Why Did We Need Two Witnesses?

Joseph F. Dumond

Isa 6:9-12 And He said, Go, and tell this people, You hear indeed, but do not understand; and seeing you see, but do not know. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn back, and be healed. Then I said, Lord, how long? And He answered, Until the cities are wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land laid waste, a desolation, and until Jehovah has moved men far away, and the desolation in the midst of the land is great.
Published: Jul 5, 2018

News Letter 5854-015
The 2nd Year of the 4th Sabbatical Cycle
The 23rd year of the 120th Jubilee Cycle
The 22nd day of the 4th month 5854 years after the creation of Adam
The 4th Month in the Second year of the Fourth Sabbatical Cycle
The 4th Sabbatical Cycle after the 119th Jubilee Cycle
The Sabbatical Cycle of Sword, Famines, and Pestilence

July 7, 2018

Shabbat Shalom To the Royal Family,

 

Septennial Torah Readings #67

We have resumed the Septennial Torah readings on our site. We used to do them and I would comment each week.

I will give you the reading for this week and you can go and read them without my comments. Instead of them being the annual Torah readings that are done in one year, the Septennial reading is done twice over the 7 year Sabbatical cycle.

The first weeks reading would have been done on April 1, 2017. This is the start of the first week in this 4th Sabbatical cycle right after the Shemitah year was done. Since this time, this Sabbath is now the 67th week of this Sabbatical Cycle. The readings for this Sabbath today and for this upcoming 68th week are as follows.

Week #           Shabbat Date     Torah             Neviim              Ketuvim           Brit Chadasha
67                  07/07/2018        Ex 21             Isaiah 24-27       Ps135              John 9

68                  14/07/2018        Ex 22             Isaiah 28-29       Ps 136-138      John 10

 

Where does it Say We Need Two Witnesses?

Where in scripture does it say we need to have two witnesses? This is the question I asked you all. Here are the answers to why.

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 began conducting themselves in a debased manner and would hire people 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. That they had to have two witnesses to sight the moon each month. This is not debatable, it is common knowledge facts.

The fact that the Temple Priests and Pharisees agreed on the basic principle while disagreeing on some of the specifics, is proof that the moon had to be sighted to begin the month.

Again notice that in both cases they were looking for the new moon to begin the month.

In my time of observing the crescent moon, I do recall a time when we had a few witnesses who all had seen an aeroplane and thought it was the new moon. 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. 7 What is the process through which the testimony regarding the sighting of the moon is accepted? Anyone who saw the moon and is fit to testify should come to the court. The [judges] should bring them all to a single place, 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. 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, 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].

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]. 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, 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.”

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 this information and is then shared with the rest of us in the world. We also rely upon others searching for the barley to begin the year and then sharing that report as well.

Today we do not have a Sanhedrin to proclaim the beginning of the month. But we do have people in Israel who give their witness. It is these faithful witnesses that we rely on today. And it is from those sightings that we are then able to count to each of the Holy Days and determine when they are to be kept.

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.

When did the Calculated Hebrew Calendar really begin to be used?

Now read what WIKIPEDIA says about this time. They call it the Empirical Calendar. This is when they are sighting the moon to begin each month.

During Temple times and through the Tannaitic period, the Hebrew calendar was observational, with the beginning of each month determined by the high court based on the testimony of witnesses who had observed a new crescent moon. Periodically, the court ordered an extra month added to keep Passover in the spring, again based on observation of natural events.

Temple Times and the Tannatic period are names they gave various ages during the Jewish history.

It was during the Tannaitic period that they wrote the Mishnah.

The Mishnah or Mishna (Hebrew: ???? , “repetition”, from the verb shanah ???, or “to study and review, also “secondary”[1](derived from the adj. ???)) is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the “Oral Torah” and the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c. 200 CE by Judah haNasi when, according to the Talmud, the persecution of the Jews and the passage of time raised the possibility that the details of the oral traditions dating from Pharisaic times (536 BCE – 70 CE) would be forgotten. It is thus named for being both the one written authority (codex) secondary (only) to the Tanakh as a basis for the passing of judgment, a source and a tool for creating laws, and the first of many books to complement the Bible in a certain aspect. The Mishnah is also called Shas (an acronym for Shisha Sedarim – the “six orders”), in reference to its six main divisions.[3] Rabbinic commentaries on the Mishnah over the next three centuries[4] were redacted as the Gemara, which, coupled with the Mishnah, comprise the Talmud.

The Mishnah reflects debates between 70-200 CE by the group of rabbinic sages known as the Tannaim.[5] The Mishnah teaches the oral traditions by example, presenting actual cases being brought to judgment, usually along with the debate on the matter and the judgment that was given by a wise and notable rabbi based on the rules, Mitzvot, and spirit of the teaching (“Torah”) that guided his sentencing. In this way, it brings to everyday reality the practice of the mitzvot as presented in the Bible, and aimed to cover all aspects of human living, serve as an example for future judgments, and, most importantly, demonstrate pragmatic exercise of the Biblical laws, which was much needed at the time when the Second Temple was destroyed (70 CE). The Mishnah does not claim to be the development of new laws, but rather the collection of existing traditions.

After this time a man by the name Hillel become NASI of the Sanhedrin. That word NASI is president.

Hillel II  (Hillel the Nasi), also known simply as Hillel held the office of Nasi of the ancient Jewish Sanhedrin between 320 and 385 CE. He was the son and successor of Judah III. He was a Jewish communal and religious authority, circa 330 – 365 CE.

And from this same article on Hillel is the following information showing that the Hillel calendar was never enforced until the 11th century. Even in the 9th century, it was still questionable as to how to use it.

He is traditionally regarded as the creator of the modern fixed Jewish calendar. It first appears in a responsum of R. Hai Gaon (early eleventh century) cited by R. Abraham bar Hiyya in his Sefer Ha’ibbur, written in 1123. The topic of that responsum is the 19-year cycle for leap-year intercalations, so the most that can be inferred from that attribution is that Hillel was responsible for the adoption of that cycle for the regulation of the distribution of leap-years.

Scholars who have studied the history of the Jewish calendar are in general agreement (and there is much evidence for this in the Talmud itself and in other rabbinic sources) that in practice, the evolution of the calendar into its present form was a gradual process spanning several centuries from the first to about the eighth or ninth century CE. The champion of the view that the calendar was developed in the eighth or ninth century CE is Sacha Stern. This quote is from page 184-5 of his book Calendar and Community: A History of the Jewish Calendar

“Of far greater importance, however, is a much later document from the Cairo Geniza: a letter of a Babylonian exilarch – one of the main leaders of the Rabbanite community – with detailed calendrical instructions for the year 835/6 CE. The letter reveals that Passover (15 Nisan) in that year was due to occur on a Tuesday; whilst according to the present-day rabbinic calendar, it should have occurred on Thursday. According to the exilarch, the setting of Passover on Tuesday was dictated by a concern to avoid visibility of the new moon before the first day of the month. This concern does not exist in the present-day rabbinic calendar. Once discovered and published in 1922, the exilarch’s letter proved beyond doubt that almost five hundred years after R.Yose and ‘Hillel the Patriarch’, then fixed calendar in its present-day form had still not been instituted.”

Notice now from our other article how the changes to the calendar began to take place over the next 600 years from Hillel up to the 11th century. But it was Hillel who introduced the 19 years Metonic cycles. Something Yehovah never used.

Through the Amoraic period (from about 200 to 500 CE ) and into the Geonic period (from about 589 to 1038 CE), the purely empirical calendar was displaced by calendrical rules, which finally became systematically arranged into a computed calendar. The principles and rules of the current calendar are fully described by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah.

Because of the roughly eleven-day difference between twelve lunar months and one solar year, the year lengths of the Hebrew calendar vary in a repeating 19-year Metonic cycle of 235 lunar months, with an intercalary lunar month added according to defined rules every two or three years, for a total of 7 times per 19 years.

It is of supreme importance that you understand this history of the calendar in order to know that the current calculated Hebrew calendar was not the one Yehshus used. The current Hebrew calendar was only started to be enforced in the 11th century by Rambam and not before that.

Even when we use the Tomb Stones of Zoar they also confirm the crescent moon calendar being used at lat as 500 CE.

Why is the Feast of Trumpets kept on two days?

Why is the Feast of Trumpets kept on two days? How did this come to be? Yehovah says to keep it on the 1st day of the 7th Month so what gives with this tradition of two days?

Whereas Shabbat happens every seven days without any input from us, G?d commanded the children of Israel to fix the dates of the months and years.1 This means that the power to determine when the holidays fall was given to Moses and his successors—the rabbinical courts.

Originally, there was no fixed calendar. Each month, the Sanhedrin (supreme court) in Jerusalem would determine whether the previous month had been 29 or 30 days long, depending on when the new moon of the following month was first sighted.

There was no way to determine the exact day of a coming festival (Yom Tov) in advance, because every festival falls on a particular day in a month, and the month would begin only when the new moon of that month was sighted.

(The way that the Sanhedrin determined the new month is fascinating in itself. Click here to find out more about it.)

Once the Sanhedrin had determined that a new month had begun, the information was broadcast from Jerusalem to distant Jewish outposts via huge bonfires which were lit on designated mountaintops. Lookouts stationed on other mountaintops would see the fires, and would then light their own fires, creating a chain of communication that led all the way to Babylon, and to even more distant communities. If there was a Yom Tov that month, communities across Israel and in the Diaspora would then know when to celebrate it.

Take note here: the only reason they needed bonfires was to get the message quickly to the other Jewish communities far away to let them know the moon was sighted. If they were using the calculated method they would not need the bonfire or the messengers because everyone would be doing as they do today. BUT THEY WERE NOT USING THE CALCULATED HEBREW CALENDAR THEN. IT ONLY CAME INTO USE IN THE 11TH CENTURY AD.

But a problem arose. The Samaritans, a sect who denied rabbinic authority and were constantly at odds with the Jews, started lighting fires on the wrong days in order to manipulate the calendar.

To prevent confusion, the fire-on-mountaintop method of communication was discontinued, and instead messengers were dispatched to Babylon and other farflung Jewish settlements.

Since news traveled a lot slower that way, distant communities would not know when Rosh Chodesh (the “Head of the Month”) had been declared in time to celebrate the festival on the proper day.

It was therefore decreed that outside of the Land of Israel people would celebrate every Yom Tov for two days: the day of the month the holiday would be if the previous month had been a 29-day month, and the day of the month it would be if the previous month had been a 30-day month.

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 the 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 practising them now then you will not be in the Kingdom of Yehovah. No sinners will be there. Not keeping the Holy Days is a sin.

1Co 6:9Do 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, 10nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Rev 22:14Blessed 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. 15But 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 119:172My 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. 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 shows mercy, Grace, to thousands. WHY? To those who love Yehovah and keep His Commandments.

Exo 20:5You 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, 6and showing mercy to thousands of those that love Me and keep My commandments. 7You shall not take the name of Jehovah your God in vain. For Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain. 8Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10But 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. 11For 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. Actually, they are saying Yehovah is a liar.

Even Yehshua said that if you love me you would keep the commandments. He did not say, that in order to love me, you must do away with the law and just say the name of Jesus.

Joh 14:15If you love Me, keep My commandments.

1Jn 2:3And by this we know that we have known Him, if we keep His commandments. 4He who says, I have known Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But whoever keeps His Word, truly in this one the love of God is perfected. By this we know that we are in Him.

Christians are saying we do not have to keep the commandments and that they alone know God. The commandments are nailed to the cross. Let me share with you that call yourself a Christian that scripture again.

1Jn 2:3And 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. 5But whoever keeps His Word, truly in this one the love of God is perfected. By this we know that we are in Him.

 

1Jn 5:2By this we know that we love the children of God, whenever we love God and keep His commandments. 3For 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 Hebrews 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 4:1Therefore, a promise being left to enter into His rest, let us fear lest any of you should seem to come short of it. 2For 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. 3For 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. 4For He spoke in a certain place of the seventh dayin this way: “And God rested the seventh day from all His works.” 5And in this place again, “They shall not enter into My rest.” 6Since 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, 7He 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.” 8For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9So then there remains a rest to the people of God. 10For he who has entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His. 11Therefore let us labor to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of unbelief. 12For 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.

Every Christian needs to read this next scripture.

Heb 10:26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?

Many, many have prayed for their entire lives and grown old but have never been heard by God. The reason is they remained sinners and never repented of it. They will come on judgment day and get the shock of a lifetime.

Matt 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

They cast out Demons!

They were prophesying in His name!

They had Great Churches or were members of large churches!

They did mission trips and had many go down the aisle to be saved.

And yet Yehovah is going to say to them Leave He never knew them.

So we are telling you and all those who will hear our message, that you must repent and obey in order to be heard and known by Yehovah.

Yehovah has said;

Mal 3:6For I am Jehovah, I change not. Because of this you sons of Jacob are not destroyed.

Heb 13:8Jesus 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 when I try to explain the plan of salvation and the chronology of Yehovah, it is the 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 90:9For all our days pass away in Your wrath; we finish our years like a murmur. 10The 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. 11Who knows the power of Your anger? And as Your fear is, so is Your wrath. 12So teach us to number our days, so that we may bring a heart of wisdom. 13Return, O Jehovah! How long? And give pity to Your servants. 14Satisfy 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 4:5Behold, 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. 6And 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. 7For 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 19:14You 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 1:7And 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 24:3And 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 24:36But 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 22:3I 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 also 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 lose 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. Oops, sorry, my bad. The law was nailed to the tree. Pentecost Sunday is the day the Holy Spirit was given and replaced the law.

Pentecost is also teaching you 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 clues that are 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. Look up the meaning of the word week here in Daniel. The Feast of Weeks is a 49 day period of time 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 leads us into the 7th Millennium of rest. Again all of this shows us the times and the seasons we are now in and how we can know them.

In Hebrews 4:1 we read about the Millennial rest we are to strive to enter and even told it is the same as the weekly Sabbath. The same one Christians will not keep. ANd just as ISrael did not keep the weekly Sabbath and Yehovah swears they will not enter His millennial rest, neither will those today enter that rest if they will not keep the Sabbath and Holy Days of Lev 23.

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,
“As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’”
although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this passage he said,
“They shall not enter my rest.”

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 comes 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. Therefore 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 or the next night.

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 24:37But 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.

This verse is telling you the very year. When you compare this verse with Luke who speaks about Sodom and Gomorrah.

Luke 17:28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

As it was in the days of Noah and as it was in the days of Lot only makes sense when you understand the Sabbatical Cycles. Both of these events took place at Passover. Noah on the second Passover and Lot on the first Passover and both took place in the 3rd and 4th year of the 6th Sabbatical cycle.

So the Son of Man will be revealed at Passover in the 6th Sabbatical cycle at the end of the Tribulation is how I understand things.

Continuing with Matt 24.

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 YHVH  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 to 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 eacept 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 two, were cast out of the Garden. When our High Priest comes as 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. 13I 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! 15Outside are dogs, sorcerers, immoral people, murderers, idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

Listen to what Ezekiel said about the Sabbaths.

Eze_20:12And 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_20:13But 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_20:16because they despised My judgments and walked not in My sabbaths; and they profaned My sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols.

Eze_20:20and 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_20:21But 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_20:24because 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_22:8You have despised My holy things, and have profaned My sabbaths.

Eze_22:26Her 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_23:38And yet they have done this to Me: They have defiled My sanctuary in that day, and have profaned My sabbaths.

The First day of the Seventh Month is the Feast of Trumpets.

Lev 23:23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the Lord.”

The Feast of Trumpets is also known as Yom Teruah which means “Day of Shouting” (Leviticus 23:23-25; Numbers 29:1-6).

Numb 29:1“On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets, and you shall offer a burnt offering, for a pleasing aroma to the Lord:

All the Feasts given have one or two reasons supplied as to why we are to keep them. But the Feast of Teruah or Trumpets has no clear purpose.

The name of Yom Teruah does give us a clue as to its purpose. Teruah means to make a loud noise. This word can describe the noise made by a trumpet but it also describes the noise made by a large gathering of people shouting in unison (Numbers 10:5–6).

H8643    teru^?a^h    ter-oo-aw’

From H7321; clamor, that is, acclamation of joy or a battle cry; especially clangor of trumpets, as an alarum: – alarm, blow (-ing) (of, the) (trumpets), joy, jubile, loud noise, rejoicing, shout (-ing), (high, joyful) sound (-ing).

When we read what Job says we can see something else coming from the word Teruah.

Job 38:7  When the morningH1242 starsH3556 sangH7442 together,H3162 and allH3605 the sonsH1121 of GodH430 shouted for joy?H7321

H7321   ru^a?    roo-ah’

A primitive root; to mar (especially by breaking); figuratively to split the ears (with sound), that is, shout (for alarm or joy): – blow an alarm, cry (alarm, aloud, out), destroy, make a joyful noise, smart, shout (for joy), sound an alarm, triumph.

Joshua 6:5 “And it shall come to pass when the ram’s horn makes a long blast, when you hear the sound of the shofar, the entire nation will shout a great shout, and the wall of the city shall fall in its place, and the people shall go up as one man against it.”

In this verse the word “shout” appears twice, once as the verb form of Teruah and a second time as the noun form of Teruah. Although this verse mentions the sound of the shofar (ram’s horn), the two instances of Teruah do not refer to the shofar. In fact, in this verse, Teruah refers to the shouting of the Israelites which was followed by the fall of the walls of Jericho.

Here is some homework for you to look up each verse and then what the word is that is used for shouting or trumpet.

Total KJV Occurrences: 38

shout, 10

Num_23:21, Jos_6:5, Jos_6:20, 1Sa_4:5-6 (3), Ezr_3:11, Ezr_3:13 (2), Psa_47:5

shouting, 8

2Sa_6:15, 1Ch_15:28, 2Ch_15:14, Job_39:25, Jer_20:16, Eze_21:22, Amo_1:14, Amo_2:2

alarm, 6

Num_10:5-6 (3), Jer_4:19, Jer_49:2, Zep_1:16

blowing, 2

Lev_23:24, Num_29:1

joy, 2

Job_33:26, Psa_27:6

sounding, 2

2Ch_13:12, Psa_150:5

blow, 1

Num_31:5-6 (2)

high, 1

Psa_150:5

joyful, 1

Psa_89:15

jubilee, 1

Lev_25:9

noise, 1

Psa_33:3

rejoicing, 1

Job_8:21

shouted, 1

Ezr_3:12

sound, 1

Psa_89:15

 

From this study, you should have learned that the two witnesses were used in the Temple service to report when they sighted the first sliver of the crescent moon. They used this information to begin the month and the count to each of the Holy Days.

You should also understand that the only Feast day that comes on the 1st day of the month or when the sliver of the crescent is seen is the Feast of Shouting. Yom Teruah. And you should also understand that this Feast is the one that no man can know the day or the hour for it to begin. This expression of no man can know the day or the hour is a Hebrewism for this Feast day. Because Christians refuse to obey and keep these Feasts, these commanded Sabbath, they do not understand the Hebrewism of this day and miss the fact that Yehshua was, in fact, telling them He would come on this very Holy Day.

One of the reasons that the Jews do not understand the purpose of this day is because they have rejected the one that comes on this day. We will have more to say about this in the weeks to come.

Does it Matter which day you keep?

Some people will say, even after reading all that I have put forward, that it does not matter if you keep Sunday or Saturday or Wednesday if you want so long as you keep one day to God. Others will say every day is Holy to God. In both cases, they are making up their own rules.

Others will compromise the Sabbath. Some will say they are keeping it but the pagans don’t so it is OK to eat out on the Sabbath. They are working anyways. You are not…well, let’s just read it.

Exodus 20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant,or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

You are not to have other people work for you on the Sabbath.

I once had my kitchen remodeled. They wanted to work on Saturdays to get the work done faster. In the contract, I made sure they understood that under absolutely no circumstances would they be allowed to work from Sunset Friday to Sunset Saturday. There was no room for negotiation on this. And on top of that, Passover was coming so I also had to tell them the dates for Passover which they also would not be able to do any work at my house or within my gates. They reluctantly agreed and then postponed the work to well after Passover.

I came home on a Friday and found them there as the Sabbath was approaching. The contractor came up to me and said not to worry, they remembered what I had said about sunset and they would be gone in a few minutes time about 1/2 hour before sunset. I was pleased they were keeping their word without me making threats of withholding payments.

Here is something else to never forget.

Since the diaspora, the Jews have slowly changed the days of the Holy Days using the postponement rules and the Metonic cycles. Again we will share more about this later. This change was unified in the 11th century by Rambam. In the 14th century, they were kicked out of Spain. Then in the 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, they have been keeping most of the Holy Days one, two or three days later than when Yehovah said to keep them. They have suffered pogroms and persecutions, rapes and murders and hatred all that time.

Then in WW II, 6 million Jews were slaughtered by Germany and her allies. 6 Million! WHERE WAS YEHOVAH WHILE THIS TOOK PLACE. That was about 50% of all the Jews in the world at that time. 90% of all Jews in Poland and Germany were slaughtered in just these two countries.

Yehovah refused to help them because they refused to turn back to Him and keep HIs Holy Days at the proper time.

Proverbs 1:22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?
If you turn at my reproof,
behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;
I will make my words known to you.
Because I have called and you refused to listen,
have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
because you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,
I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when terror strikes you,
when terror strikes you like a storm
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
would have none of my counsel
and despised all my reproof,
therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
and have their fill of their own devices.
For the simple are killed by their turning away,
and the complacency of fools destroys them;
but whoever listens to me will dwell secure
and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

If Yehovah is willing to let 6 Million Jews die because they will not obey Him, then what is in store for those of you who not only do not keep the Holy Days like the Jews didn’t at the right time, but you also refuse to keep the Sabbath or the Sabbatical years.

Again read Ezekiel and see what Yehovah said about His chosen people who would not obey. ANd if they did not oeby and Yehovah punished them, do you think you are better because of this or that? If you do not obey then you will not be helped by Yehovah.

Ezekiel 20:1 In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God, Is it to inquire of me that you come? As I live, declares the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you. Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Let them know the abominations of their fathers, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: On the day when I chose Israel, I swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob, making myself known to them in the land of Egypt; I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God. On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands. And I said to them, Cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.’ But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.
“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live. Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned.
“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them. But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands, because they rejected my rules and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols. Nevertheless, my eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or make a full end of them in the wilderness.
“And I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor keep their rules, nor defile yourselves with their idols. I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules, and keep my Sabbaths holy that they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’ But the children rebelled against me. They did not walk in my statutes and were not careful to obey my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; they profaned my Sabbaths.
“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. But I withheld my hand and acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries, because they had not obeyed my rules, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their fathers’ idols. Moreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and rules by which they could not have life, and I defiled them through their very gifts in their offering up all their firstborn, that I might devastate them. I did it that they might know that I am the Lord.

 

8 Comments

  1. Anonymous

    Greetings,
    Joe you wrote: “The fact that the Temple Priests and Pharisees agreed on the basic principle while disagreeing on some of the specifics, is proof that the moon had to be sighted to begin the month.”
    This is not proof at all. In fact it could very well be proof they were wrong and were doing things their own way and not following God. The Jews changed many observances to suit their own man-made plans and egos.
    Mr 7:9 Yahshua said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.”
    So, just read Matthew 15:3-9 and tell me if Yahshua trusted the Priests and Pharisees as much as you do. Please tell us where in scripture we are to sight the crescent. Neither the Sanhedrin or any other man-made body determined the new moon for Yahweh Himself set the times and the seasons when He set in motion the sun, moon and stars (Gen 1:14). Notice 3 witnesses not 2.
    Shalom,
    David Smith

    Reply
    • Joseph F. Dumond

      SHabbat Shalom David.
      Right at the very beginning of our article, we gave you three scriptures attesting to the 2 witnesse as being satisfactory.
      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.
      And this one is Psalms says the moon is a faithful witness.
      We then said the following;
      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. That they had to have two witnesses to sight the moon each month. This is not debatable, it is common knowledge facts.
      Your own words say they changed the OBSERVATIONS which is the very thing we said. The Observation of the sighted crescent moon was changed and we provided you with the history of when each of these changes occurred and why.
      You yourself are rejecting the pure hard facts of history in order to hold on to your own tradition of keeping the Hebrew Calendar. You can ask any Jew. Any Jew, they all know this history. The Crescent moon sighting was replaced by the Hillel or what is today the Hebrew calendar. But what most do not know is that the Hebrew calendar was not instituted until the 11th century by Rambam. Until then they were still using the crescent moon to begin the month. Even our Tombstones of Zoar prove this.
      There are many people who will not trust any Jew because of what they say the Gospels say about the Priests. Yehshua Himself was a Jew. He was the one who appointed the Levites to be the Priests and run that office of the calendar.

      Reply
  2. Earl

    I am very thankful every Shabbat to come here on Sightedmoon.com to be Blessed by these teachings. This weekly teaching touched home to me because Shabbat is very important to me. I learnt that Shabbat is from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. Today I confessed to YAH my commitment not to be late for Shabbat. I Love this teaching and all weekly teachings.
    Brother Earl

    Reply
    • Joseph F. Dumond

      Thank you Earl, we are blessed to know we are helping people to return to Yehovah. Appreciate the note.

      Reply
  3. Steven Smith

    There are many reasons I have kept coming back weekly to read the articles posted here on the Sighted Moon. One of many reasons is the great number of footnotes that are included so we all can read the proves the articles ourselves. I spend a fair amount of time reading the things myself to prove them as best I can.
    To be honest some weeks there just to much to go read but always find something I can glean and meditate on during the week that Yehovah builds on through living my life and the choices that need be made from day to day. There been weeks that I come home hastily, to open the articles after a situation brings more light into something I learned from a newsletter
    I find I am going to other places less as the standard I judge Truth has been raised a 1000 fold. What I have learned here most powerfully is not to discount things that not agree with my core beliefs, but to prove them right or wrong before I decide if the theory/idea . I have learned that sometimes there as much to learn from the opposing argument as the ones that are truest to the doctrines of Torah.
    There’s an old fisherman story that says in summery that knowing information where there is no fish to catch is just as valuable as knowing where the fish are so all the information can be valuable in a productive fishery.
    Thank you very much as always.
    Shabbat Shalom everyone

    Reply
  4. David R Smith

    Greetings Joseph,
    God does not just do the minimum like we might but gives the full 3 witnesses.
    Gen 1:14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and LET THEM BE FOR SIGNS AND SEASONS, AND FOR DAYS AND YEARS;
    15 “and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.
    16 Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.
    17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth,
    18 and TO RULE OVER THE DAY AND OVER THE NIGHT, and to divide the light from the darkness.
    Ps 136:8 The sun to rule by day, For His mercy endures forever; 9 The moon and stars to rule by night
    Jer 31:35 Thus says Yahweh, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night
    You are mistaken about what I believe for you wrote: “You yourself are rejecting the pure hard facts of history in order to hold on to your own tradition of keeping the Hebrew Calendar.” I do not keep the Hebrew Calendar. Does the Hebrew Calendar observe the 3 witnesses?
    Trusting a Jew today based on how the Jewish Priests and Pharisees behaved 2000 years ago would be purely discriminatory and foolish. But Joe, you are not referencing any statements from today’s Jews and neither am I so let’s not involve them less we offend any unintentionally.
    You wrote: “Yehshua Himself was a Jew. He was the one who appointed the Levites to be the Priests and run that office of the calendar.”
    The thing is we all know Yahshua wasn’t even born when the Levites were appointed. Actually Moses appointed the Levites in Ex 32:29 and Yahweh ordained it in Numbers 8:18-19.
    Shalom,
    David R. Smith

    Reply
    • Glenn Caron

      Yeshua was the God of the Old Testament that met with Abraham and Moses and the elders … there fore HE was the one who ordained all things before the foundation of the creation.

      Reply
  5. Eddy Haskel

    Hi Joe,
    What is your taker on Gerald Flurry and the Philadelphia Church of God? Seems they are doing a great work with a campus in Edmond, Oklahoma modeled after Ambassador College. I see their Trumpet magazine all over the place and they are on many television stations.
    Blessings,
    Eddy Haskel

    Reply

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