Yeshua Celebrated the      Feast of Tabernacles

Yeshua celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles. He taught in the Temple on the Feast of Tabernacles. Although His disciples had not expected Yeshua to attend the feast, the vast majority of the pilgrims from afar who had heard of Him entertained the hope that they might see Him at Jerusalem. They were not disappointed, for on several occasions He taught in Solomon’s Porch and elsewhere in the temple courts. These teachings were really the official or formal announcement of the divinity of Jesus to the Jewish people and to the whole world. Yeshua risked His life to go to the Feast of Tabernacles, but the audacious boldness of Yeshua in publicly appearing in Jerusalem overawed his enemies; they were not prepared for such a daring challenge.

On the last day and greatest day of the Feast of Tabernacles (the day the Rabbis poured the water) Yeshua stood (calling special attention to his message) and proclaimed Himself the very fountain of living water in John 7:37-38.

Spiritual Lessons from the Feast of Tabernacles

God is Our Shelter

This holiday reminds us not to hold too tightly to material things. We live in a very materialistic age. When the Israelites were wanderers in the desert, they all lived in tents–rich and poor alike. Material possessions can control and manipulate us; they become gods, or idols, over us. We must remember that this life is only temporary. We are also on a pilgrimage to a Promised Land in eternity. We need to seek God’s kingdom, not earthly comfort. As we seek first the Kingdom of God (Luke 12:31), God is our shelter. For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall (Isaiah 25:4).

Yeshua is the Living Water

Our spiritual thirst cannot be quenched with anything less than Christ. But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life (John 4:14).

Yeshua Washes Away Our Sins

Jesus is the true living water cleansing us from sin through His blood. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God (Hebrews 9:13-14).

Yeshua is the Light of the World

The light from the Feast of Tabernacles lamps illuminated the whole city. Scholars suggest that Jesus referred to this custom when he spoke those well-known words, "I am the light of the world…" (John 8:12) Also see John 1:1-9 and John 9:5.

Yeshua is Preparing Our Permanent Home

These physical bodies we now occupy are only temporary dwelling places. Our bodies are frail, and will eventually begin to deteriorate. Life is short. Our hope is not in what the world has to offer, but in what God has already provided for us for eternity. Our permanent home is being prepared for us in eternity. Yeshua said in John 14:2-3, In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

As the Israelites Left Bondage, We Leave the Bondage of Sin

God brought the Children of Israel out of the bondage of their Egyptian taskmasters into freedom. For Christians, we can celebrate that God redeemed us from a life of bondage to sin and brought us into His freedom in the Kingdom of God.

Was the Birth of Christ during the Feast of Tabernacles?

Many scholars believe Yeshua (Jesus) was born during the Feast of Tabernacles.

Matthew Henry states:
 

     It is supposed by many that our blessed Saviour was born much about the time of this     holiday; then He left his mansions of light above to tabernacle among us (John 1:14), and he dwelt in booths. And the worship of God under the New Testament is prophesied of under the notion of keeping the feast of tabernacles, Zechariah 14:16. For, [1.] The gospel of Christ teaches us to dwell in tabernacles, to sit loose to this world, as those that have here no continuing city, but by faith, and hope and holy contempt of present things, to go out to Christ without the camp, Hebrews 13:13, 14. [2.] It teaches us to rejoice before the Lord our God. Those are the circumcision, Israelites indeed, that always rejoice in Christ Jesus, (Philippians 3:3). And the more we are taken off from this world the less liable we are to the interruption of our joys.
 

The Bible does not specifically say the date of Jesus’ birth. We know it was not during the winter months because the sheep were in the pastur e (Luke 2:8). A study of the time of the conception of John the Baptist reveals he was conceived about Sivan 30, the eleventh week.

When Zechariah was ministering in the temple, he received an announcement from God of a coming son. The eighth course of Abia, when Zekharya was ministering, was the week of Sivan 12 to 18 (Killian n.d.). Adding forty weeks for a normal pregnancy reveals that John the Baptist was born on or about Passover (Nisan 14). We know six months after John’s conception, Mary conceived Jesus (Luke 1:26-33). Therefore, Jesus would have been conceived six months later in the month of Kislev. Kislev 25 is Hanukkah. Was the "light of the world" conceived on the festival of lights?

Starting at Hanukkah, which begins on Kislev 25 and continues for eight days, and counting through the nine months of Mary’s pregnancy, one arrives at the approximate time of the birth of Jesus at the Festival of Tabernacles (the early fall of the year).

During the Feast of Tabernacles, God required all male Jews to come to Jerusalem. The many pilgrims coming to Jerusalem for the festivals would spill over to the surrounding towns (Bethlehem is about five miles from Jerusalem). Joseph and Mary were unable to find a room at the inn because of the influx of so many pilgrims. They may have been given shelter in a sukkah, which is built during a seven-day period each year accompanying the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. Due to the difficulties during travel, it was common for the officials to declare tax time during a temple Feast (Luke 2:1). We know our Messiah was made manifest into a temporary body when He came to earth. Is it possible He also was put into a temporary dwelling? The fields would have been dotted with sukkoths during this harvest time to temporary shelter animals. The Hebrew word "stable" is called a sukkoth (Genesis 33:17).

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn (Luke 2:7). Joseph and Mary took the child and flew to Egypt and remained there until they were told by God that Herod was dead. Joseph and Mary brought the baby Jesus into Jerusalem forty days from His birth for Mary’s purification and the child’s dedication (according to Torah this had to be done within forty days of the birth of a male child–not doing so is considered a sin). This indicates that Herod died within the same forty days, because as long as Herod was alive, they could not appear at the Temple. (According to Josephus’ calculations, Herod’s death occurred during the Autumn in the fourth year before the Common Era 4 b.c.e.).

Later in His life, Yeshua celebrated His birthday on a mountain with three of His disciples. In contrast to birthday parties, such as Herod’s, where people were killed for entertainment, His was a celebration of life. On the Festival of Succoth, Moshe and EliYahu (Elijah), from centuries past, representatives of the Torah and the Prophets, appeared and talked with Yeshua. One disciple, Kepha (Peter), suggested building three succoth for Yeshua, Moshe, and EliYahu, because it was required for the festival, but he did not understand that these three were fulfilling that which the festival symbolized: they were dwelling in their succoth (temporary tabernacles) of flesh, awaiting their eternal resurrection temples (Killian n.d.)
A number of Christians are celebrating Christ’s birth during the Feast of Tabernacles, complete with decorations and lights on the sukkah, a birthday cake, and music celebrating Jesus’ birth.
Jesus preached three sermons in which he declared himself the "light of the world," and all three would be during the Festival of Lights (Hanukkah) in the winter of the year (December).

Prophetic Significance

These fall festivals speak of a future time when men will again tabernacle with God, when He will dwell with them and they with Him (Rev. 21:3). They speak of a day in which all nations will gather to Jerusalem (Zechariah 8:22; 14:16). Curiously, even in the days to come, Bible prophecy tells us that people from the nations of the world will come up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles with the Jewish people in Jerusalem (Zechariah 14). The stage is being set and prophecy is being fulfilled. The "coming-up" (aliyah, in Hebrew) is taking place now in Israel with the massive influx of Jews from over a hundred nations. Christians, also, are already visiting the land in record numbers—the majority of pilgrims coming to Israel are Christians! We believe this is all in preparation and building for future scriptural events. Jerusalem continues to be the focus of God’s earthly pattern and plan, for ultimately it is to Jerusalem that Messiah is coming (Wagner 1996).

Jesus Christ is the tabernacle or dwelling place of God. In Him dwelled the fullness of God (John 1:14, Colossians 2:9), and God dwells in our midst through Jesus Christ (Matthew 18:20). It may be that Jesus will ultimately fulfill the Feast of Tabernacles at His second coming. There will be a literal rest for planet earth and all its inhabitants. Until then we can find rest in our souls.

The Beginning of the Millennium

Most Bible scholars agree that Tabernacles represents the beginning of the Millennium. We should look forward expectantly to the Feast of Tabernacles, just as we look forward to the coming of the Messiah, to bring His government, His Kingdom, and His laws. But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more (Micah 4:1).

Tabernacles and Passover are the only holidays mentioned in the millennial worship (Ezekiel 45:21-25; Zechariah 14:16). Note that the number of days between Nisan and Tishri is always the same. Because of this, the time from the first major festival (Passover in Nisan) to the last major festival (The Feast of Tabernacles in Tishri) is always the same. Could this have any connection to Christ’s birth during Tabernacles and His death on Passover? Passover is in the first month in the religious calendar and Tabernacles is in the first month of the civil calendar. Hosea 6:3 explains Christ will come as the latter and former rain. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. The spring holidays are during the former rain and the fall holidays are during the latter rain.
 

Zechariah chapter 14 introduces the millennial age. The chapter tells of the liberation of Jerusalem and how the Messiah will be king over the whole earth. It ends with all nations keeping the laws of the Most High. The Feast of Tabernacles–that great feast which symbolizes the very presence of Yeshua the Messiah (He is the very "Tabernacle of God"), will be kept by all the nations of the world. The prophet tells us that fearsome punishments and plagues will be meted out on nations that refuse to send delegates to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles.

And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: ... And the Lord shall be king over all the earth; in that day shall there be one Lord and his name one ... And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came up against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles (Zechariah 14:8-19).

Purim (story of Esther )

 (shushan Purim)

"At the end of that time, the king gave a seven-day banquet in the courtyard of the royal palace garden

for all the people, both great and small, there in Shushan the capital." Esther 1 v5.

It will be Purim when the story of Esther is recalled. It will be a time to pray to annul evil decrees and see deliverance in the land.

The story of Purim happened when the Jews were exiled, the king of Persia (presently Iran) was having a great feast and used all the utensils from the Holy Temple. Many Jews at the banquet were saddened by the use of the holy utensils but they were still standing with the king, pleased to have been invited.

One did not stand with them, grieving about the devastation of the Temple, grieving that the utensils were in the hands of unbelievers. This man was Mordecai. He had not forgotten Israel. He longed for His land. He brought up an orphan, Esther and she was to be the Queen! He was standing at the gate of the king, day after day interceding and supporting his niece Esther.

IT IS TIME TO STAND WITH OUR JEWISH FAMILY

God will bring deliverance, when we stand. Will you stand as a Mordecai or as an Esther? He is calling us to be deliverers. to be Anointed Ones! In Hebrew "Messiahs"! In Greek "Christians"! Christians mean “like Christ”, Christ is the Greek name for Messiah in Hebrew! Messiah means Anointed, which also means Deliverer!

This is the end of the age where we will see the accomplishment of Obadiah v21! "Then the victorious, saviours, the deliverers (the Hebrew name is Messiahs plural) will ascend Mount Zion to rule over Mount Esau, but the kingship will belong to Adonai."

"Quite the contrary, it is by means of their stumbling (Paul is speaking about the Jewish people) that deliverance has come to the Gentiles, in order to provoke them to jealousy (zealousness). Moreover, if their stumbling is bringing riches to the world - that is, if Israel being placed temporarily in a condition less favoured than that of the Gentiles is bringing riches to the latter - how much greater riches will Israel in its fullness bring them!" Romans 11 v11-12.

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Messiah in Passover

Several symbolic clues during Passover are fulfilled in Christ. John the Baptist introduced Jesus by saying, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." (John 1:29). The Jews had been celebrating Passover for 1,500 years. They understood the significance of John's statements.

Isaiah 53, written hundreds of years before Christ, records the suffering the human lamb would experience.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand (Isa. 53:7-10).

Triumphal Entry of the Lambs

In the first century, a lamb was chosen by the high priest outside of Jerusalem on the tenth of Nisan. Then the priest would lead this lamb into the city while crowds of worshippers lined the streets waving palm branches and singing Psalm 118, "Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord."

Jesus our Messiah entered Jerusalem this same day, on a donkey (usually ridden by a king), probably right behind the High Priest's procession. The crowds that had just heralded the entrance of the sacrificial lamb heralded the entrance of the Lamb of God. Accordingly, Jesus identified himself with the Passover sacrifice (John 12:9-19). The next day, as Jesus entered Jerusalem, His entry fulfilled prophecy.

Enthusiasm filled the air. All Israel knew that it would be in Jerusalem where Messiah would be enthroned as their King. Edersheim writes,

Everyone in Israel was thinking about the Feast, Everyone was going to Jerusalem, or had those near and dear to them there, or at least watched the festive processions to the Metropolis of Judaism. It was a gathering of universal Israel, that of the memorial of the birth-night of the nation, and of its Exodus, when friends from afar would meet, and new friends be made; when offerings long due would be brought, and purification long needed be obtained and all worship in that grand and glorious Temple, with its gorgeous ritual. National and religious feelings were alike stirred in what reached far back to the first, and pointed far forward to the final Deliverance.

The High Priest would then take the lamb to the Temple, where it would be tied in public view so that it could be inspected for blemish. In the same way, Yeshua sat and taught in the Temple courtyard for four days. He was inspected and questioned as the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the teachers of the law sought to trip him up in His words and entrap Him. They could not, because He was perfect and without blemish (Lancaster1996).

Passover pronounces redemption. To believers in Messiah, the Passover feast has a special meaning. Though we are not slaves, as God's people in Egypt, we were slaves to our sin, our own wants and desires. Sin was our master until Jesus, the Passover Lamb, delivered us from our Egypt. The lamb slain during Passover is a foreshadow of the redemption we find in Jesus, the Messiah, our Passover lamb. The principle of redemption is the concept of bondage to the slavery of sin and freedom from its domination (John 8:31-36). To be "redeemed" means to be purchased from slavery. Jesus Christ purchased our freedom with His blood as the payment for the redemption (Ps. 34:22; 1 Peter 1:18,19; Gal. 3:13; Eph. 1:7; 1 John 1:7).

Jesus ate the Passover meal with eleven of His disciples (see Passover in Bible Times). Just as the priest was to teach, pray, and offer sacrifice, Christ, the High Priest, taught, prayed, and then offered Himself as our sacrifice.

After the Meal

When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. (John 18:1).

Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane. The garden has many ancient olive trees today, some of which may have grown from the roots of the trees that were present in Jesus' time. (All trees in and around Jerusalem were cut down when the Romans conquered the city in 70 a.d. Olive trees can regenerate from their roots and live for thousands of years.) The name Gethsemane comes from the Hebrew Gat Shmanim, meaning "oil press" (Kollek). Since oil is used in the Bible to symbolize the Holy Spirit, it may be said that the garden is where "the Spirit of God was crushed" (Missler 1995).

It was here that Jesus agonized in prayer over what was to occur. It is significant that this is the only place in the King James Version where the word agony is mentioned (Strong's concordance). The Greek word for agony means to be "engaged in combat" (Pink). Jesus agonized over what He was to go through, feeling that He was at the point of death (Mark 14:34). Yet He prayed, "Not my will, but thine be done" (Terasaka 1996).

Of medical significance is that Luke mentions Him as having sweat like blood. The medical term for this, hemohidrosis, or hematidrosis, has been seen in patients who have experienced extreme stress or shock to their systems (Edwards). The capillaries around the sweat pores become fragile, and leak blood into the sweat. A case history is recorded in which a young girl who had a fear of air raids in World War I developed the condition after a gas explosion occurred in the house next door (Scott). Another report mentions a nun who, as she was threatened with death by the swords of the enemy soldiers, "was so terrified that she bled from every part of her body and died of hemorrhage in the sight of her assailants." (Grafenberg) As a memorial to Jesus' ordeal, a church which now stands in Gethsemane is known as the Church of the Agony (ibid).

Immediately thereafter, He was betrayed by Judas (Mark 14:43), and captured by the high priest and taken for trial before Caiaphas (Luke 22:54). Consequently, Jesus was crucified between two thieves, fulfilling His own prediction that "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up" (John 3:14). Most of His disciples fled at His arrest; only a group of women and one disciple, called "the disciple whom He loved,' were present at the cross when He died (John 19:25-27; compare Matthew 27:55-56; Mark 15:40; and Luke 23:49).

Jesus' Trial, Death, and Resurrection

Many of us have a hard time grasping the pain and suffering Christ went through on the crucifixion day. Television today has de-sensitized our feelings pertaining to the horrifying violence of the torture and slow death of Jesus.

The following is just a portion of an article by Dr. C. Truman Davis, M.D., M.S., titled: "The Crucifixion Of Jesus: The Passion Of Christ From A Medical Point Of View," which explains some of the agony of Christ:

In the early morning, Jesus, battered and bruised, dehydrated, and exhausted from a sleepless night, is taken across Jerusalem to Pontius Pilate. The prisoner is stripped of His clothing and His hands tied to a post above His head. A short whip consisting of several heavy, leather thongs with two small balls of lead attached near the ends of each is brought down with full force again and again across Jesusÿ shoulders, back and legs.

The condemned man was forced to carry the patibulum [cross bar], apparently weighing about 110 pounds, from the prison to the place of execution. Without any historical or Biblical proof, medieval and Renaissance painters have given us our picture of Christ carrying the entire cross. Many of these painters and most of the sculptors of crucifixes today show the nails through the palm. Roman historical accounts and experimental work have shown that the nails were driven between the small bones of the wrists and not through the palms. Nails driven through the palms will strip out between the fingers when they support the weight of the human body. The misconception may have come about through a misunderstanding of Jesusÿ words to Thomas, ÿObserve my hands.ÿ Anatomists, both modern and ancient, have always considered the wrists as a part of the hand. A titilus, or small sign, stating the victimÿs crime was usually carried at the front of the procession and later nailed to the cross above the head. A small bundle of flexible branches covered with long thorns (commonly used for firewood) are plaited into the shape of a crown and this is pressed into His scalp. The heavy patibulum [crossbar]of the cross is tied across His shoulders, and the procession headed by a centurion, begins its slow journey along the Via Dolorosa. In spite of His efforts to walk erect, the weight of the heavy wooden beam, together with the shock produced by copious blood loss, is too much. He stumbles and falls. The centurion, anxious to get on with the crucifixion, selects a stalwart North African onlooker, Simon of Cyrene, to carry the cross.

The crucifixion begins. The legionnaire drives a heavy, square, wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. The patibulum is then lifted in place at the top of the stipes and the titulus reading, ÿJesus of Nazareth, King of the Jewsÿ is nailed in place.

Hours of this limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain as tissue is torn from His lacerated back as He moves up and down against the rough timber; then another agony begins. A deep crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart.

The body of Jesus is now in extremis, and He can feel the chill of death creeping through His tissues. This realization brings out possibly little more than a tortured whisper, ÿIt is finished.ÿ

His mission of atonement has been completed. Finally He can allow His body to die.

With one last surge of strength, He once again presses His torn feet against the nail, straightens His legs, takes a deeper breath, and utters His seventh and last cry, ÿFather, into thy hands I commit my spiritÿ (Truman 1965).

Jesus died as the lambs for the Passover meal were being slain. Not a bone was to be broken in these sacrificial lambs (Ex. 12:46; Num. 9:12). Jesus, the Lamb of God, was the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world (1 Cor. 5:7).

During the Passover time, a sign hung on each lambÿs neck, bearing the name of the owner of the lamb. Jesus was crucified with a sign hung over His head with the name of His Father. Studies have shown the Tetragrammaton probably appeared over Jesus when He hung on the cross. During Bible times, messages were commonly written with the first letter of each word. An example in English: UPS, stands for United Parcel Service. The phrase ÿJesus of Nazareth and King of the Jewsÿ was written in three languages on a sign above Jesus as He hung on the cross (John 19:19). The Hebrew initials for ÿJesus of Nazareth and King of the Jewsÿ was YHWH. That is why the priest asked Pilate to change the writing. Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written I have written (John 19: 21-22).

The story does not end with the death of Jesus. His body was placed in a new tomb that belonged to a man named Joseph of Arimathea (Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42). The greatest event that separates Jesus from all others is the fact that He overcame death. In three days He rose again and lives today. He arose from the grave on the Feasts of Firstfruits!

On Nisan 17, when Israel emerged from the Red Sea, this emergence was a shadow of the fulfillment of the day of Firstfruits (Lev. 23:9-14). This was the first of Godÿs people to emerge from sin (Egypt). It was fulfilled 1,478 years later on Nisan 17, 30 a.d. when Jesus was resurrected and ascended to heaven as our high priest, the Firstfruit of the resurrected (John 20:17).

Two Passovers

The gospels appear to say that the Messiah ate a Passover meal with the twelve on the evening beginning Nisan 14, and John appears to say Jews were having their Passover meal one day later. There are different theories to explain this.

1. The Sadducees and Pharisees disagreed on the day of Passover. The Sadducees (more conservative group) believed the Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread were separate feast days. They held Passover on the fourteenth as God decreed in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Those of the majority opinion, including the Pharisees, held Passover on the fifteenth. Jesus may have been following both dates by having Passover with the disciples on the fourteenth and becoming the Passover lamb on the fifteenth.

2. Thousands of people would come to Jerusalem to have their lambs ritually slain in the Temple. If they only had one day in which to prepare for the Passover, it would have been extremely difficult to have slaughtered all the lambs brought in to be sacrificed. Therefore, they worked on two different time scales. The northern part of the country went with the old way of dating (starting from morning and going to the following morning). The southern part of the country followed the official dating method (from evening to evening). Thus, there were two times when lambs were being killed in the Temple for sacrifice.2

This controversy as to what day Passover should be is not the purpose of this. You must study to decide for yourself which day is correct. Some families celebrate both days, one with their church and one at home

Three days, Three Nights

"For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Matt 12:40).

Friday to Sunday does not equal three days.

   Messianic Significance of  

Rosh Hashanah...

 Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah literally is "Head or beginning of the year." God’s Royalty (Coronation Day) Day of Judgment Remembrance (Yom Ha-Zikaron, the day of remembrance) Birthday of the world...

It is the Day of Judgment - As Jews worldwide examine their past deeds and asks for forgiveness for their sins

It is the Day of Shofar Blowing - As the Shofar (the rams horn) is blown in temple to herald the beginning of the 10-day period known as the High Holy Days

It is the Day of Remembrance - As Jews review the history of their people and pray for Israel

And of course it is New Year's Day - Celebrated with holiday greeting cards, special prayers, and festive and sweet foods (to ensure sweetness in the New Year)

Rosh Hashanah is observed the first and second day of the seventh month of the Jewish calendar, Tishri. Coming in the Fall season of the western calendar, usually in September.
 

The traditions of Rosh Hashanah are simple as the only commandment specified for the holiday is the blowing of the shofar. In temple the shofar is blown on Rosh Hashanah to herald the beginning of the period known as the High Holy Days.

On Rosh Hashanah it is customary for families to gather together for the holiday meal. Traditional foods sweetened with honey, apples and carrots are served, symbolizing sweetness, blessings, abundance and the hope for a sweet year ahead.

"The first night's meal begins with apple dipped in honey. Challah, the bread usually eaten on the Sabbath (not braided as at regular meals but instead baked in a circle - a wish that the coming year will roll around smoothly without unhappiness or sorrow) is also dipped in honey before eating.

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The blowing of trumpets is a sign of the return of Messiah (Christ) and memorial of God’s grace to Abraham when He substituted a ram to be sacrificed instead of Isaac (Genesis 22). Isaac is a type of foreshadowing of Christ. Just as Abraham offered his son on the altar, God offered His son on Calvary’s altar. Hebrews 11:17-19, says "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure." Both Isaac’s and Christ’s births were miracles. Both were obedient to the point of sacrifice.

Trumpets were used in giving signals of war. Yeshua is the commander of the army of God. The Jewish people were looking for a deliverer who would defeat the Roman army. Yeshua came, the first time, to defeat the work of Satan and the sin in men’s hearts. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it (Colossians 2:15).

In the same way this feast speaks to the Christian about spiritual warfare. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Yeshua is our armor because He defeated Satan. When we put on Christ we will triumph over evil forces (Ephesians 6:11-13).

The Feast of Trumpets can be a very special time for believers in Yeshua. Our sins are not forgiven just when we "believe." James 2:19 says, "Thou believes that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." To be forgiven, we must have a repentant heart. We must come in submission to our Heavenly father, asking for forgiveness, knowing that He will forgive us, as a father forgives his child. That forgiveness which we seek has been guaranteed–bought and paid for by Yeshua atoning sacrifice on the tree...

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Specific uses for the Shofar

v     It was sounded to bring Moses to the top of the mountain to receive the Commandments. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up (Exodus 19:19-20).

v     It was a signal during time of war. And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them (Judges 3:27).

v     It was blown at the start of the Jubilee year. Then shall thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land (Leviticus 25:9).

v      It was blown during coronation services of a new King. And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there, king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon (1 Kings 1:34).

v     It is a sign of the re-gathering of dispersed Israel. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem (Isaiah 27:13).

v     It was sounded as a warning of danger. Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid…     (Amos 3:6).

v     And the greatest anticipation of all is the day of the arrival of the Messiah. And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south   (Zechariah 9:14).

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For my eyes have seen Your salvation, Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel." Luke 2:30-32

Pray that the Holy Spirit will soften the hearts of Jewish people, so that they will have ears to hear and that the scales of blindness will come off their eyes during this season of Hanukkah

Pray for Israel to be protected and for God's hand to watch over His people day and night

After the blessings, kindle the candle or candles. The following scriptures may be read, followed by prayer and family fellowship. This is a quiet time, a time focused on our heavenly Abba / Father. Spend time with your Family and Elohim /God! Shut off the television, turn off the radio, block out the things of this world and enter into the presence of the most high!

Night one:
Isaiah 60:19, Psalm 27:1.
Night two:
Psalm 119:105, 119:130, Proverbs 6:23.
Night three:
Matthew 5:16, Luke 11:30.
Night four:
Luke 11:34, Acts 26:18.
Night five:
John 1:4-5, John 8:12, John 12:35-36.
Night six:
Acts 26:12-18.
Night seven:
Ephesians 5:8-11,
I Peter 2:9 Ephesians 5:11-15, I John 1:5-9.
Night eight:
Philippians 2:14-16.
Chag Sameach and Happy Hanukkah! From Jerusalem

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"John 10:22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication (i.e., Hanukkah), and it was winter."

Hanukkah and the  Prophet Daniel

Although Hanukkah is not recorded in the Jewish Bible as history, the principal historic events were foretold by the prophet Daniel. In the eighth chapter of the Book of Daniel, this wise man of God relates a dream he had in the year 551 BC, in the Days of Belshazzar king of Babylon. He said he saw a shaggy goat with a conspicuous horn rising up out of the West and flying across the earth to fight with a ram who had figured earlier in the dream. The goat won this battle and "became very great" but the large horn was broken off at the height of his power, and replaced by four smaller horns. Out of one of these horns came another horn, which grew and advanced toward "the Beautiful Land" (i.e., the Land of Israel).

"It vaunted itself against the very chief of the host [army]; on its account the regular offering was suspended, and His holy place was abandoned" "How long will the regular offering be forsaken because of the transgression? . . . For twenty three hundred evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed." -- Daniel 8: 9-14

In verse 20, the angel Gabriel explains that the ram was the Medo-Persian empire, and the shaggy goat was the king of Greece, and the large horn the first King. The four horns were the four lesser kings who would succeed him. The angel does not provide the names of these kings, who had not yet been born when all of this was written, yet it is easy to see in retrospect that the "First King" of Greece refers to Alexander the Great, who conquered the known world of his day, overthrowing the Medo-Persian empire (the Ram). History tells us that Alexander died young ("was broken off at the height of his power") and his empire was divided into four separate Kingdoms, called the Seleucid Kingdoms. One of these was the Kingdom of Syria, our of which Antiochus Epiphanes arose and advanced against "the beautiful land" and vaunted himself against God, causing the sacrifice to be forsaken. Three years later (2,300 evening and morning sacrifices later), the sanctuary was cleansed and rededicated -- the first Hanukkah.

Hanukkah and the Last Days

The New Testament, though written after the time of Antiochus and the Maccabees, makes allusions to the book of Daniel that show similar events would occur again. Yeshua himself warned about "the abomination that causes desolation spoken of through the prophet Daniel" as something yet to take place. (Matt 24:16) Indeed, in 70 AD the Romans again desecrated the Temple, first by placing pagan images there, and then by completely destroying the building. The New Testament book of Revelation refers to images of "the beast" (Antichrist, or the ultimate false Messiah) which will be erected. (Rev. 13:14)

Messianic Significance

Some Messianic and other Christian Bible scholars see in the Jewish Holiday calendar a parallel to God's plan for human history. Passover, of course, is closely related to the offering of Yeshua as the Ultimate "Pesach," and Shavuot corresponds to the giving of the Holy Spirit and the beginning of the New Covenant, just as before Messiah, Shavuot had stood for the giving of the Torah and the beginning of the Old Covenant. These connections are clear from the New Covenant Scriptures, but some thinkers have extended the parallel between the Jewish Holidays and such milestones of history on into the future. Rosh Hashana (the Feast of Trumpets) is thus paired with the coming rapture, and Sukkoth with the coming Kingdom of Messiah. Hanukkah is sometimes associated with Eternity in the "New Heaven" to be created after the end of Messianic Kingdom (Rev. 20:7 ff.) which could be thought of as the cleansing and "rededication" of the entire Universe as the new Temple of God.

Who will be there in eternity with God? Let's look back at what Yeshua said in the temple one Hanukkah in his own day:

The Jews gathered around him saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.":

Yeshua answered, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. " -- John 10:27-29

Yeshua clearly believed that he was more than "a good teacher," but the very key to eternal life. It is also interesting that the book of John, the only New Testament book to mention Hanukkah, is also full of references to "light." Yeshua himself is identified as the "Light of the World." (John 8:12, John 9:5) His story would be fascinating reading for the Festival of Lights!

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Pentecost or Shavuot Overview

There are many names for the Feast of Weeks. It is identified in the Old Testament as the Feast of Weeks (Ex. 34:22) and the Feast of Harvest (Ex. 23:16). As explained in the previous chapter, this feast is referred to as Latter Firstfruits. The Hebrew name is Shavuot (pronounced sha-voo-ote). The Greek name Pentecost is only found in the New Testament (Acts 2:1).

Pentecost is a major festival and has a dual significance: historical and agricultural, just as Passover and Tabernacles. Unlike Passover and Tabernacles, it is observed for only two days (only one in the Reform Movement). Pentecost marks the end of the barley harvest and beginning of the wheat harvest. Counting the days from the second day of Passover to Pentecost is called the “Counting of the Omer” (see previous chapter). The cutting of the omer of the new barley marked the beginning of the counting period; on the fiftieth day, Pentecost is observed. Pentecost is a Greek word meaning fiftieth.

Pentecost is considered the closing festival of the Passover season (Ex. 34:22; Lev. 23:15; Deut. 16:9-10). This day is further referred to as “latter firstfruits” of the spring harvest. The “early firstfruits” (barley) were waved before the Lord during the Feast of Firstfruits (see Passover chapter) and the “latter firstfruits” (wheat) were offered unto the Lord during the Feast of Weeks. It is also referred to as the Day of the Congregation (Deuteronomy 18:16). Another name is Atserret, meaning stop or cease or conclusion of seven weeks of counting.

Pentecost is the only festival for which no specific date is given in the Bible. Rather, the people were instructed to count seven weeks “...from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf [omer] of the wave offering (Lev. 23:15). This holiday occurs in the months of May or June on the American calendar. It is the successful conclusion of the first wheat-growing season and the anniversary celebration of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.

It is a celebration to reawaken and strengthen personal relationships with God by rededication to the observance and study of the Torah — the most precious heritage. When Yahweh revealed Himself on Mount Sinai, His people heard His voice proclaiming the Ten Commandments. Then the Israelites pledged their allegiance to Yahweh by saying, “…All that the Lord has hath said will we do and be obedient” (Exod. 24:7).

Passover freed God’s people physically from bondage, but the giving of the Torah on Shavuot redeemed us spiritually from our bondage to idolatry and immorality. The Torah contains the Five Book of Moses, the Prophets, and the Writings

Feast of Weeks in Bible Times
(also called Pentecost or Shavuot)

The Day Moses Received the Ten Commandments

The Feast of Weeks not only marks the end of the grain harvest at Passover time, but also signifies the process of freedom started with the Exodus at Passover, and concluded with the proclamation of the Law at Sinai. The Feast Of Weeks is an observance of the giving of the Torah by Yahweh (God) to the Jewish people over three thousand years ago on Mount Sinai. Throughout the generations people have studied these works, commenting upon them, clarifying their meanings, deriving practical applications of these principles and codifying the laws derived from them. Thus, a continuous chain of tradition extends throughout the generations, connecting the scholars of the present day to the communication at Mount Sinai.

On that day (when Moses received the law) three thousand souls died due to disobedience. God has never taken His covenant with us casually. He is a jealous God. While on one hand, He desired and still desires intimacy with us, He also is a God committed in marriage to us by His rights as husband. When we violate Him, through types of spiritual adultery, we may indeed face His jealous wrath (Birnbaum 1996).

The Feast is one of the three times when all young men were required to appear before the Lord, a pilgrim festival (Exod. 23:17; 34:23, Deut. 16:16). Historically, the main activity on the Feast of Pentecost was the presentation of a wave offering to the Lord, two loaves of bread with leaven (Lev. 23:15-21). The bread was to be brought with seven male lambs, a young bull and two rams as a burnt offering (Lev. 23:18). The sin offering was a male goat (Lev. 23:19).
During the second Temple period, everyone gathered together in their home town and slept the night in the town streets (they didn’t enter homes to prevent being exposed to impurities). In the morning the overseer would walk among the people saying, “Get up, let us go into the house of Zion, to the house of the Lord our God.” Those in the Jerusalem area would join a procession carrying fresh dates, pomegranates, and grapes. Those at the back would carry dried fruit, figs, and raisins. The ox offering was led before them, whose horns were overlaid with gold, with an olive branch and a crown on his head. Each family brought two loaves of the finest bread.

Remember, only the best fruits were chosen. The men would go out before this festival to choose the best grapes and dates to give unto God. They tied a red thread to the fruit to mark them for the offering.

The wave offering expressed the Hebrews’ dependence on God for the harvest and their daily bread. This was a thanksgiving offering. The link between Passover and Pentecost is the omer. The second night of Passover (Firstfruits) the barley is harvested and the first sheaf is waved before the altar in the Temple. On Pentecost two loaves are waved as an offering before the same altar.

This one day is to be kept with a holy convocation. It was one of the days on which all Israel was to meet God and one another, at the place which the Lord should choose. Some suggest that, whereas seven days were to make up the Feast of Unleavened Bread, there was only one day appointed for the Feast of Pentecost because this was a busy time of the year with them, and God allowed them speedily to return to their work in the country (Mays 1988).
Through the centuries the Jewish people have celebrated this important event. It was at Mount Sinai that this band of wearied travelers would become the nation known as Israel.

Messianic Significance of Feast of Weeks

Pentecost not only memorializes the first giving of the law written on tablets of stone, but it also memorializes, on the same day many years later, the giving of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), when the law of God is written in the heart of the believer. As it states in Jeremiah 31:33, But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Before His resurrection, Jesus told His disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit.
And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence (Acts 1:4).

The Day the Holy Spirit was Given to Believers

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4).

The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) commemorates this day on which the Holy Spirit was given to the believers (Acts 2). On that day three thousand souls were saved. It is the birthday of the church, when the Holy Spirit came to unite the believers in one body. All believers are baptized into the same body with Christ the head of the church.

From Luke’s account in Acts 2 you see the marvelous timing of God. Thousands of Jews had journeyed to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Weeks. The Teacher's Commentary explains:

The Feast of Pentecost was one of the three annual Old Testament celebrations during which the men of Israel came to Jerusalem to worship at the temple. It was a time when Jews from around the world gathered in their ancient homeland and offered sacrifice to the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.

Pentecost was a harvest festival, coming at the time of the grain harvest, just 50 days after Passover. Each year the firstfruits of the harvest were offered with joy and thanksgiving, accompanied by the recitation of Deuteronomy 26:3–10 by the worshiper.

Pentecost was clearly God’s choice time for the initiation of Jesus’ followers into their great adventure. Just 50 days before, Jesus Himself had been crucified—and raised again. Now, as an indication of the great harvest of everlasting life that Jesus’ death had won, the 120 believers were about to be touched by the Spirit of God. They were to be the first of a vast multitude, the first of millions upon millions who would follow them into a unique relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

The Bible tells us that the Spirit’s coming into believers was unmistakably marked. A mighty wind seemed to rush through the room where the 120 gathered; flames of fire flickered over each head; and as the Spirit filled them, individuals began to speak in languages they did not know.
This drew a great crowd of the men who had come to Jerusalem for the Pentecost festival. Each person heard the disciples speaking in the language of the land where he was presently living. “How is it,” wondered the visitors, “that each of us hears them in his own native language? … We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” (Acts 2:8, 11) Perplexed and amazed, they asked each other, “What does this mean?” (v. 12)

All too often that same question is asked today—without listening to Peter’s response to those first questioners. All too often the answer given is designed to argue for or against the existence of what has been called “the gift of tongues” in our day. Whatever our opinion might be as to whether God still gives believers this gift, the important point underlined by Pentecost is that now, at last, the Holy Spirit is given!

And this was Peter’s response to those who demanded an explanation of the disciples: “This is what was spoken by the Prophet Joel:

“In the last days,” God says,
“I will pour out My Spirit on all people.”
Acts 2:16–17

That great gift which God had reserved till the last days was being poured out freely now. All were to know the touch of the Spirit of God; both daughters and sons would be empowered by Him. Most significant of all, in that day on which the Spirit of God would flow out to touch and fill God’s own, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (v. 21).

The Two Loaves of Bread

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit transpired on the very day that the Jews were offering the two wave loaves to God representing their reliance on Him. The two wave loaves with leaven offered to God may represent that Jews and Gentiles, both sinners (leaven in their lives), are able to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit through the Messiah. Promises made earlier by John the Baptist (Luke 3:16) and the risen Messiah (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8) are now fulfilled on Shavuot (Pentecost): on that day, the Holy Spirit did indeed come upon the apostles and empowered them to witness of the Messiah. The first century church was mainly Jewish. The last century church will be mainly Gentile. This explains Paul’s statement that the blessings of God were “to the Jew first and also the Gentile.”

The two loaves may also represent two witnesses. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses (Heb. 10:28). The law of Moses is associated with two witnesses. Shavuot is associated with the law and the two loaves (witnesses).

Jesus said, To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. Witnesses were always connected with the law, through the Bible; likewise the two loaves and the law are associated with Pentecost. Jesus said that they would become witnesses after they were baptized with the Spirit on Pentecost (Acts 1:3-9).

The two loaves were huge. Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD (Lev. 23:17): An ephah is a measure of Egyptian origin and contained ten omers (an omer is about two quarts, so it would be approximately four quarts of flour). Four quarts of four cups each is about sixteen cups of fine flour. This would make the loaves approximately 12" x 21" x 3".

The followers of the Messiah obtained a mission through the dramatic descent of the Holy Spirit. From the moment of birth, this community—the early church—intended itself not a new religion but rather an awakening movement within Judaism. The church members continued to observe the Jewish laws and worshipped regularly in the Temple. What distinguished them from other Jews was their conviction that Jesus as the promised Messiah would reappear to restore the kingdom of Israel (Guinness 1988).