the moon when in fact they had not, the court decreed that it would accept testimony regarding [the sighting of] the new [moon] only from witnesses whom the court knew to be acceptable. Moreover, they would examine and question their testimony. It was the de facto system used in Second Temple times by both the Pharisees and the Temple Priesthood.
This is Neusner’s translation:
RoshHa. 1:7 A. A father and his son who saw the new moon should go [to give testimony]. B. It is not that they join together with one another [to provide adequate testimony], C. but so that, if one of them should turn out to be invalid [as a witness], the other may join with someone else [to make up the requisite number of witnesses]. D. R. Simeon says, “A father and his son, and all relatives, are valid to give testimony about the new moon.” E. Said R. Yose, “M‘SH B: Tobiah, the physician, saw the new moon in Jerusalem-he, his son, and his freed slave. F. “And the priests accepted him and his son [as witnesses to the new moon], but they invalidated the testimony of his slave. G. “But when they came before the court, they accepted his [testimony] and that of his slave, but they invalidated that of his son.”
It shows there were two rival courts and both required 2 witnesses, although they had different standards as to who was acceptable as a witness. Now this isn’t definitive proof of what the Torah requires, only what was understood in the 1st century.
The fact that the Temple Priests and Pharisees agreed on the basic principle, while disagreeing on some of the specifics, has weight for me.
In my time of observing the crescent moon I do recall a time when we had a few witnesses who all had seen an airplane. Should we have accepted their witness because all three said it was the moon they saw? When the pictures were examined it turned out to be a plane.
Rambam also says the following things;
7. 7What is the process through which the testimony regarding the sighting of the moon is accepted? Anyone who saw the moon and is fit to testify20 should come to the court. The [judges] should bring them all to a single place,21 and should make a large feast for them, so that people will come regularly. The pair [of witnesses] who arrive first are examined first according to the questions mentioned previously.22 The one of greater stature is invited [into a private chamber] first and asked these questions. If his testimony is accurate according to [the data that the court arrives at through] calculations, they invite his colleague in. If their statements are comparable,23 their testimony is substantiated.
[Afterwards,] the remaining pairs are asked questions of a broader nature. [In truth,] their testimony is not required at all, [and they are being asked] only so they will not depart disheartened, so that they will come frequently [in the future].24
Once the court sanctifies the new month, it remains sanctified regardless of whether they erred unwittingly, they were led astray [by false witnesses], or they were forced [to sanctify it].35 We are required to calculate [the dates of] the festivals based on the day that they sanctified [as the beginning of the new month].
Even if [a person] knows that [the court] erred, he is obligated to rely on them,36 for the matter is entrusted to them alone. The One who commanded us to observe the festivals is the One who commanded [us] to rely on them, as [implied by Leviticus 23:2]: “Which you will pronounce as days of holy convocation.”37
Rosh HaShanah 2:10 relates that once Rabbi Yehoshua differed with Rabban Gamliel concerning the acceptance of the testimony of witnesses with regard to Rosh HaShanah. Since Rabban Gamliel was the head of the High Court, his opinion was accepted. To emphasize the importance of following the necessity for uniform adherence to the decisions of the court, Rabban Gamliel ordered Rabbi Yehoshua to appear before him carrying his staff and his wallet on the day that Rabbi Yehoshua thought should be considered as Yom Kippur.
After consulting with his colleagues, Rabbi Yehoshua obeyed Rabban Gamliel’s instructions. Afterwards, Rabban Gamliel honored Rabbi Yehoshua for his humility and deference to the court’s authority.
As it stands now we have a number of people in Israel sighting the moon and they have become good and trusted at it. All of them report to Nehemiah and this information is then shared to the rest of us in the world. We also have relied upon Nehemiah for the barley reports to begin the year. And lately we have had a couple others doing the report as well. A difference in understanding when the barley must be ripe has occurred this year. And sadly we are this year on two different calendars.
So I am wondering if there is any way a court could be set up and all of us submit to it?
Lev 23:2 Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, The feasts of Jehovah, which you shall proclaim, holy convocations, even these are My appointed feasts.
We, the people, must proclaim Yehovah’s feasts. He will make the moon visible and the ripeness of the barley apparent to us or hide them from us. But when we see them then the Holy Days are to be proclaimed, and if we err then we should do so united.
Are we ready for this?
Are we who were once alienated to Yehovah and have now come back to obey Him, are we able to work with Judah in this declaration of when the Moon is and when the Feasts are? Are those of us from Judah ready to work with those who claim to follow Yehshua yet still obey the torah? Are we ready to have an official court to rule over whether we have one witness for the moon or whether we have two? Are we ready to have a court rule over how the barley is to be determined? Are we ready yet?
“The Shemitah Year Aviv 2016-Aviv 2017”
The fall Feasts will be as follows:
Friday Sept 2, 2016 to Saturday Sept 3, 2016 will be the Feast of Trumpets if the moon is sighted. If not then the next day, Sunday, will be the Feast of Trumpets.
Assuming the moon is sighted then Atonement will be sunset Sept 11 to sunset Sept 12.
The Feast of Sukkot will begin on Friday evening Sept 16 and Saturday Sept 17.
The 8th Day will be Friday Sunset Sept 23, to sunset Saturday Sept 24, 2016
Pray to Yehovah and ask Him to reveal to you the truth as to when the year began and when to keep the Feasts.
Again I am going to share with you the commandments for the Sabbatical year, maybe each week until you have it memorized. The Sabbatical year began with the sighting of the moon on the evening of March 10, 2016.
1) Do not plant
2) Do not harvest
Lev 25:3 You shall sow your field six years, and you shall prune your vineyard six years, and gather in the fruit of it. 4 But in the seventh year shall be a Sabbath of rest to the land, a Sabbath for Jehovah. You shall neither sow your field, nor prune your vineyard. 5 You shall not reap that which grows of its own accord of your harvest, neither gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It is a year of rest to the land.
3) You can eat what grows on it’s own.
Lev 25:6 And the Sabbath of the land shall be food for you, for you and for your servant, and for your slave woman and for your hired servant, and for your stranger who stays with you, 7 and for your cattle, and for the beast that is in your land, shall all the increase of it be for food.
4) Stock up on food in the 6th year.
Lev 25:20 And if you shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow nor gather in our increase! 21 Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.
5) Forgive any debts people owed to you by Sukkot.
Deu 15:1 At the end of every seven years you shall make a release. 2 And this is the manner of the release. Every man who has a loan to his neighbor shall release it. He shall not exact it from his neighbor, or from his brother, because it is called Jehovah’s release. 3 You may exact it from a foreigner, but your hand shall release that which is yours with your brother,
6) Read the Torah out loud at Sukkot so all can hear it being read.
We have linked you to the News Letter with the laws you are to read just by clicking the link above.
Deu 31:10 And Moses commanded them, saying: At the end of seven years, at the set time of the year of release, in the Feast of Tabernacles, 11 when all Israel has come to appear before Jehovah your God in the place which He shall choose, you shall read this Law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Gather the people, men and women and the little ones, and your stranger who is within your gates, so that they may hear and that they may learn and fear Jehovah your God, and be careful to do all the words of this Law, 13and that their sons who have not known may hear and learn to fear Jehovah your God, as long as you live in the land where you go over Jordan to possess it.
And by now you should also have completed all your obligations to the widows, orphan, and Levites from your tithes for the 6th year that is now past.
Deu 14:28 At the end of three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your increase the same year, and shall lay it up inside your gates. 29 And the Levite, because he has no part nor inheritance with you, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are inside your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied, so that Jehovah your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
Ask Yehovah to bless you for having completed this task and then ask Him to bless your efforts as you keep the Sabbatical year and keep your food safe from decay or flood or hydro blackouts and from scavengers like rodents. Ask Him to protect it and to bless you for keeping His commandments.
Deu 26:12 When you have made an end of tithing all the tithes of your increase the third year, the year of tithing, and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow (that they may eat inside your gates and be filled), 13 then you shall say before Jehovah your God, I have brought away the holy things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me. I have not broken Your commandments, neither have I forgotten. 14 I have not eaten of it in my mourning, neither have I putany of it away for unclean use, nor have I given of it for the dead. I have listened to the voice of Jehovah my God, and have done according to all that You have commanded me. 15 Look down from Your holy dwelling, from Heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, as You swore to our fathers, a land that flows with milk and honey. 16 Today Jehovah your God has commanded you to do these statutes and judgments. You therefore shall keep and do them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 You have today said that Jehovah is your God, and that you would walk in His ways, and keep His statutes and His commandments and His judgments, and listen to His voice. 18 And Jehovah has taken you today to be His peculiar people, as He has promised you, and to keep all His commandments, 19 and to make you high above all nations which He has made, in praise and in name and in honor, and that you may be a holy people to Jehovah your God, even as He has spoken.
May Yehovah bless each and every one of you for keeping the Sabbatical year commandment and breaking the curses that are upon our nations because we have not kept them in the past.
I was asked about eating grapes during the Sabbatical year. I said you cannot eat grapes because the vines are untended. Others said you could eat the fruit of the land that year.
Let’s take a look at this for a moment.
Lev 25:4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest to the land, a sabbath for Jehovah. You shall neither sow your field, nor prune your vineyard.
Notice the very next verse.
Lev 25:5 You shall not reap that which grows of its own accord of your harvest, neither gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It is a year of rest to the land.
It is when we examine this word ‘undressed’ that we get some meaning as to whether or not we should eat the grapes during the Sabbatical year.
H5139 na?z??yr na?zir naw-zeer’,naw-zeer’
From H5144; separate, that is, consecrated (as prince, a Nazirite); hence (figuratively from the latter) an unpruned vine (like an unshorn Nazirite). (The translation, Nazarite, is by a false alliteration with Nazareth.): – Nazarite [by a false alliteration with Nazareth], separate (-d), vine undressed.
H5144 na?zar naw-zar’
A primitive root; to holdaloof, that is, (intransitively) abstain (from food and drink, from impurity, and even from divine worship (that is, apostatize)); specifically to setapart (to sacred purposes), that is, devote: – consecrate, separate (-ing, self).
A Nazarite vow is one in which the person cannot touch anything comes from the grape.
Num 6:1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 2 Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, When a man or a woman shall vow a vow, a vow of a Nazarite, to be separated to Jehovah, 3 he shall separate from wine and strong drink and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink; neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes or dried. 4 All the days of his Nazariteship he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from grape seeds even to a stem. 5 All the days of his vow to separate, no razor shall come upon his head. Until all the days are fulfilled in which he separates to Jehovah, he shall be holy. He shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.
Like a Nazarite who does not shave or cut his hair, the grape vine is allowed to run wild and shagged. It is not to be cut. And like a Nazarite who cannot touch the grape, it is my position that we are not to touch the grape during the Sabbatical year.
But some are saying this next verse is the one that says they can eat the grapes during the Shemitah year.
Lev 25:6 And the sabbath of the land shall be food for you, for you and for your servant, and for your slave woman and for your hired servant, and for your stranger who stays with you,
You who are to judge angels must now decide what you will do. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
“You Cannot Know the Time or Can You?”
Over the years as I go around trying to share our message and teachings to christian groups, there is always one or more who disavow everything I am saying by accusing me of setting dates for the time when the Messiah is to come. And because of this date setting, they think I am not qualified to teach and they tell others not to listen to me.
Sadly many are lead away by these demonic spirits telling them these lies that come from both the student and also teachers. And there are those in the Messianic movement who have accepted this false doctrine as truth. So anyone who has a chronology of history is automatically accused of being a false teacher and not given the time of day to share because they are setting dates.
I understand why they say these things. Christians do not keep nor understand the Holy Days. Messianic believers do though, so I do not understand them unless they are still thinking like they were in their old churches or are Messianic Christians mixing the truth with false teaching they still hold from their former days. Each of the Holy Days explains the plan of Salvation. To do away with them and not keep them is to do away with your own salvation. If you are not practicing them now then you will not be in the Kingdom of Yehovah. No sinners will be there. Not keeping the Holy Days is sin.
1Co 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor abusers, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they who do His commandments, that their authority will be over the Tree of Life, and they may enter in by the gates into the city. 15 But outside are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and makes a lie.
Right there you have the two things you need to do. Be righteous and do His commandments. And this is the very thing David spoke of in the psalms.
Psa 119:172 My tongue shall speak Your Word, for all Your Commandments are righteousness.
It is by keeping those commandments that Christianity says are nailed to the cross and that they no longer have to keep, that we learn this plan of salvation and the timing of everything. Christians have been lied to and they believed it. No you must keep the commandments in order to be found righteous.
The fourth commandment is the one about keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. And Yehovah spoke these Commandments by His own mouth and was heard by millions of people. One other thing. The Grace doctrine is explained right here just before the commandment about the Sabbath. Yehovah show mercy, Grace, to thousands. WHY? To those who love Yehovah and keep His Commandments.
Exo 20:5 You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them. For I Jehovah your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation of those that hate me, 6 and showing mercy to thousands of those that love Me and keep My commandments. 7 You shall not take the name of Jehovah your God in vain. For Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain. 8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is the Sabbath of Jehovah your God. You shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger within your gates. 11 For in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore Jehovah blessed the Sabbath day, and sanctified it.
By Yehovah telling us to keep the Sabbath, and Christianity telling you it is done away with, they are saying Yehovah made a mistake and has changed.
Even Yehshua said that if you love me you would keep the commandments. He did not say that in order to love me, do away with the law and just say the name of Jesus.
Joh 14:15 If you love Me, keep My commandments.
1Jn 2:3 And by this we know that we have known Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, I have known Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His Word, truly in this one the love of God is perfected. By this we know that we are in Him.
1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, whenever we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome.
This is the love of Yehovah, that we keep His commandments. If you are not keeping the 4th commandment then you do not have the love of Yehovah upon you. If you say you do then you are calling Yehovah a liar from 1John 5:3 above.
Sabbath is our first teaching of time. It comes every 7th day and is Saturday from sunset Friday evening to sunset Saturday evening. The weekly sabbath represents the 7th Millennium, another period of time that we need to understand. Christians will quote Hebrew but will not understand it is talking about the Sabbath rest of the Millennium. In order to understand this period of time you must keep the weekly Sabbath each week and learn about it, in order to understand the 7th Millennium.
Heb 4:1 Therefore, a promise being left to enter into His rest, let us fear lest any of you should seem to come short of it. 2 For also we have had the gospel preached, as well as them. But the Word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 3 For we who have believed do enter into the rest, as He said, “I have sworn in My wrath that they should not enter into My rest;” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For He spoke in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested the seventh day from all His works.” 5 And in this place again, “They shall not enter into My rest.” 6 Since then it remains that some must enter into it, and since they to whom it was first preached did not enter in because of unbelief, 7 He again marks out a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” (after so long a time). Even as it is said, “Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 So then there remains a rest to the people of God. 10 For he who has entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His. 11 Therefore let us labor to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of unbelief. 12 For the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing apart of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
But if you have hardened your heart and will not keep the weekly Sabbath then you will not enter into the Kingdom of Yehovah who will be keeping the weekly Sabbath throughout the 7th Millennium, with His Kingdom set up here on earth and the Messiah ruling over it. You will not enter into that Rest spoken of in Hebrews.
Yehovah has said;
Mal 3:6 For I am Jehovah, I change not. Because of this you sons of Jacob are not destroyed.
Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever.
If Yehovah does not change and if He is the same as He always has been, then who changed the Sabbath and did away with it? Christianity did, not Yehovah. So who is sinning? Christianity! And it is Christians who do not understand the times we are in nor the plan of salvation and Yehovah’s chronology. And I when I try to explain the plan of salvation and the chronology of Yehovah, it is Christians who accuse me of teaching lies and being a false prophet before ever hearing anything I say or reading anything I teach, because of the setting of dates.
Psa 90:9 For all our days pass away in Your wrath; we finish our years like a murmur. 10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by strength they are fourscore years, yet their pride is labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. 11 Who knows the power of Your anger? And as Your fear is, so is Your wrath. 12 So teach us to number our days, so that we may bring a heart of wisdom. 13 Return, O Jehovah! How long? And give pity to Your servants. 14 Satisfy us early with Your mercy, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
We are to number our days so that we may gain wisdom? And we gain this wisdom by keeping His commandments and doing them.
Deu 4:5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as Jehovah my God commanded me, so that you should do so in the land where you go to possess it. 6 And you shall keep and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7 For who is a great nation whose God is coming near to them, as Jehovah our God is, in all our calling on Him?
Job asks a question and I want you to think about it.
Job 24:1 Since times are not hidden from the Almighty, why do those who know Him not see His days?
Most people do not see His days, His Appointed Times, because they have removed the boundaries that Yehovah put in front of us.
Deu 19:14 You may not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which those in the past have set in your inheritance, which you shall inherit in the land which Jehovah your God gives you to possess it.
Because Christianity has removed the boundary markers of the Sabbath, the Holy Days, and the Sabbatical years. They can no longer see the timing of Yehovah’s days, of His salvational plan, because they say the law is done away, the Sabbath and Holy Days are for the Jews only and we do not have to keep them. And this is why they cannot understand prophecy.
They quote Acts, saying it is not for us to know and they also quote Matthew, saying no man can know the day or the hour. Yet each and every time they do that they show you they are ignorant of what the bible actually does say about it.
Act 1:7 And He said to them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His own authority.
Mat 24:3 And as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the world?
Mat 24:36 But of that day and hour no one knows, no, not the angels of Heaven, but only My Father.
When we come to the writings of Paul we are told something else that Christianity does not get. You see, Paul was one of the most educated of the Apostles. He was taught under Gamaliel.
Act 22:3 I am truly a man, a Jew born in Tarsus in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the exactness of the Law of the fathers, being a zealous one of God, as you all are today.
Gamaliel the Elder ;[1] also spelled Gamliel; or Rabban Gamaliel I, was a leading authority in the Sanhedrin in the early 1st century CE. He was the son of Simeon ben Hillel, and grandson of the great Jewish teacher Hillel the Elder. He died twenty years before the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem (70 CE). He fathered a son, whom he called Simeon, after his father,[2] and a daughter, who married a priest named Simon ben Nathanael.[3] In Christian tradition, he is said to have converted to Christianity and is venerated as a Saint along with his second son, Abibo (also Abibas, Abibus).
In the Christian tradition, Gamaliel is recognized as a Pharisee doctor of Jewish Law.[4] The Acts of the Apostles chapter 5 speaks of Gamaliel as a man, held in great esteem by all Jews, who spoke to not condemn the apostles of Jesus in Acts 5:34[5] to death, and as the Jewish law teacher of Paul the Apostle in Acts 22:3.[6]
Gamaliel is a Hebrew name meaning reward of God.
In the Talmud, Gamaliel is described as bearing the titles Nasi and Rabban (our master), as the president of the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem; although some dispute this, it is not doubted that he held a senior position in the highest court in Jerusalem.[2] Gamaliel holds a reputation in the Mishnah for being one of the greatest teachers in all the annals of Judaism:
“Since Rabban Gamaliel the Elder died, there has been no more reverence for the law, and purity and piety died out at the same time”.[7]
So Paul was not only taught by the leading authority of the torah in his day but one of the greatest teachers of all the Jewish sages. This is this same Paul that Christians say has taught them the law is done away.
We hear popular preachers everywhere preaching against sin. Those preachers quote the ten commandments as an evidence. They preach against adultery and quote the seventh commandment: “thou shalt not commit adultery.” That’s alright. They preach against idol worship and quote the second commandment: “Thou shalt not make … graven image, Thou shalt not bow down … .” That’s perfectly alright. If you want to preach against swearing, quote the third commandment. That too, is very fine. It is perfectly alright in preaching against sin to quote the commandments as evidence that it is wrong; but, as soon as you mention the commandment that the popular churches quite universally disobey, then you hear a strange cry: “I’m not under the law, I’m under grace. I can disobey God’s commandments.”
It is a strange and crooked way of reasoning, isn’t it? Yet it’s a very popular kind of thinking in the religious world today! It is perfectly alright to preach against swearing and adultery, stealing, murder, and quote the ten commandments. But if we preach about keeping God’s Sabbath day, which is also one of the ten commandments, then suddenly, the ten commandments are nailed to the cross or done away – “we’re not under the law, we’re under grace!”
When you begin to analyze this devious doctrine, it appears rather foolish. If we are at liberty to disobey the Sabbath command by saying, “The law was nailed to the cross, done away,” or by saying, “I’m not under the law but under grace,” then this reasoning applies to all ten commandments, not just one of the ten. But not very many people think it is just right to throw out all ten of the commandments. Some will say: “most of those commandments are repeated in the New Testament.” It’s true that many of them are, the Sabbath is repeated in the New testament very clearly for example, but there are some that are not repeated there.
Paul wrote this letter to the Thessalonians about 52 A.D.
1Th 5:1 But of the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that I write to you. 2For you yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety! Then sudden destruction comes on them, as travail upon a woman with child. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the Day should overtake you like a thief. 5 You are all the sons of light and the sons of the day. We are not of the night, or of darkness. 6Therefore let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us watch and be calm. 7 For those sleeping sleep in the night, and those being drunken are drunken in the night. 8But let us, who are of the day, be calm, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and the hope of salvation for a helmet. 9 For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we watch or sleep we should live together with Him. 11Therefore comfort one another, and edify one another, even as you also do.
What Paul is saying is that we can know, or that we should know, the times and the seasons if we are obeying Yehovah. Those who obey Yehovah will know or can know accurately what Paul is speaking about. Paul is speaking of the moedim when he says times or seasons. These are the Holy Days of Lev 23. Do you know what they teach you when you keep them?
Christianity keeps Easter Sunday and Pentecost Sunday and based on these two Holy Days they have justified the keeping of Sunday as the Sabbath. Have you fallen for this lie?
Easter Sunday is the day Jesus went up to Heaven. Ascension Sunday is what they call it. But they have no idea that this day is described to them in Lev 23.
Lev 23:10 Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap the harvest of it, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 And he shall wave the sheaf before Jehovah to be received for you. On the next day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
Lev 23:11 And he shall wave the sheaf before Jehovah to be received for you. On the next day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
This wave sheaf was done on the day after the Sabbath, which is Sunday. The same day Yehshua ascended to Heaven. This day was the day Yehshua ascended to Heaven with the other Saints who came out of the grave on the Sabbath when Yehshua came back to life. These are the first fruits that He led from captivity in the grave and are now in Heaven with Him.
Mat 27:51 And, behold! The veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And the earth quaked, and the rocks were sheared, 52 and the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose, 53 and coming out of the tomb after His resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
Mat 28:1 But late in the week, at the dawning into the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
Joh 20:15 Jesus said to her, Woman, why do you weep? Whom do you seek? Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, Sir, if you have carried Him away from here, tell me where you have laid Him and I will take Him away. 16 Jesus said to her, Mary! She turned herself and said to Him, Rabboni! (which is to say, Master!) 17 Jesus said to her, Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father. But go to My brothers and say to them, I ascend to My Father and Your Father, and to My God and your God.
Eph 4:8 Therefore He says, “When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.”
Psa 68:18 You have gone up on high; You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts for men, yes, for the rebellious also, that You might dwell among them, O Jehovah God.
All of this is told to us in Lev 23:10. Had we been practicing this commandment we would understand the deep meaning of the wave sheaf day and what it represents. But Christians do not practice this day and instead they have perverted it and now call it Easter and loose the entire meaning of it and worship an egg laying rabbit instead.
Christians also keep Pentecost Sunday and it too comes from Lev 23.
Lev 23:15 And you shall count to you from the next day after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete. 16 To the next day after the seventh sabbath you shall number fifty days. And you shall offer a new food offering to Jehovah.
When you count 50 days from the day He ascended to heaven you get Pentecost Sunday. These two are connected and they both come from Lev 23 which Christianity says is done away with and we do not have to keep it. So why do they keep Pentecost Sunday? It was the day the Law was given at Mount Sinai.
But right here they are being taught about the Jubilee Years of Lev 25 and 26. And when you count the Jubilee years you can know when that 7th Millennium Rest spoken of in Hebrews is to begin. And knowing that allows you to know the secrets of Daniel’s 70 weeks prophecy. And just by knowing these two things you can then know when the Messiah is to come because Daniel 9:24-27 is speaking of this very specific time.
The problem arises when those who do not keep the Holy Days of Lev 23 try to understand the New Testament and prophecy. They have no basis upon which to stand. They are in fact clueless, not being able to understand the clue given in Lev 23 when you keep the Holy Days.
When you count to Pentecost as you are told to do in Lev 23, also known as counting the Omer, you are keeping the Feast of Weeks. It is this clue that Daniel is speaking of.
The Messiah would come after 7 Feasts of Weeks or 7 X 49 years. And then the Messiah would come again after another 62 Feast of Weeks or another 62 x 49 years.
Then Daniel says that in the very middle of that 70th week, or the very middle of that 70 block of time of 49 years the anointed would be cut off.
If you want to learn more about this we have written it all out with all the scriptures in our book The 2300 Days of Hell where we look at Daniel 9:24-27 and compare it to Daniel 8 to reveal the deadly meaning of this prophecy for our time now. Order it after the Sabbath.
This prophecy of Daniel’s 70 weeks lead us into the 7th Millennium of rest. Again all of this show us the times and how we can know them.
And still some of you are now quoting Matthew 24 and saying I cannot know the end times.
Mat 24:36 But of that day and hour no one knows, no, not the angels of Heaven, but only My Father.
But in your ignorance you do not understand that this too is speaking of yet another Holy Day found in Lev 23. That Holy Day when understood teaches us the day the Messiah is to come and has come to us in the past. It is the Feast of Trumpets or Yom Teruah.
Lev 23:23 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 24 Speak to the sons of Israel saying: In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath, a memorial summons, a holy convocation.
This is the Feast Day the Jews do not understand why they keep it. And it is the one day Christians do not keep but they often quote it.
They quote this day each and every time they speak or mention Mat 24:36. No man can know the day or the hour.
The reason no one can know the day or the hour is because this Feast of Yom Teruah, the Feast of Shouting, the Feast of Trumpets come on the first day of the 7th month. The months are determined by the sighting of the moon each and every month. And you do not know if you will sight the moon on the 29th day of the month or the 30th day. There fore you do not know which day the Lord will come on. And you do not know the hour because you do not know if it will be seen just after sunset or later in the evening.
But because people do not keep this Holy Day they do not understand this message from Yehshua. He is telling them that He will come on the Feast of Trumpets. But no one is watching for Him at this time. Let’s read the rest of Mat 24.
Mat 24:37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man. 38For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered into the ark. 39 And they did not know until the flood came and took them all away. So also will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41 Two shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 42 Therefore watch; for you do not know what hour your Lord comes. 43 But know this, that if the steward of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched and would not have allowed his house to be dug through. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for in that hour you think not, the Son of Man comes. 45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord has made ruler over His household, to give them food in due season? 46Blessed is that servant whom his Lord shall find him doing so when He comes. 47 Truly I say to you that He shall make him ruler over all His goods. 48 But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delays His coming, 49and shall begin to strike his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken, 50the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he does not look for Him, and in an hour which he does not know. 51And He shall cut him apart and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
You are commanded to watch. Watch what?
Deu 5:12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as Jehovah your God has commanded you. (MKJV)
Deu 5:12 Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD thy God commanded thee. (JPS)
Deut 5:12 ‘Guard the Sabbath day, to set it apart, as hwhy your Elohim commanded you. (The Scriptures 1998)
By watching we are to guard and remember the Sabbath and all the Holy Days as well as the Sabbatical and Jubilee years. We are to learn the meaning they teach us and study them and understand them gain wisdom from them.
We have also been told to watch out for the Thief in the Night. What is this? It is Yehshua yes because we are told as much.
Rev 3:2 Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die. For I have not found your works being fulfilled before God. 3 Remember then how you have received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.
Rev 16:15 Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is the one who watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.
1 Thess 5:2 For you yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night.
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some count slowness, but is long-suffering toward us, not purposing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a rushing noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. And the earth and the works in it will be burned up.
A Thief In The Night
1 Thessalonians 5:1-10
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. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them,
as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do,
but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.The day of Lord will come like a thief in the night. But a thief in our human understanding may not be a good example or analogy to represent or symbolize this awesome day of the Lord! Simply because the thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. But Jesus has come that we may have life, and that we may have it more abundantly (John 10:10). Who then is this thief in the night?
“A thief in the night” is a Hebrew idiom. It does not refer to a criminal thief that will come in the middle of the night, take us by surprise and steal our belongings or kill us. He is someone who has a high calling and an honorable task to fulfill!
Psalm 134:1
Behold, bless the LORD,
All you servants of the LORD,
Who by night stand in the house of the LORD!In the Temple of God, a priest was posted every night on duty to ensure the last sacrifice for the current day was completely consumed. He also had to guard the fire on the altar so that it was kept burning throughout the night ready for the next morning’s sacrifice. The fire was not supposed to go out for any reasons.
Somehow the priest on duty would become tired and sleepy about halfway through the night. If the last sacrifice was consumed and the flames were still burning, he might catch some moments to rest and nap while waiting. He would wake up every now and then to fuel the fire by adding wood and fanning the flames before going back to the sleeping mode again. This happened throughout the night until the rising of the sun.
However it was highly possible for this priest on duty to fall asleep totally, failing to perform his responsibilities of tending to the fire. And the fire went out.
Here the thief in the night would come. Sometimes during the night watches, the High Priest would enter the Temple very quietly like a thief to check and ensure the priest on duty was fulfilling his duties. He might be accompanied by his faithful assistant.
Firstly the High Priest and his assistant would check the fire to see whether the flames were still alive. If necessary, they would add some wood and fan the flames. If the priest on duty was sleeping, the High Priest would take an ember of coal from the fire and sneak quietly around the sleeping priest. He would then place the burning coal on the garment of the sleeping priest.
When his clothes were on fire, the priest would wake up. He would have no choice but to rip them off and run home, naked and ashamed. One thing for sure, he would never fall asleep while on duty again.
These white priestly garments were made of 100% cotton. When soiled, they were torn into strips and used as wicks for the menorah or swaddling clothes for infants.
Thus the thief in the night is the High Priest coming to check whether the priest on duty is carrying out his responsibilities faithfully and doing his work properly. Those who sleep will be punished, but those who keep watch and stay awake will be rewarded.
Revelation 16:15
Behold, I am coming as a thief.
Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments,
lest he walk naked and they see his shame.We are all children of the light and of the day. We don’t belong to darkness and night.
Thus let us be on our guard, and not fall asleep like the others. Let us stay alert and be sober.
Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk. But let us who live in the light and be sober, putting on the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the hope of our salvation.
For God has chosen to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out His anger on us. Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when He returns, we can live with Him forever.
When our High Priest comes as a thief in the night, we will be ready to meet Him. The flame and zeal in our hearts will be burning brightly but our white priestly garments will not be burnt! We will not be naked and ashamed!
Finally, let us take a closer look at a warning for the lukewarm church in Laodicea:
Revelation 3:14-22
“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,
‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness,
the Beginning of the creation of God:
“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot.
I could wish you were cold or hot.
So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot,
I will vomit you out of My mouth.
Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—
and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—
I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich;
and white garments, that you may be clothed,
that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed;
and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.
Therefore be zealous and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears My voice and opens the door,
I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne,
as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’”
Yehshua, our High Priest is coming on the Feast of Trumpets. Those of you who will not watch, who do not guard the Holy Days and do not understand them will find yourselves on fire, running through the streets naked because you refused to keep nor remember the Holy Days of Lev 23 and 25. And because of this sin you do not know the times we are in now nor when the Messiah is to come.
Adam and Eve also found they were naked for choosing the wrong tree. They too, were cast out of the Garden. When our High Priest comes as a the thief in the night, will you be found naked and out of the Kingdom because you refused to guard the Sabbaths, because you did not remember them nor know what they revealed to those who do keep them?
Rev 22:12 “See! I am coming soon! My reward is with me to repay everyone according to his action. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. 14 “How blessed are those who wash their robes so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city! 15 Outside are dogs, sorcerers, immoral people, murderers, idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
I leave you with Ezekiel to think about.
Eze_20:12 And also I gave them My sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am Jehovah who sets them apart.
Eze_20:13 But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes, and they despised My judgments, which if a man does, he shall even live in them. And they greatly profaned My sabbaths. And I said, I will pour out My fury on them in the wilderness to destroy them.
Eze_20:16 because they despised My judgments and walked not in My sabbaths; and they profaned My sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols.
Eze_20:20 and keep My sabbaths holy; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am Jehovah your God.
Eze_20:21 But the sons rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My statutes, nor kept My judgments to do them; the judgments which, if a man do, he shall even live in them; they profaned My sabbaths and I said I would pour out My fury on them, to fulfill My anger against them in the wilderness.
Eze_20:24 because they had not done My judgments, but had despised My sabbaths and had profaned My sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols.
Eze_22:8 You have despised My holy things, and have profaned My sabbaths.
Eze_22:26 Her priests have broken My Law and have defiled My holy things. They have put no difference between the holy and the common, and have not taught between the unclean and the clean, and have hidden their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am defiled among them.
Eze_23:38 And yet they have done this to Me: They have defiled My sanctuary in that day, and have profaned My sabbaths.
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