Introduction 5

1. The Calendar 9
2. The Sabbath (Shabbat) 41
3. Passover (Pasach) 105
4. Unleavened Bread (Chag Matzot) 145
5. First Fruits (Yom HaBikkurim) 169
6. Feast of Weeks (Shavuot, Pentecost) _____191
7. Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) 209
8. Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) 219
9. Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) 255
10. Land Sabbath (Shemitah) 279
11. Jubilee (Year of Release) 323
12. A Hebrew Wedding 347

Appendices
A. "Passion Week Calendar 375
B. Crops of Israel in their Season 376
C. The Hillel Calendar 377
D. On Tithing 384
E. Non-Biblical Festivals 400
F. Contact Information and Resources 404
Leviticus 23:4 These are the appointed times of , set-
apart gatherings which you are to proclaim at their
appointed times.
 The Moedim of Leviticus 23: The
Sabbath, Feast Days, and Appointed
Times of the Creator
Leviticus 23:1 And spoke to Moshe, saying,

Leviticus 23:2 Speak to the children of Israel, and say to

them, The appointed times of , which you are to
proclaim as set-apart gatherings, My appointed times, are
these:
Leviticus 23:3 Six days work is done, but the seventh day
is a Sabbath of rest, a set-apart gathering. You do no work,
it is a Sabbath to in all your dwellings.
Leviticus 23:4 These are the appointed times of , set-
apart gatherings which you are to proclaim at their
appointed times.
Leviticus 23:5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day
of the month, between the evenings, is the Passover to .
Leviticus 23:6 And on the fifteenth day of this month is
the Festival of Unleavened Bread to seven days you
eat unleavened bread.
Leviticus 23:7 On the first day you have a set-apart
gathering, you do no servile work.
Leviticus 23:8 And you shall bring an offering made by
fire to for seven days. On the seventh day is a set-
apart gathering, you do no servile work.
Leviticus 23:9 And spoke to Moshe, saying,
Leviticus 23:10 Speak to the children of Israel, and you
shall say to them, When you come into the land which I
give you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring a
sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest.
Leviticus 23:11 And he shall wave the sheaf before ,
for your acceptance. On the morrow after the Sabbath the
priest waves it.

1
Leviticus 23:12 And on that day when you wave the
sheaf, you shall prepare a male lamb a year old, a perfect
one, as a burnt offering to ,
Leviticus 23:13 and its grain offering: two-tenths of an
ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire
to , a sweet fragrance, and its drink offering: one-
fourth of a hin of wine.
Leviticus 23:14 And you do not eat bread or roasted
grain or fresh grain until the same day that you have
brought an offering to your Elohim a law forever
throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Leviticus 23:15 And from the morrow after the Sabbath,
from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave
offering, you shall count for yourselves: seven completed
Sabbaths.
Leviticus 23:16 Until the morrow after the seventh
Sabbath you count fifty days, then you shall bring a new
grain offering to .
Leviticus 23:17 Bring from your dwellings for a wave
offering two loaves of bread, of two-tenths of an ephah of
fine flour they are, baked with leaven, first-fruits to .
Leviticus 23:18 And besides the bread, you shall bring
seven lambs a year old, perfect ones, and one young bull
and two rams. They are a burnt offering to , with their
grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made
by fire for a sweet fragrance to .
Leviticus 23:19 And you shall offer one male goat as a sin
offering, and two male lambs a year old, as a peace
offering.
Leviticus 23:20 And the priest shall wave them, besides
the bread of the first-fruits, as a wave offering before ,
besides the two lambs. They are set-apart to for the
priest.
Leviticus 23:21 And on this same day you shall proclaim
a set-apart gathering for yourselves, you do no servile

2
work on it a law forever in all your dwellings throughout
your generations.
Leviticus 23:22 And when you reap the harvest of your
land do not completely reap the corners of your field when
you reap, and do not gather any gleaning from your
harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the stranger. I
am your Elohim.
Leviticus 23:23 And spoke to Moshe, saying,
Leviticus 23:24 Speak to the children of Israel, saying,
In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you
have a rest, a remembrance of blowing of trumpets, a set-
apart gathering.
Leviticus 23:25 You do no servile work, and you shall
bring an offering made by fire to .
Leviticus 23:26 And spoke to Moshe, saying,
Leviticus 23:27 On the tenth day of this seventh month is
the Day of Atonement. It shall be a set-apart gathering for
you. And you shall afflict your beings, and shall bring an
offering made by fire to .
Leviticus 23:28 And you do no work on that same day,
for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you
before your Elohim.
Leviticus 23:29 For any being who is not afflicted on that
same day, he shall be cut off from his people.
Leviticus 23:30 And any being who does any work on
that same day, that being I shall destroy from the midst of
his people.
Leviticus 23:31 You do no work a law forever
throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Leviticus 23:32 It is a Sabbath of rest to you, and you
shall afflict your beings. On the ninth day of the month at
evening, from evening to evening, you observe your
Sabbath.
Leviticus 23:33 And spoke to Moshe, saying,
Leviticus 23:34 Speak to the children of Israel, saying,

3
On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Festival
of Booths for seven days to .
Leviticus 23:35 On the first day is a set-apart gathering,
you do no servile work.
Leviticus 23:36 For seven days you bring an offering
made by fire to . On the eighth day there shall be a set-
apart gathering for you, and you shall bring an offering
made by fire to . It is a closing festival, you do no
servile work.
Leviticus 23:37 These are the appointed times of
which you proclaim as set-apart gatherings, to bring an
offering made by fire to , a burnt offering and a grain
offering, a slaughtering and drink offerings, as
commanded for every day
Leviticus 23:38 besides the Sabbaths of , and besides
your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides all your
voluntary offerings which you give to .
Leviticus 23:39 On the fifteenth day of the seventh
month, when you gather in the fruit of the land, observe
the festival of for seven days. On the first day is a rest,
and on the eighth day a rest.
Leviticus 23:40 And you shall take for yourselves on the
first day the fruit of good trees, branches of palm trees,
twigs of leafy trees, and willows of the stream, and shall
rejoice before your Elohim for seven days.
Leviticus 23:41 And you shall observe it as a festival to
for seven days in the year a law forever in your
generations. Observe it in the seventh month.
Leviticus 23:42 Dwell in booths for seven days; all who
are native Israelites dwell in booths,
Leviticus 23:43 so that your generations know that I made
the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them
out of the land of Mitsrayim. I am your Elohim.
Leviticus 23:44 Thus did Moshe speak of the appointed
times of to the children of Israel.

4
 Introduction

This book will explain and bring into common knowledge the
moedim (pronounced Mo-ed-eem), the appointed times, set
apart gatherings, convocations, feast days, Sabbaths, new
moons, and the rules for determining their placements on the
current calendar. It will be shown how we are to keep these
days according to the Word, and will expose the errors of the
doctrines of men, which would have us go against the
Creator's commands.

This book may be used as a reference guide each year for

those who are new to the keeping of His set-apart days, to
remind the reader of those things which are important to be
remembered about each of the moedim, and to bring to mind
verses in scripture which are relevant to each of those days.
The first mention of the necessity to keep these days, which
are called set-apart to himself by the Creator, as well as his
command for future generations to observe them, is found in
Leviticus 23. The days are here presented in chronological
order as they appear throughout the year, and chronologically
as they were ordained from the time of creation, beginning
with Sabbath during the creation week and the prophetic
cycle ending at the beginning of the new creation, or the new
heaven and the new Earth.

The importance of these days is stressed by the Creator

Himself, and no attempt will be made herein to persuade the
reader of the need to observe these days. It is assumed that an
interest in the moedim and a belief of their importance is
already accepted. It will be shown what happened on those
days in history, and what is prophesied to occur on those days
in the future, proving that the feast days of are not only
still important, but are the keys to understanding end-time
prophecy. Although not to be considered feast days, though

5
perfectly acceptable within the realm of appointed times,
we will also discuss the Shemitah and Jubilee cycles, and how
they relate to the cycles of the feast days.

Profane names and titles such as God, LORD, ha shem,

adonai, and Jesus will not be used in the verses presented
in this book nor in my own words. Sacred names will be used
such as , (Yah-Wey, Yah-hua) and ( Yah-hoo-sha,
Yah-ho-shua, or Yah-shua), as well as titles such as Creator,
Elohim, or messiah, where appropriate. Hebrew and
Greek words given will be presented with Strong's numbering
[XXXX] notation for the reader's convenience. I will use the
English and Hebrew (transliterated) names of the moedim
interchangeably throughout this book.

I would like to thank Rick Meyers, the creator of e-Sword, for

making available the best and most all-inclusive bible
research tool available today. Without that resource, the
research for this book would have taken a lifetime. I would
also like to thank each of the people and organizations listed
in Appendix F: References. Their teachings have helped to
open my own eyes to the Truth, and their works were
instrumental in the production of this, my own work. It is
upon the efforts and the shoulders of others that books like
this are able to be written. Credit and glory goes to , from
whom comes all knowledge and wisdom. May you be blessed
with knowledge and wisdom in reading this book.

I have done my best to explain the bible using the bible as my

only source. Any extra-biblical information will be noted, as
will its source, and will not be used other than to show
additional information of interest to the topic being discussed,
or to shine light where the biblical canon is unable. All of the
ideas and teachings herein are the educated opinions of
nobody but myself, based on the Word of Elohim. Readers

6
are strongly encouraged to take the word of no author today
but to search the Word of Elohim to prove the spirits (1 John
4:1), edify himself (1 Corinthians 14:4), and to search out his
own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).
Extreme care has been taken to check each detail expressed in
this volume, but mistakes are possible and are my own. It
would be of great value to me (and to future readers) for any
mistakes to be pointed out so they can be corrected in future
edits and editions. I am always willing to reexamine myself
and my beliefs according to the living Word of Elohim.
It is likely that some of the information presented here will go
against the reader's long-held beliefs, doctrines and traditions.
It is my prayer that pride will not prevent you from seeing
new truth, according to the Creator's set-apart Word. If you
consider yourself a Christian, this book will challenge you. If
you consider yourself a Jew, this book will challenge you. If
you find yourself disagreeing with a point being presented,
please stick with the subject to the end of the chapter because
it will be shown that the bible interprets itself, and the
phenomena which can be observed in the natural world agrees
completely with what the Word says. Read your bible, take
the time to study the cycles of the sun and moon, pray for
understanding. Sometimes understanding can only come
through obedience and practice. The moedim are dress
rehearsals, if you will, for events which have and which will
take place. We are each given a lifetime of years to practice
and to get it right. Above all else, remember that we are told
to seek diligently and He will be found of us. (Deuteronomy
30:2, Hebrews 11:6)

The question was put to me recently, Do you believe that

keeping the Sabbath and the Feast Days are required for
salvation? The answer to that question lies along these lines.
If you want to be numbered among the seed of Abraham
(Genesis 9:9), if you want to be found to be entirely deserving

7
according to your obedience to the Word, if you want to run
the race to win (1 Corinthians 9:24)... why would you stop
running at the last leg? I answered that if you get
circumcised, if you are immersed, if you keep the food laws,
and if you are genuinely trying to do everything you can do to
be obedient to the Creator, then why would you not want to
keep these days? Why listen to the prophecies of men, to
rumors, and to blasphemies, when the Word gives you Truth
in all these things?

There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation. That's why

we are in need of a messiah. Yet even with messiah, we are
told to obey the commands of , among which are found
the perpetual moedim, which teach of what was, what is, and
what will be. These things were given by the Father to His
sons and daughters, they are blessings and gifts. Why would
you not want to keep them?

Shalom.

-Mitchell Schubbe

8
Chapter 1: The Calendar

Genesis 1:14 And Elohim said, Let lights come to be in

the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the
night, and let them be for signs and appointed times, and
for days and years,

Exodus 12:2 This month is the beginning of months for

you, it is the first month of the year for you.

Genesis 8:14 And in the second month, on the twenty-

seventh day of the month, the Earth was dry.

Exodus 19:1 In the third month after the children of

Israel had come out of the land of Mitsrayim, on this day
they came to the Wilderness of Sinai.

Jeremiah 39:2 In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the

fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the city was
broken into.

Ezra 7:8 And he came to Yerushalayim in the fifth month,

which was in the seventh year of the sovereign.

Luke 1:26 And in the sixth month the messenger Gabriel

was sent by Elohim to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

9
Genesis 8:4 And in the seventh month, the seventeenth
day of the month, the ark rested on the mountains of
Ararat.

1 Kings 6:38 And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul,

the eighth month, the house was completed in all its
matters and according to all its plans. Thus he built it for
seven years.
Jeremiah 36:22 And the sovereign was sitting in the
winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning on
the hearth before him.

Genesis 8:5 And the waters decreased steadily until the

tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the
month, the tops of the mountains became visible.

Deuteronomy 1:3 And it came to be in the fortieth year, in

the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that
Moshe spoke to the children of Israel according to all that
had commanded him concerning them,

Esther 8:12 on one day in all the provinces of Sovereign

Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month,
which is the month of Adar.

In order to determine the appointed times of the moedim, it is

necessary to set a calendar. Neither the Gregorian nor Julian
calendars are fit for this purpose, but we are given several
very important points in Genesis and Exodus as to determine
how the calendar is to be drawn up. Calculated is a bad
word because calculations can be wrong. With observation
based on those things we are told to observe, we can be
confident in our assessment of the Creator's calendar without
calculation. It is important to remember that two witnesses
confirm a matter. (Deuteronomy 19:15) Those witnesses given

10
for the correct calendar are found in Genesis 1, the sun and
the moon. The days, months and years are observed by
understanding the sun and moon, the patterns of which exist
forever without change, and which cannot be tampered with
by the doctrines of men. The patterns are there for all to see,
do not require specialized equipment, and are not hard to
figure out. There is no reason why anyone should be
confused, and no reason anyone should have to depend upon
the beliefs or teachings of another. It is very easy to go out
and observe for yourself, which is encouraged.

The practice of intercalation is not directly mentioned by the

bible. This is the act of adding a 13th month when necessary
in order to keep the appointed times in line with the proper
seasons. There is not a single verse which mentions it
directly, nor is there mention of a 13th month. However, as the
solar year is about eleven days longer than twelve lunar
months, the moedim would shift out of their appropriate
seasons without the addition of a thirteenth month, as needed.
If the new moon is seen but the vernal equinox has not yet
occurred, a thirteenth month is declared, and the sighting of
the next new moon will set the first day of the first month of
the new year. It isn't so much that a month is added as much
as the announcement of spring is delayed because of the
disagreement of the sun and the moon. This delay requires an
intercalary month, declared at the new moon before the
equinox, to prevent confusion and destruction of the calendar.
More on this later.

In the creation account in Genesis 1:14, we are told that the

calendar for appointed times is to be based upon the lights in
the expanse.

Genesis 1:14 And Elohim said, Let lights come to be in

the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the

11
night, and let them be for signs and appointed times, and
for days and years,
Genesis 1:15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of
the heavens to give light on the Earth. And it came to be
so.

For the days, we use the sun. For the months, we use the
moon and the sun. For the years also, the sun and the moon
together must agree. The stars also were created. While the
Mazzaroth is a very important topic, it goes beyond the scope
of this book and is not used (so far as we know at this time) to
determine any of the appointed times listed in Leviticus 23.

The Sun

Of the sun and the moon, the sun is the easier to view and to
understand. In the verse above, we are shown that the lights
are to separate the day from the night. Also:

Genesis 1:16 And Elohim made two great lights: the

greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the
night, and the stars.

The greater light (sun) is to rule the day, and the lesser light
(moon) is to rule the night. The greater light rises in the
morning and it sets at night, relative to the time of year and
your geographic location, and consists of (on average), about
12 hours. The Hebrew word for day is ( Yome), and it
means one unit consisting of 24 hours, beginning as the sun
sets and ending when the sun sets the following day. This is
foreign to many here in the western world who see the new
day as having taken place at midnight. It is true, however,
that before the timepiece or chronograph was invented, and
for thousands of years up to that time, the sun was the only
accurate means of telling the time. There is no standard

12
astronomical phenomena which points to midnight, but
there does exist a daily astronomical phenomena which leads
to darkness - the setting of the sun. There were two answers
to the question What time is it? and they were night time
and day time. As the year progresses to the winter solstice,
the period of daylight grows shorter as the sun rises later and
sets earlier. However, there is still almost exactly 24 hours
between sunsets. This is true on the shortest and on the
longest days of the year, proving that the only way to get a
consistent unit of time throughout the year is not to measure
the number of daylight hours, but to measure the cycle of the
setting sun. A day is the period of time beginning at sunset
and ending at sunset the following day. This is shown by the
following verses:

Genesis 1:5 And Elohim called the light day and the
darkness He called night. And there came to be evening
and there came to be morning, the first day.

Genesis 1:8 And Elohim called the expanse heavens. And

there came to be evening and there came to be morning,
the second day.

Genesis 1:13 And there came to be evening and there

came to be morning, the third day.

Genesis 1:19 And there came to be evening and there

came to be morning, the fourth day.

Genesis 1:23 And there came to be evening and there

came to be morning, the fifth day.

Genesis 1:31 And Elohim saw all that He had made, and
see, it was very good. And there came to be evening and
there came to be morning, the sixth day.

13
If two or three witnesses are sufficient to settle a matter, we
are given six witnesses to define a day in the first chapter of
Genesis alone. A day, as defined throughout the bible, consists
of the evening and the morning. The time of darkness through
the end of the time of sunlight, beginning a new cycle, or a
new day, with the onset of the next period of darkness. This is
true no matter what time of year, and in all locations on Earth
except for the extreme north and extreme south. If you're in
London, the sun sets five hours before it sets in New York.
However, the time between sunsets in London is 24 hours,
and the time between sunsets in New York is also 24 hours.
No matter where you are, you are capable of going outside
and seeing when the sun sets.

Consider the following verses:

Leviticus 23:27 On the tenth day of this seventh month is

the Day of Atonement. It shall be a set-apart gathering for
you. And you shall afflict your beings, and shall bring an
offering made by fire to .

Leviticus 23:32 It is a Sabbath of rest to you, and you

shall afflict your beings. On the ninth day of the month at
evening, from evening to evening, you observe your
Sabbath.

We are told that Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) is on the

tenth day of the seventh month. And yet we are told five
verses later that the tenth day begins at evening (from evening
to evening) on the ninth day of the month. So the tenth day
begins at sunset on the ninth day and ends as the eleventh day
begins, at sunset on the tenth. Not from midnight to midnight,
not from sunrise to sunrise, not from noon to noon, but by the
sunset. What better a way for the sun to rule the day, than
to disappear from the sky, signaling the day's end?

14
The sunrise is also important, but not for judging when the
day has begun. The sunrise was used in biblical times to
describe and count the hours of the day. Frequently we will
see the terms in the first hour of the day, or in the third
hour of the day. The first hour was generally around the time
of sunrise, or 6:00am. The third hour of the day would be at
9:00am, the sixth hour at noon, and so on. Messiah's
execution was at the ninth hour (Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:34),
or around 3:00pm in the afternoon and before sunset, a fact
which is crucial and will be better explained in the chapter on
Passover.
The Moon

The moon is also very easy to observe, but its cycles are much
less understood than the cycles of the sun. It exists and
operates independently of the sun, which is why sometimes
the moon is visible during the day, and sometimes not visible
at all through the night. However, these things are very easily
understood with a little background information and through
the gift of sight.

The phases of the moon are a function of the locations of the

sun and the moon, as seen from Earth. We only ever see the
one side of the moon, and the so-called dark side is never
seen. During the conjunction of the moon (the exact time at
which the moon becomes 0% illuminated, as seen from
Earth), the sun is fully illuminating the opposite side of the
moon, which we cannot see. Because no light is being
reflected off of the visible side of the moon, we can't see it at
all. Beginning with the new moon (the first sliver, not the
conjunction - bear with me if you disagree), the source of light
(the sun), has begun to rotate nearer to the Earth, illuminating
the side of the moon nearer to the Earth, and allowing us to
see light. Remember that the sun is always shining its full
light on the moon and that from the sun's perspective the

15
moon is always full (except during a partial or total lunar
eclipse, when the moon is either partially or totally in shadow,
or behind the Earth from the sun's perspective).

Compare this image of the moon from the sun's perspective, to that
on the next page. This helps to illustrate how the moon's phases
change on Earth. In this image, the face of the moon nearest to the
sun is shown as being fully illuminated.

That light being reflected off of the moon only becomes

visible to us here on Earth as the cycle progresses and the
full side moves nearer into the circle which faces Earth.
This happens slowly, so that from the first sliver to the full
moon is always exactly fourteen days. From the full moon to
the conjunction is also fourteen days. Here's where it gets a
little confusing. If the moon cannot be seen in the sky, it is for
one of three reasons. It is either below the horizon in the
relative east and has not risen yet, it is below the horizon in

16
the relative west having already set, or it is anywhere in the
sky overhead and is not reflecting any of the sun's light
toward the Earth. We call that the conjunction. Some months
can appear to be longer than others because the moon cannot
yet be seen. When the moon is 0% illuminated, it could be
directly overhead during the day and it would not be seen
because the brightness of the sun would blot it out.

On Earth, we see only a partially-illuminated moon because the

back half is in the shadow of the front half, which is fully
illuminated by the sun. We would call this the first-quarter moon.

17
When the moon is so young, it sets around the same exact
time as the sun, and in the same relative place in the west.
Looking for a 0% illuminated moon is hopeless because the
sun is too bright to allow such a dim object to be seen. Just
like you can't see the stars during the day, even though we
know they are there. The sun, as the ruler of the day, will not
be outshone.

A lunar eclipse can only happen when the moon is full.

Remember that the Earth travels around the sun and the moon
travels around the Earth. A lunar eclipse occurs when the sun,
the Earth, and the moon line up, in that order. When the sun is
behind the Earth, and the moon is in front of it, we have the
advantage of the sun's full light shining on the moon, which
makes it full. When the Earth passes between the sun and
the moon, the Earth's shadow falls across the moon, either
totally or partially, depending on your vantage point - your
location on planet Earth. Remember that the Earth's shadow
does not govern the phase of the moon but causes an eclipse.
As the sun's light passes through the Earth's atmosphere, it
bends to a red wavelength and projects that color on the
surface of the moon, hence the blood moon. The same exact
phenomenon occurs when the sun is very low on our horizon;
the wavelength of light bends and we see what we would call
a beautiful sunset, full of reds and oranges. A solar eclipse
occurs when the sun, the moon, and the Earth line up, in that
order. When the moon is between the Earth and the sun, the
moon itself blocks the light of the sun. This can only occur
when the moon is in conjunction (I refrain from using the
term new moon unless the moon is visible in crescent, see
the next section.) Because the moon is in conjunction, we do
not know it is in the sky until it passes in front of the sun. This
is the ONLY time the moon can be seen when it is in
conjunction. At all other times, being 0% illuminated, the
conjunctive moon is not visible in the sky. Because of the size

18
and distances of these celestial objects relative to each other
(the Earth included), a lunar eclipse is more common and can
be seen over a larger area and for a longer period of time than
a solar eclipse. For more information about eclipses and
cycles of the celestial bodies, I recommend the book The
Gospel in the Stars by Joseph A. Seiss. He has excellent
explanations of these and other interesting astronomical
phenomena.
The New Moon

There is much disagreement as to when the new moon has

taken place, and thus when the month has begun. Such
disagreement is not a good thing because some will think that
today is the first day of the month, some will think tomorrow
is, sometimes we even disagree by two full days. Those using
the Hillel calendar may not realize that they are not going by
the moon at all, but by halachic rules of the Babylonian
talmud, meaning that the beginning of the month can deviate
by as much as several days from the true calendar to make
concession for the laws of men. See a description of the
Hillel calendar in Appendix C.

The reason for so much disagreement is because of a general

misunderstanding of the cycles of the moon, and a failure of
those in error to simply go out at night and have a look. It
really is that easy. NASA and others have done the
calculations to pinpoint the exact second of conjunction,
which many feel signifies the new month has begun.
Remember, however, that the cycles of the moon are
independent from the cycles of the sun. So if the conjunction
is calculated to be during daylight hours, that day began at
sunset yesterday, making the first day of the month a whole 24
hours (or more!) early. In that case, the moon would not be
actually seen in the sky for up to another 48 hours. This is
because a conjunction is 0% illumination and as we already

19
covered, an unilluminated moon cannot be seen at all while
the sun is in the sky. So according to the reasoning of those
who hold the conjunction to signify the beginning of the
month, the actual appearance of the moon in the sky is
irrelevant. They would declare the month as having begun
without having seen the sign that the month has begun.
According to that theory, the full moon would take place on
either the twelfth or thirteenth day of the month, and would be
different every month, instead of being full on the fourteenth
day of every month like clockwork. This is confusion, and the
Creator is not the author of confusion. (1 Corinthians 14:33)

The new moon must be seen (if it were possible) for the
month to have begun. Often times, there is cloud cover or a
mountain in the way and the new moon sliver cannot be seen.
But in a perfect world with no smog, no clouds, and on a flat
surface (at sea, for example), the moon would be seen, just
after the sun has set on the last day of the month, beginning
the new month at sundown.

Observing the Moon

For the first fourteen days of the month, the moon can be seen
in the sky at sunset. Every month, without fail, no exceptions
for chaos. That is the perfect cycle. On the first day of the
month, we have the first sliver of the new moon visible after
sunset (when the sun is no longer overpowering the lesser
lights). This is the first time the moon has been visible at all
at sunset in over two weeks (this is why it is called the new
moon). On day two, the moon will be a little fuller and a little
higher in the sky. Day three it will be fuller still, and higher
still. On day fourteen, the moon is full and is rising in the
relative east just as the sun is setting. Again, this is every
single month without fail. Unless you go by the conjunction
or by some other method than by actually looking at the

20
moon. On the fifteenth day, however, it has begun to lose its
illumination and it is below the eastern horizon at sunset,
becoming visible and slightly diminished in luminosity a few
minutes after sunset. The sixteenth day it rises later yet and
dimmer still. Later into the month the moon will not be seen
at all at night, unless very late into the early morning. The
moon will be later to rise and dimmer each day until its gone
completely at the conjunction and appears in the sky at sunset
after about two weeks (again, given not only its luminosity
but its position relative to the horizon at sunset) of not being
seen at all, new, on the first day of the biblical month.

If you are in any way confused by this description of the new

moon and of the biblical beginning of the new month, I
encourage you to simply go out and look at the moon. Note its
position in the sky at sunset. If you can see it at all at that
time, you are within the first fourteen days of the month. If it
is not visible at sunset, you are in the second half of the month
and the new moon may be visible on the relative western
horizon very soon. An excellent tool for this study can be
found at http://www.dailymoonposition.com/default.aspx.
You simply plug in your zip code, today's date and the time of
sunset for your location (which can be found on your calendar
or at weather.com).

This tool produces three very useful pieces of information.

First, it will tell you the percentage of luminosity. The moon is
full at 100% and is entirely dark (will not be seen even if its
directly overhead, which is not actually possible at night,
according to the cycle of the moon) at 0%. The first quarter
moon will reach to about 50 degrees above the horizon at
sunset at about 50% luminosity (on the seventh day). The full
moon is just rising in the relative east and visible at 100%
luminosity (on the fourteenth day). The third quarter moon is
visible on the other side of the planet, reaching to about 50

21
degrees below the opposite horizon, at about 50% luminosity
(on the twenty-first day).

Secondly, this tool will tell you the number of degrees away
from the horizon it can be seen. Remember that 90 degrees is
straight up, which never happens at sunset, and -90 degrees is
straight down, below your feet. Between the first and seventh
days of the moon, it will be somewhere between the relative
west horizon and straight up, climbing higher in the sky each
day at sunset. The first day, however, it can be very low on
the horizon; as few as only 7-9 degrees. At 7 degrees of
elevation, you'd miss seeing it if it were behind a tree, the
neighbor's house, or even a mountain about 20 miles away.
Considering the fact that it is not very bright, and it is setting
quickly (about four degrees every 25 minutes), it is easy to
miss. From the time of sunset, depending on the moon's
original elevation at that time, you may only have minutes to
see the new moon before it sets. This is why it is called
diligently seeking. (Deuteronomy 30:2, Hebrews 11:6) It is
not likely you'll see the new moon by chance. You have to go
out and look for it. Once you have seen it (which you will
only do if the sun is set), the new day and the new biblical
month has begun.

Lastly, the final piece of important information provided with

this tool answers the question of where exactly in the sky it
will be seen. I've been saying relative west, etc, because it
is rarely due west (270 degrees east of north) but it always
sets in the western sky, give or take a few degrees.

22
In the image above, we can see what a new moon looks like
according to the chart. The moon is at an altitude of 10
degrees off the horizon, which is pretty high for a new moon.
That's about a hand's width or more above the horizon. It is
visible at 3% illumination, which isn't much. You're really
going to have to wait until the light from the sun diminishes
enough to see a moon illuminated at only 3%. It might be
several minutes after sunset and the moon could be lower than
10 degrees above the horizon by the time its actually visible.
The third very important detail is the position as it will be
seen east of north, on the compass bearing. In this case, the
moon will be seen on a compass bearing of 260 degrees east
of north, or exactly ten degrees south of due west - hence the
term relative west. Next month, it might be a little brighter,

23
a little dimmer, a little higher or lower, a little bit further to the
north or south. But it will not deviate by more than a few
percentage points on any of those factors from month to
month, and the new moon is always visible if weather permits
and you are in a place where you can see it. The best place to
see it is from a high height with a clear view of the western
sky, or from the eastern coast of a large body of water with a
clear view to the west. No matter how hard you strain your
eyes, even knowing exactly where to look, you will not be
able to see the new moon until after the glowing orb of the
sun has gone below the horizon. This is a time when the sun
and moon must be agreed (two witnesses) that the new month
has begun.

As opposed to our currently-accepted calendar today, there is

no rule in the bible which states that any month or year must
contain the same number of days. For example, every January
has 31 days, every June has 30, etc. That is the rule for those
months. However, that rule is one which was created
arbitrarily simply to give us uniformity in one aspect, while
losing it in others. It is possible that the first biblical month
may contain 30 days or 31 days. While that sounds odd so
some, remember that our Gregorian calendar is a relatively
new concept, as compared with the celestial calendar of the
Creator. To a Hebrew, well versed in the Biblical calendar,
our own would sound quite strange. How can you guarantee
that a month will have a set number of days?, he might ask.
Why do some of your months contain two new moons? How
can you be sure there are only 12 months? Where in the bible
does it say to add a day every four years for a leap year?
The fact of the matter is, the two calendars are quite different
and no attempt should be made to reconcile them. There is
one calendar which is important to keeping the moedim of
, and it is not the one hanging on the wall. It can only be
observed according to the heavenly luminaries given for our

24
days and times.

In any case, it is not as confusing as it sounds if you just go

out and look. I can't stress that enough. All the numbers and
math in the world won't be enough to convince you unless you
see it with your own eyes.

Quick Reference: The New Moon

When you do see it with your own eyes, rejoice! You have
just seen the beginning of a new biblical month, the celestial
markers given by the Creator from the beginning to determine
the appointed times for his set-apart days.

Psalms 81:3 Blow the rams horn at the time of the New
Moon, At the full moon, on our festival day.

The only moed which falls on the new moon is that of the
Yom Teruah (The feast of Trumpets), which is likely the day
being discussed in Psalm 81. Contrary to the traditions of
some, we are never told in scripture that every New Moon is a
non-work day. Many cite this verse as their proof:

Amos 8:5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that
we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth
wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and
falsifying the balances by deceit?

We must remember that there is one law given in the first five
books of the bible, and that the Writings and the Prophets
expands upon the lives of people who either did or did not
follow that law. There is no verse of law, in Leviticus 23 or
otherwise, which states that we are not to work on days of the
New Moon.

25
Many people blow the shofar on the new moon every month
to set the time apart, and as an aid in counting the months,
which is important when keeping the set-apart days of .
Except for Yom Teruah, the first day of the seventh month, the
new moon is not a Sabbath day. Normal work may be done on
that day. To say otherwise is to add to the Word.

The First Biblical Month

Again, because of the traditions of men, there is disagreement

as to when the biblical new year has begun. The Jews say
Rosh Ha Shana (head of the year) in the seventh month
because of their tradition. But the bible is very clear and
makes very short work of this argument, proving the new year
begins six months earlier, in the month of Abib (when the
barley is in the green).

Exodus 12:2 This month is the beginning of months for

you, it is the first month of the year for you.

We have already solved the question of when the month

begins, so now we must solve which month exactly is called
the first of the months. Getting this one right is of utmost
importance because this is the marker from which all other
months will be observed. Getting this new moon wrong will
throw off the rest of the year, so we've got to be certain.

Exodus 12 goes on to describe the first Passover. We know

that Passover is to take place in the first biblical month.

Exodus 13:4 Today you are going out, in the month Abib.

We know from these two verses that the first month of the
year, the month containing the celebration of the Passover, is
called Abib.

26
Exodus 23:15 Guard the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
Seven days you eat unleavened bread, as I commanded
you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib for in it
you came out of Mitsrayim and do not appear before Me
empty-handed;

We know that the Festival of Unleavened Bread, which comes

directly after Passover, is also contained in that month, and is
the same month when the nation of Israel came out of Egypt
in the month of Abib.

Let's look at the word Abib [H24]. To be tender,

green. Ears of corn, barley, wheat can all be considered to be
abib. This stage of the grain is generally agreed to be past the
milky white liquid stage, and far enough along in its
development that the grain can be parched and eaten. This is
according to tradition, however, and there is no instruction in
the bible to determine when a grain can be considered abib.
The corn, barley and wheat harvests occur at different times of
the year, so let us find out which of these harvests takes place
in the first biblical month.

Exodus 9:31 And the flax and the barley were smitten, for
the barley was in the head and the flax was in bud.
Exodus 9:32 But the wheat and the spelt were not smitten,
for they were late crops.

There we have it. Because of the plague of hail, we know

which crops were smitten and which were not affected,
being late crops. The barley was destroyed by the hail at the
time of year when it was in the head. Only days after the
plague of hail, Moshe was told that this would be the first of
months and that they must prepare for the coming Passover.

27
 The Barley Problem

It has long been the belief that the ripeness of the barley in
Israel was the indicator of spring, and therefore, of the new
year. There are several very big problems with this. I know
many of my readers will be uncomfortable with this new
information, but please bear with me to the end of the topic.

Genesis 1:14 And Elohim said, Let lights come to be in

the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the
night, and let them be for signs and appointed times, and
for days and years,

This is the first problem. There is no mention here of barley.

Unless added to the Word or changed His mind, the lights
in the expanse of the heavens are for signs and seasons and
appointed times. Not barley.

Exodus 12:1 And spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon in

the land of Mitsrayim, saying,
Exodus 12:2 This month is the beginning of months for
you, it is the first month of the year for you.

This is the other problem. When they were told this, they were
not in Israel, they were in Egypt. If any barley at all was
abib, it was barley in the land of Egypt, not in Israel. During
their four hundred and thirty year sojourn in Egypt, the
children of Israel were dispersed from the land of Israel,
just as we are today. Yet in Egypt and in the wilderness for
forty years, the children of Israel were given signs as to the
beginning of the year - before they even set foot in the
promised land. Those signs we still have today, signs which
we are told in Genesis would be for our days and years, for
our appointed times. Signs which are visible at the four
corners of the Earth, to those of His children in the dispersion.

28
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, everybody
knows this. However, for all but two days a year, this is not
true. The sun rises and sets in the relative east and west
except for two days a year, on the vernal and autumnal
equinox. Only on these two days a year does the sun actually
rise and set in the exact east and west. When this happens,
there are a number of other interesting things which take
place. At the equator, as the sun traces its perfect arch in the
sky, it comes directly over head at solar noon. At this time,
any tall straight object, such as a telephone pole, has no
shadow because the light is shining straight down from above
and illuminates all sides of the ground on every side of the
pole. Solar noon may differ from 12:00pm by a relatively
large amount of time, and is said to have occurred when the
shadows are as short as they are going to get on a day, given
the sun's zenith or its midway point between the horizons.
The shortest apparent shadow ever cast by an object at the
equator will be seen at solar noon on the equinox. The
shadow of an object at that time is a direct function of the
latitude at your location. Another function of the equinox
phenomenon is the perfect equality of daytime and nighttime
hours - hence equinox, meaning equal night or equal dark.
This is a very significant astronomical event, and it only
occurs twice annually. These two days fall as far from each
other as you can get on the calendar, 180 apart, or about one
hundred and eighty days. One might say as far as east is from
west. (Psalms 103:12) They are polar opposites, though they
are basically the same event.

Polar Opposites

How could you tell between two sides of a board without a

distinguishing mark? How could you tell which pole on a
magnet (or on the Earth) is north, without a label or another
magnet against which to test it? How could you tell the

29
difference between noon and midnight on an analog clock in a
room without windows? It can be difficult to distinguish
polar opposites because they're technically the same thing,
each in reverse of the other. Without true north or some
other basis for comparison, one is the same as the other.
Thankfully, we are given a sign to distinguish one equinox
from the other. That sign is the barley.

We are given the sun and the moon for witnesses, for days,
years, seasons, and appointed times. There is no lunar event,
no new moon, which sets itself apart from the other new
moons of the year. No one moon distinguishes itself from
among the other moons. It is simply not possible to see a new
moon and to say, See how that one is different? This is the
first moon of the year. It is only by agreement of the sun and
the moon that we are able to determine the first month of the
year. The new moon which follows the equinox is the
beginning of months. Which equinox? The one in which the
barley is able or nearly able to be harvested. Which of those
two (able or nearly able to be harvested) does not matter,
because consider the alternative equinox. It is six months
away, in a time of the year when barley is on nobody's mind.
We are told in Genesis that the sun and the moon are for times
and seasons. The only distinguishable astronomical
phenomena that occurs this time of year is the equinox, and
since there are two in the year, the only way to set them apart
(and to have that distinction remembered across many
forgetful centuries), is by its relation to the barley.

Think about how the adversary comes to steal, kill, and

destroy. (John 10:10) The adversary has made it his business
to pull away the distinguishable factors so that one equinox,
one pole, one side of the board looks the same as the other,
and to find ways to teach that the other is the true side, the
true sign. If the spring equinox is the correct time to begin the

30
year, the polar opposite would be to begin the year at the
autumnal equinox. Can you think of an organization which
pronounces the new year in accordance to the autumnal
equinox?

Midrash Rosh Hashana 1:1 The first of Tishrei is the

beginning of the year [rosh hashanah] for years, sabbatical
cycles, and the jubilee.

The seventh month of the year seems a very strange time to

ordain the beginning of a year, does it not? Hardly arbitrary
in its ordination, the rabbinic community keeps the proper
astronomical event, but the exact opposite of the one we are
told to keep in Exodus 12.

The barley, regardless of its stage of development, is the sign

that distinguishes one equinox from the other. Just as you
would not wait for word that the sun has set in Israel to begin
the Sabbath day, we do not concern ourselves with the state of
the barley in Israel. There are many kinds of barley, and they
all ripen at different stages, some sooner some later. Some
today have been genetically engineered to grow with less
water, and quicker, and to be of greater yield. Which hybrid
variety were we told to watch in Exodus? What exactly is
indicated by the abib stage of the barley, and can that
information be found in the bible? Are we supposed to take
somebody's word for it? How were the children of Israel
supposed to see the barley in Israel for 40 years in the
wilderness?

If I ask you to meet me at twelve o'clock, how are you to

know whether I mean midnight or noon, two times which are
polar opposites? You will know if I mention how bright out it
is at twelve o'clock. Just as we know the proper time,
according to the barley. It cannot be light out at midnight or

31
dark at noon under normal circumstances, so my mention of
the brightness of day indicates that I mean twelve noon. So
also the Creator's mention of the barley tells us which equinox
He means; barley is not grown in the fall.

It comes down to this. If you are in the dispersion, alone, on a

deserted island in the Pacific ocean, with no barley in sight,
are we to believe that it is not possible to determine the first
day of the year? I tell you that it is, and here's how. On the
morning of the equinox marking the end of the winter season,
the sun will rise in the exact east and will set in the exact
west. The next new moon you see will be the beginning of
months. You can bet your last dime that there will be barley
in Israel, in accordance to the Word. It is not necessary for you
to see it because the only alternative is six months from now
when there is no barley present in any state of development at
all.

Here is an experiment you can do wherever you are in the

world to determine not only your latitude, but to witness the
equinox for yourself. Note the image below. It is assumed
that both of these vertical lines exist on a level plane. The
vertical line on the left represents solar noon at the equator.
Since the sun is directly overhead, there is no shadow. The
vertical line on the right exists some distance away from the
equator. At solar noon on the equinox, this is the shortest
shadow which can be measured during the year. The angle
produced by the vertical line and its shadow is 90 (all the
time, not just on the equinox). The angle we're primarily
interested in is the top angle, opposite of the shadow. That
angle is equal to your latitude. The closer you are to the
equator, the smaller that angle (the shorter the shadow), and
the further you are from it, the greater it will be (having a
longer shadow). This only works on the equinox. At any
other time, you would have to compensate for the Earth's

32
polar tilt to determine your latitude. Only during the equinox
is the sun directly overhead at the equator.

There are two ways to find that angle. You can do the math,
with the inverse trig function to find the angle opposite the
base. An easier way would be simply to measure the height of
a vertical object, such as a pencil, and the length of its
shadow. Using a ruler, mark those same lines on a sheet of
paper, draw the connecting line to make the triangle, and use a
protractor to measure the narrowest (top) angle. Let us
assume you used a brand new, unsharpened pencil, the height
of which is 7.5. If you measure the shadow at solar noon on
the equinox and find it to be 3 long, then the angle, according
to my protractor, would be 22. That would be close to
several cities in Mexico and in China, and would be
representative of a location near Hong Kong or Cancun. A 4
shadow would put you closer to Orlando, FL. Working it
backwards, the shadow in Dallas would be about 4.75. In
New York City, the pencil's shadow would be about 6.375 at
solar noon on the equinox, and about 4.5 in Yerushalayim.

What you are actually measuring by this experiment is the

33
angle of the sun's distance away from 90 over head in your
location.

In a time when you can simply look up your latitude and the
exact date and time of the equinox on the internet, this math
may seem unnecessary. But before the internet and back into
antiquity, these are the methods which were used to determine
these things, to make calendars, to build the pyramids.

These facts about the equinox are not newly discovered. This
has been known for thousands of years by every ancient
culture, and has been used for global navigation and for the
construction of some of the most impressive structures on this
planet. Since the beginning, these rules have not changed
because they are governed by the incorruptible heavenly
luminaries put there in the beginning by the master calendar
maker Himself. We are able to test and to prove these things
from anywhere, in any time, because He Himself has scattered
us to the four corners of the Earth.

Things like shadows and equinoxes may seem obscure and

foreign to our ears today, but these things were once just as
common as a wall calendar. It is likely that a solar calendar
such as the one I have pictured here existed in every town
square and was used by all to determine the days and months
of the year. I don't mean to complicate a simple thing with
trigonometry, only to show how you can prove these things at
home, yourself, without listening to the traditions of men.

We are told to obey the commands, and only then would we

be brought back into the promised land. How can we obey the
commands, such as the proper keeping of His calendar, in the
dispersion, if we are not in the promised land? The answer is
simple. We are told to be a light to the nations, to bring the
wisdom and truth of His Word to the whole world. There is

34
one law for the native born and for the stranger alike, and that
law can be seen in the sky from anywhere on this planet that a
native or a stranger might happen to be. He put His signs in
the heavens where man could not touch them, corrupt them,
genetically modify them, or use them to pass off lies as truth.
All we have to do is learn to use them.

If these things fly in the face of what you have come to

believe about the barley in Israel, consider these things.
Abib can mean anything that anybody wants it to mean,
because that information is not contained in the bible. If you
currently look online every year to find whether or not the
barley is abib in Israel, ask yourself: Who checked the barley,
and according to what standards? Do I have so much faith in
that person and in those standards that I am willing to risk
having all of my dates incorrect this year if they should be
wrong? What did the remnant do before telephones and the
internet?

It was expected that even outside the nation of Israel, those

who observed Passover would be able to tell when to observe
it.

Numbers 9:10 Speak to the children of Israel, saying,

When any male of you or your generations is unclean for
a being, or is far away on a journey, he shall still perform
the Passover of .
Numbers 9:11 On the fourteenth day of the second
month, between the evenings, they perform it with
unleavened bread and bitter herbs they eat it.

If you are far away on a journey, how are you to know the first
from the second month, if you must depend upon the state of
the barley in Israel?

35
Let's look at just one more thing.

Genesis 8:13 And it came to be in the six hundred and

first year, in the first month, the first day of the month,
that the waters were dried up from the earth. And Noah
removed the covering of the ark and looked, and saw the
surface of the ground was dry.

How can it be known from sea, without the aid of the barley
crop in Israel, when exactly to declare the first day of the first
month of the year? It could only be done according to the
vernal equinox and the sighting of the new moon at sunset.
Any one of us could recognize the first day of the first month
of the year under the same circumstances. That is called
wisdom, that is the ability to rightly divide, to know the Word
and to know how to practice it in your life. Cast off the
shackles of dependence and tradition, hear with understanding
the Word of .

Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people are let

loose, But blessed is he who guards the Torah.

The equinox is the most significant solar phenomenon which

can be witnessed from this planet. Seeing as how the sun and
moon were made for signs and seasons, what else could this
major event possibly signify? In what way could this event be
used to determine anything but the first month of the year?
Would we do better to completely ignore this event and go
instead by the word of someone who judges the barley to be
abib in a foreign land according to the standards of his own
traditions?

It is possible that the new moon will be visible a few days or

even the day before the equinox. In that case, an intercalary
thirteenth month is added out of necessity to keep the calendar

36
according to the Word. Without the addition of that month,
the biblical calendar would fall out of alignment.

According to the Hillel calendar, which is known to be flawed

but is still used by the Jews according to their tradition, seven
years out of every nineteen years are leap years, or contain
an extra (thirteenth, intercalary) month. According to the
bible, however, no such limitations have been set and there are
no hard and fast rules for calculating, in advance, the number
of moons in a biblical year. For more information on the Hillel
calendar, see Appendix C.

In spite of the flaws inherent in figuring the new year

according to the state of the barley in Israel, there are many
who attempt to do so. Currently, the Karaite Jews as well as
others, arrange to be in Israel in time to observe the
commercial barley crop, or the wild barley, of which there is
plenty during the Shemitah year, and to determine whether it
is abib at the time of the new moon. Their findings are
posted all over the internet and are very easy to acquire, to the
detriment of many. That is not to say, however, that the barley
is unimportant. The gathering of the first fruits of the barley
is extremely significant and will be discussed at length in
Chapter 5.

It is important to understand why the state of the barley in

Israel is important, in contrast to why it is believed to be
important. Consider the following verse:

Leviticus 23:10 Speak to the children of Israel, and you

shall say to them, When you come into the land which I
give you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring a
sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest.

This harvest of first-fruits is the barley harvest. If the first

37
month was declared too soon, the barley would not be fit for
harvest during the month of Abib. The appearance of the
barley is simply a sign that the season is at hand. The phrase
barley in the abib has little to do with its state of growth and
everything to do with the season. What time of year is the
barley harvested? In the month of Abib! The heaven and the
Earth are witnesses of the Word. (Deuteronomy 30:19,
Matthew 5:18) The witness of the heavens is declared by the
synchronicity of the sun in equinox and the moon in its
newness. As this happens twice a year, at opposite times of
the year, we are given a sign for the proper time, and that sign
is the existence of barley.

It is well understood that the first biblical month is the time of

Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of
First Fruits of the barley harvest. Let's examine other verses
which show this understanding.

Leviticus 23:5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day

of the month, between the evenings, is the Passover to .

Numbers 9:1 And spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of

Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had
come out of the land of Mitsrayim, saying,
Numbers 9:2 Now, let the children of Israel perform the
Passover at its appointed time.
Numbers 9:3 On the fourteenth day of this month,
between the evenings, perform it at its appointed time.
According to all its laws and right-rulings you perform it.
Numbers 9:4 And Moshe spoke to the children of Israel to
perform the Passover.
Numbers 9:5 So they performed the Passover on the
fourteenth day of the first month, between the evenings, in
the wilderness of Sinai. According to all that
commanded Moshe, so the children of Israel did.

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Numbers 28:16 And in the first month, on the fourteenth
day, is the Passover of ,

Numbers 33:3 So they departed from Ramses in the first

month, on the fifteenth day of the first month, on the
morrow of the Passover the children of Israel went out
with boldness before the eyes of all the Mitsrites,

Joshua 4:19 And the people came up from the Yarden on

the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal
on the east border of Jericho.
Joshua 5:10 And the children of Israel camped in Gilgal,
and performed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the
month at evening on the desert plains of Jericho.

2 Chronicles 35:1 And Josiah performed a Passover to

in Yerushalayim, and they slaughtered the Passover
on the fourteenth day of the first month.

Ezra 6:19 And the sons of the exile performed the

Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month,

Ezekiel 45:21 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of

the month, you have the Passover, a festival of seven days,
unleavened bread is eaten.

Even 1500 years later, after the scattering of the 10 northern

tribes, and the seventy year captivity of Judah in Babylon and
their subsequent return, the children of Israel were still
keeping Passover in the first month. This will be shown in
detail in the chapter on Passover. Since the Exodus, there has
never been another acceptable method of calculating the first
month of the year. One new moon too soon and the new year
would have been declared during the winter season instead of
in the spring. This is akin to declaring the New Moon before it

39
has been seen. Only after the vernal equinox can the year be
said to have started in the spring. With that information, we
are able to know that the new year has begun and we can
begin to count the days and the moons so we can fix all of the
set-apart days on our current calendar. Some years have
twelve new moons and others have thirteen, and there is
currently no other method for proving that the new year has
begun than by the agreeing of the witnesses of the heavens
and the Earth, just as it was designed in the beginning.

Gen 1:14 And Elohim said, Let lights come to be in the

expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night,
and let them be for signs and appointed times, and for
days and years

40
Chapter 2: The Sabbath

Leviticus 23:3 Six days work is done, but the seventh day
is a Sabbath of rest, a set-apart gathering. You do no work,
it is a Sabbath to in all your dwellings.

From the time of creation until the passing away of the

heaven and the Earth, every seventh day is a Sabbath. The
Hebrew word for Sabbath is ( Shabbat), and it means to
repose, to desist from exertion, to put away work, to rest, to
be still. The word Sabbath is used over 130 times in the
bible. It is the only day in creation which was blessed. It is
the only creation which was declared as set-apart. It is the
only appointed time which was mentioned even before the
plants and shrubs began to grow from the newly-formed
ground (Genesis 2:5). The creator of the universe bound
Himself to it when He rested on that day.

Unfortunately for us, as is the case with all things, the

adversary (hasatan) has done a fine job of confusing and
destroying the Word of , and with the Sabbath it is no
different. There are several ways which man has devised of
his own heart to keep the Sabbath, and all of them are against
the Word. We will begin with the most common error.

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 Sunday sabbath

The first day of the week, and not the seventh, has become the
common day of worship held by the majority of Christianity.
The reason for this is very simple. There are many
denominations of the church, and all of them spring from
Catholicism. The first mention of a change made from the
seventh day to the first day was by the high priest of the cult
of Sol Invictus (unconquerable sun), the Roman emperor
Constantine in 321CE: On the venerable day of the sun let
the magistrate and people residing in cities rest, and let all
workshops be closed. In the country however, persons
engaged in agricultural work may freely and lawfully
continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another
day is not so suitable for grain growing or for vine planting;
lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the
bounty of heaven should be lost. In 338CE, Eusebius, one of
Constantine's bishops and record keepers, wrote, All things
whatsoever that it was the duty to do on the Sabbath we have
transferred to the Lords Day as more appropriately belonging
to it. The following is from the Convert's Catechism of
Catholic Doctrine:

Q. Which is the Sabbath day?

A. Saturday is the Sabbath day.
Q. Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
A. We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the
Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea, (AD 336)
transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.
Q. Why did the Catholic Church substitute Sunday for
Saturday?
A. The Church substituted Sunday for Saturday, because
Christ rose from the dead on a Sunday, and the Holy Ghost
descended upon the Apostles on a Sunday.
Q. By what authority did the Church substitute Sunday for

42
Saturday?
A. The Church substituted Sunday for Saturday by the
plenitude of that divine power which Jesus Christ bestowed
upon her!
Q. Has the [Catholic] church power to make any alterations
in the commandments of God?
A. ...Instead of the seventh day, and other festivals appointed
by the old law, the church has prescribed the Sundays and
holy days to be set apart for Gods worship; and these we are
now obliged to keep in consequence of Gods commandment,
instead of the ancient Sabbath.
Q. How prove you that the church hath power to command
feasts and holy days?
A. By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday,
which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly
contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and
breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.
Q. How prove you that?
A. Because by keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the churchs
power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin; and
by not keeping the rest [of the feasts] by her commanded, they
again deny, in fact, the same power.
Q. Have you any other way of proving that the Church has
power to institute festivals of precept?
A. Had she not such power, she could not have done that in
which all modern religionists agree with her. She could not
have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the
week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a
change for which there is no Scriptural authority.

It is plain to see that the Catholic church is a prime example

of an organization which would seek to change times and
laws. (Daniel 7:25) If not for the apostasy of Constantine's
church, nobody would be keeping a Sunday Sabbath.

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 Lunar Sabbath

As more people exit Babylon and begin to realize the lies

handed down by the doctrines of men, they seek truth about
the Sabbath. Unfortunately, many are pulled into what the
bible is very clear to show as a lie; what has come to be called
the Lunar Sabbath theory. Proponents are quick to show
you all the ways in which they believe the bible appears to
corroborate their theory, but a few simple questions debunk
the whole construct.

This theory operates under the misconception that the eighth,

fifteenth, twenty-first and the twenty-eighth days of the lunar
month are Sabbaths. Very often, lunar sabbath keepers do not
have an understanding of the other moedim - the feast days.
They read in the bible that the fifteenth days of both the first
and seventh months are sabbaths, and they take that to
mean that every fifteenth day of every month is a Sabbath.
This comes with the failure to recognize the distinction that
the feast days are days of non-servile work, while the Sabbath
day and Yom Kippur (on the tenth day of the seventh month)
are days in which no work may be done. Then they fill in the
blanks so that seven days on each side of the fifteenth day is
also a Sabbath. The problem with that is very simply
explained. Some months are longer than others, and there are
not seven days between the twenty-eighth of the month and
the eighth of the next month. This allows for as many as nine
straight days without a Sabbath, which is quite contrary to the
seven-day cycle.

This causes all kinds of difficulties for those who are drawn
into this lie. One moon, Sabbath may be on Monday. The
next month, it may be on a Sunday, or on a Thursday, or on
any day of the week. This is confusion, and is not the
author of confusion. (1 Corinthians 14:33) They claim

44
perfection and celestial evidence by the first quarter, full, third
quarter and newness of the moon. This cycle is indeed
perfect, but it exists independently of the perfect 7-day cycle
of the Sabbath. There is, unfortunately, no celestial marker
for the Sabbath, nor is there for the Shemitah or Jubilee years.
(Which are also based on perfect cycles of 7.)

The moon was created on the fourth day and rested on the
seventh day. Because of this, an argument could be made that
the fourth, eleventh, eighteenth, and twenty-fifth days of the
lunar month are Sabbaths. But this is also confusion. Any
way you cut it, the ability to count precludes belief in the
lunar sabbath theory. It is based entirely upon the faulty belief
that the word moed is somehow tied, in every instance, to
the moon.

Moed means "appointed time", not "appointment by the

moon". For example, you may have a haircut scheduled for
Wednesday at 2:00pm. When is the moed of your haircut?
Wednesday at 2:00. This moed is irrespective of the phase of
the moon. Similarly, the Sabbath is an appointed time
irrespective of the phase of the moon.

As we have already covered, the Hebrew word for Day is

( Yome). A day is defined by the 24 hour period between
sunsets. There are six of these and then a Sabbath, every
week. The Hebrew word for week is ( Shavua), which
literally means sevened, as in a period of seven days. This
perfection is lost in the lunar sabbath theory, which allows for
more than seven days in a week. Not once in the bible do we
see the phrase on the eighth day of the week, because a
week is defined as a period of seven days, ending with the
Sabbath. In the bible, 8 is significant of new beginnings, of

45
renewal, of rebirth, of revitalization, and of entering into
covenant. We have many eights that represent these things,
and here are a few:

Leviticus 22:27 When a bull or a sheep or a goat is born,

it shall be seven days with its mother. And from the eighth
day and thereafter it is acceptable as an offering made by
fire to .

Leviticus 12:3 And on the eighth day the flesh of his

foreskin is circumcised.

Leviticus 14:23 And he shall bring them to the priest on

the eighth day for his cleansing, to the door of the Tent of
Meeting, before .

Leviticus 15:29 And on the eighth day she takes for

herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and shall
bring them to the priest, to the door of the Tent of
Meeting.

Leviticus 23:36 For seven days you bring an offering

made by fire to . On the eighth day there shall be a set-
apart gathering for you, and you shall bring an offering
made by fire to . It is a closing festival, you do no
servile work.

There were eight people on the ark; Noah and his wife, his
three sons and their three wives. This gave humanity a new
beginning. To say that there may be more than seven days
between Sabbaths effectively destroys the Creator's perfect
cycles and eighth unit renewals. Every seventh day is a
Sabbath. Every eighth day begins a new week. Fifty days after

46
the Feast of First Fruits, seven sabbaths are counted, always
forty-nine days, and the next day is Pentecost (from the Greek
word for fifty). The Hebrew word is Shavuot, literally
sevens, meaning seven weeks of seven days. With the lunar
Sabbath theory, there is no way to guarantee that perfect 49
day cycle of seven Sabbaths. Sometimes seven lunar Sabbaths
equal 54 days. Sometimes 49 days is only six lunar Sabbaths.
Or eight. Chaos! Every seven years is the Shemitah year.
Every seven Shemitah years is a Jubilee. Always sevens,
always perfect cycles. There are no perfect cycles under the
lie of lunar Sabbath.

The lunar Sabbath is practiced by both Buddhists and ancient

Babylonians, the latter of which likely began the practice.

Counting from the new moon, the Babylonians celebrated

every seventh day as a "holy-day", also called an "evil-day"
(meaning "unsuitable" for prohibited activities) . On these
days, officials were prohibited from various activities,
common men were forbidden to "make a wish", and at least
the twenty-eighth day of the moon was known as a "rest-day".
On each of them, offerings were made to a different god and
goddess, apparently at nightfall to avoid the prohibitions
associated with doing so during the day: Merodach and Ishtar
on the seventh, Ninlil and Nergal on the fourteenth, Sin and
Shamash on the twenty-first, and Enki and Mah on the
twenty-eighth. Tablets from the sixth-century BCE reigns of
Cyrus the Great and Cambyses indicate these dates were
sometimes approximate. The lunation of 29 or 30 days
basically contained three seven-day weeks, and a final week
of eight or nine days inclusive, breaking the continuous
seven-day cycle.

47
Buddhist Sabbaths are the new, first-quarter, full, and third-
quarter moon-days. Within this system also exists the
problem of the final week, which is more than seven days and
breaks the perfect seven-day cycle.

Lunar Sabbatarians insist that the final days of the final week
are not counted, and a perfect cycle still exists. This is
lacking in biblical proof, however, and in common sense as
well. The concept of not counting days and even years is
not a new thing. As of this writing, Judaism considers the year
to be 5776. They do not, however, count the 70 years during
which the southern tribes were in exile in Babylon. The
practice of not counting days for convenience, as well as the
lunar sabbath itself, both likely have their roots in Babylonian
culture and religion.

Jeremiah 51:6 Flee from the midst of Babel, and let each
one save his life! Do not be cut off in her crookedness, for
this is the time of the vengeance of , the recompense He
is repaying her.

Jeremiah 51:45 Come out of her midst, My people! And

let everyone deliver his being from the burning displeasure
of .

Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from the

heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, lest you share
in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.

There are countless more arguments and biblical proofs

against it, but we've already shown several ways in which the
lunar Sabbath theory is full of holes and will devote no more
time to this particular doctrine of men.

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 The Enoch Calendar

On the surface, the Enoch Calendar appears to support a

continuous 7-day Sabbath cycle. However, because of the
natural progression of the year, that cycle would be thrown off
by a single day every year, which I will show below.

The apocryphal and possibly pseudepigraphical book of

Enoch outlines a calendar in which the four seasons are
divided into sections of 13 weeks each. Each of the four
seasons contained two 30-day months and the third month
was 31 days, the thirty-first day being the last day of the
season. The problem with this calendar is that it allows for
only a 364 day solar year. The current solar year is 365.25
days. Enoch was the seventh generation from Adam, and it is
entirely possible that for his life, and even throughout the life
of Moshe, the Earth did make a complete revolution around
the sun once every 364 days. However that is not the case
today. Consider:

Joshua 10:13 So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
till the nation avenged itself upon their enemies. Is this not
written in the Book of Yashar? Thus the sun stopped in
the midst of the heavens, and did not hasten to go down
for an entire day.

The exact cause of this phenomena is unknown, as are the

celestial rules which allowed this to happen. It is possible that
until this time, the year was 364 days. In that verse, an entire
day is sometimes translated as about a day, although that
word about seems to have been added by the translators and
does not exist in the Hebrew. To allow for a discrepancy

49
between a 364- and a 365.25-day solar year, the sun would
have stood still in the sky and extended the calendar by one
whole day and what amounts to several minutes of another
day.

In any case, we no longer operate within a 364-day solar year

and a calendar which supports that construct cannot be used
today. The occurrence of two thirty-day months and then a
third thirty-one day month also does not correspond with the
newness of the moon at this time, although it may have then,
as unknown celestial changes were made. By way of even a
single lost day every year, the use of such a calendar would
destroy the seasons in which we find the moedim today,
making Passover, for example, occur first in the spring and
then in the fall every 180-odd years. This is chaos, and
certainly must not represent the truth which we observe today.

With such a calendar, the Sabbath might occur on Saturday in

any given year, but would commence on Friday the following
year, and one day earlier each subsequent year for seven
years, allowing the Sabbath to be correctly observed only one
year out of seven. Again, it is possible that in the time of
Enoch, Noah, Abraham and even Moshe, this was the case
and it worked correctly with only a 364-day year. But we are
able to judge the days correctly in this time as well by the
same standards given to us according to the same Word.

The True Sabbath

In Hebrew, there are no names for the days of the week. They
are merely called the first day, the second day, the third
day, etc, until the end of the week. The seventh day is called
Shabbat, or rest day. The Jewish culture has preserved not

50
only the language but the day back into antiquity. There is
never a record of the day having changed, either accidentally
or according to the doctrines of men or the Sanhedrin. Every
seventh day, from today back to Josephus in the first century,
and from Josephus back to King David, and from David back
to Adam, each seventh day of the seven-day week, has been a
Shabbat. It has been an unending cycle of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
Shabbat. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Shabbat. There are no eighth or ninth
days, there are no uncounted days, there are no stretches or
concessions or calculations or fixes necessary to make it all
work. A child who can count to seven can understand. A man
can be blind and alone and have only the ability to feel the sun
on his face and can still count the days of the week until the
Sabbath. No week of cloudy days would put an effective end
to the keeping of the true Sabbath. It exists independently of
the moon and is only a function of the rising and the setting of
the sun, as we are shown in Genesis 1:

Genesis 1:5 And Elohim called the light day and the
darkness He called night. And there came to be evening
and there came to be morning, the first day.
Genesis 1:8 And Elohim called the expanse heavens. And
there came to be evening and there came to be morning,
the second day.

Genesis 1:13 And there came to be evening and there

came to be morning, the third day.

Genesis 1:19 And there came to be evening and there

came to be morning, the fourth day.

Genesis 1:23 And there came to be evening and there

came to be morning, the fifth day.

Genesis 1:31 And Elohim saw all that He had made, and

51
see, it was very good. And there came to be evening and
there came to be morning, the sixth day.

The first six days were units of time in which the sun was
dark and then was light again; the evening and the morning.
A day exists without the moon, unless we are to believe that
the lesser light also rules the day. The bible is quite clear to
interpret itself, and to show that for six days work is to be
done and that on the seventh day, work is to cease. The perfect
cycle then repeats. In the verse below, the Creator rests from
his creation on the seventh day, from evening to evening. We
are not told the position of the moon, its state, fullness, or
distance from the horizon. Because it does not matter. A day
is a function of the sun, and only the sun. Let me say that
again because it is important. A day is not a function of the
moon. The moon does not determine a day. The day unit
was created on the first day, and the moon was not created
until the fourth day. The moon is not in the same position
along the ecliptic during any two days of the month at the
same time of day. It is possible to determine the day of the
month from the position and phase of the moon at a certain
time of day, but that information does not detail when a day
has begun or has ended. The first six days of creation were a
function of the sun.

Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day Elohim completed His

work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh
day from all His work which He had made.

The name for the seventh day has changed many times and
exists in many languages. Today, in English-speaking
countries, the seventh day is called Saturday. The seventh day
has been the Sabbath day since long before the Greeks
invented the name. The word comes from the Greek god
Saturn, and it is often frowned upon to use the names of the

52
days of the week, or it is recommended to change them to be
more noticeably pagan, such as saturn-day. I'm not going to
bother with that. The names of each of the days and months
are of evil origin, but they are convention and I will not make
things more complicated than they need to be. I do not feel I
am in violation of the verse which says not to have the names
of the false elohim upon your lips (Exodus 23:13) because
although there is a false elohim named Saturn, I have yet to
hear of one called Saturday. If I mention the names of false
elohim throughout this book, rest assured that I am well aware
of it and do not feel that I am in violation. One could not even
read the bible without reading the names Dagon, Chomesh,
Ba'al, Bel, Molech, Ishtar, Tammuz, etc.

Before we discuss the Sabbath, I feel it is very important to

discuss the other side of the coin, a subject which is rarely
studied.

Consider:

Exodus 20:9 Six days you labor, and shall do all your
work,

Leviticus 23:3 Six days work is done, but the seventh day
is a Sabbath of rest, a set-apart gathering. You do no work,
it is a Sabbath to in all your dwellings.

The fourth commandment, as well as the first moed listed in

Leviticus 23, is not simply to abstain from work in the seventh
day, but to work for six days. If you do not observe the
Sabbath, you are breaking more than the command to observe
it. You are breaking the command which says that the false
day which you are keeping instead, is a day for work. The
Seventh-Day Adventist organization puts out a book entitled
The Sunday Law, in which it is suggested that at some

53
point, the United States government will institute a mandated
first-day sabbath. This is already the case in some parts of
Italy. To work on Sunday, you need to acquire a special
permit. A permit from the church saying that you can work on
a day in which the Creator mandates us to work, putting
themselves again at the head of the Creator and seeking to
change times and seasons. The command is quite clear in
Exodus and in Leviticus. Observe the seventh-day Sabbath.
Work for the other six days. That doesn't necessarily mean
servile work, or working at your job for six days. Find
something to work on every day that isn't the Sabbath day. In
this way, the Sabbath will truly be set-apart. Again, according
to the lunar sabbath theory, there can sometimes be more than
six days between Sabbaths. In that case, the verse above with
the words six days work is done would be of little
consequence. Tradition is the death of Truth.

When is Sunset?

The Sabbath is on the day which in English is called

Saturday, and the rules for figuring a day show that
Saturday begins at sunset on Friday. No matter what time of
year it is, what city you are in, or what time the sun sets, the
time between sunset on Friday and sunset on Saturday will
always equal one 24 hour day. The sunset can be as late as
8:30 in the summertime, and as early as 4:30 in the winter,
depending on your location. There is some disagreement as to
when the sun has actually set, signaling the beginning and
ending of the Sabbath. Consider the following definitions.
Sunset - The time of sunset is defined in astronomy as the
moment when the trailing edge (the upper limb) of the sun's
disk disappears below the horizon. The path of light rays from
the setting sun is highly distorted near the horizon because of
atmospheric refraction, making the sunset appear to occur
when the suns disk is already about one diameter below the

54
horizon.

Civil Twilight - Evening civil twilight begins at sunset and

ends when the geometric center of the sun reaches 6 below
the horizon (civil dusk). Civil twilight can also be described
as the limit at which twilight illumination is sufficient, under
clear weather conditions, for terrestrial objects to be clearly
distinguished. At the beginning of morning civil twilight, or
end of evening civil twilight, the horizon is clearly defined
and the brightest stars are visible under clear atmospheric
conditions.

Nautical Twilight - Morning nautical twilight is defined to

begin when the center of the sun is geometrically 12 degrees
below the horizon and to end at sunrise. Evening nautical
twilight is defined to begin at sunset and end when the center
of the sun is 12 degrees below the horizon. In general,
nautical twilight ends when navigation via the horizon at sea
is no longer possible because it is too dark to distinguish
between the sky and the water and acquiring a horizon fix on
a sextant can no longer be done.

Astronomical Twilight - Evening astronomical twilight is

defined to begin at sunset and end when the center of the sun
is 18 degrees below the horizon. From the end of astronomical
twilight in the evening to the beginning of astronomical
twilight in the morning, the sky (away from urban light
pollution) is dark enough for all astronomical observations.

It is Jewish tradition to declare that the sun has set as soon as

the three brightest stars in the sky are able to be seen.
However, the Word is very clear to use marked delineations.
The moon is full when you have a full moon. At any other
time, it is not full. The clear delineation to the end of a day,
[the period when it is light out], is when that which creates the

55
light and has dominion over the day is no longer visible, when
the last visible crest of the sun has fallen out of sight below
the horizon. We are told that the greater light rules the day.
Presence signifies dominion. Therefore, when the sun is no
longer visible above the horizon, it is no longer in power.

The time of sunset in your area will greatly differ from

another area, and is dependent upon more than just time
zones. At times, an obstruction such as a mountain or even
clouds, can make it appear that the sun has set. In all but the
most level of countrysides, or at the top of the tallest peak or
building in your city, it is difficult to get a clear view of the
horizon to know when the sun has set. While, at some point
in the past, and possibly again in the future, an actual witness
was necessary to declare that the sun had set, today we have
tools to tell us exactly when the sun will set in any given area.
You can find the time for sunset in your area by visiting a site
such as weather.com and inputting your zip code.

Shabbat Shalom!

When the sun has set on Friday, the seventh-day Sabbath has
begun. The shofar is blown for the call to assembly. Many
traditions and many doctrines dictate what can and cannot be
done on the Sabbath day. The only thing we care about is what
the bible says, so we're going to visit each verse which
expands the definition of the Sabbath. Much will be
discussed. If you're already aware of the need to keep the
proper Sabbath, you are welcome to skip ahead to page 100,
to the section detailing how we, as the special treasure of ,
can keep the Sabbath today as we are meant to. The first
mention of the Sabbath is, of course, in Genesis 2.

Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day Elohim completed His

work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh

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day from all His work which He had made.

The creator of the universe set the seventh day apart for rest.
The observant reader will note that the word Sabbath is not
used in this verse. However, the term He rested is
translated from the Hebrew word [ H7673] shabbat,
which means both Sabbath and rest. Reading in Hebrew,
you might say that the Creator completed His work and then
Sabbathed on the seventh day. This was the point at which
the Sabbath was instituted. The Sabbath is not directly
mentioned again until after the exodus from Egypt.

Exodus 16:22 And it came to be, on the sixth day, that

they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each
one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told
Moshe.
Exodus 16:23 And he said to them, This is what has
said, Tomorrow is a rest, a Sabbath set-apart to . That
which you bake, bake; and that which you cook, cook. And
lay up for yourselves all that is left over, to keep it until
morning.

Each miraculously gathered a double portion, when a single

portion had been miraculously gathered on the first through
the fifth days. It is important to realize that they had not
deliberately been told to gather double. Consider:

Exodus 16:17 And the children of Israel did so and

gathered, some more, some less.
Exodus 16:18 And they measured it by omers, and he who
gathered much did not have too much, and he who
gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered
according to his need.

It was the gathering of the manna which was prohibited on the

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Sabbath day. On days one through five, some would gather as
much as they wanted, feverishly filling buckets, or taking
their time and gathering less. When measured, it was found
that they had all gathered each according to his need. On the
sixth day, however, each had gathered according to his need
for both the six and seventh days (a double portion), because
the gathering of manna was prohibited on the seventh day.
They had to go to Moshe to have the miracle explained to
them. Again, contrary to lunar sabbath theory, this happened
every sixth day, that they gathered double. Not sometimes the
seventh day, preparing for eight days between Sabbaths.

Exodus 16:29 See, because has given you the

Sabbath, therefore He is giving you bread for two days on
the sixth day. Let each one stay in his place, do not let
anyone go out of his place on the seventh day.

The children of Israel are told to cook and bake the double
portion of manna they had collected on the sixth day, and to
store it until the morning. Many use this as a command not to
cook and bake on the Sabbath, but the Word says no such
thing. It was to be cooked and baked for preservation, as
raw manna apparently spoils overnight. If they did not
cook and bake it, and since it would not be found on the
seventh day, they would be hungry if they did not prepare for
the Sabbath on the sixth day. Nowhere in scripture is it said
that cooking on the Sabbath is forbidden. This will be proven
as we continue. The six day giving of manna and the seventh-
day rest was a time of training for the children of Israel, and to
get them acclimated to depending daily upon the Word of the
Creator for their sustenance. It is to be noted as well, that this
instruction for the Sabbath was given quite some time before
the giving of the ten commandments at Mt. Sinai. It was
given here to remind them of the Sabbath, which had existed
since creation, but had fallen out of memory during Israel's

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sojourn in Egypt. The moedim existed from the beginning;
they were not made up along the way.
Allow me to pause here to explain the term children of
Israel, which is used many times throughout scripture and by
myself in this book. By children of Israel, I simply mean
those who have come out of the bondage of Egypt (or
Babylon, then and now), and have decided to walk in
obedience to . I mean nothing more and nothing less than
that. Those who do the will of the Father are the children of
Israel. If you are not a child of Israel, then the Creator
does not know you and messiah did not come for your benefit.
(Matthew 15:24)

Numbers 15:32 And while the children of Israel were in

the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the
Sabbath day.
Numbers 15:36 And all the congregation brought him
outside the camp and stoned him with stones, as
commanded Moshe, and he died.

We have learned that the gathering of manna and the

gathering of sticks (for whatever purpose) is prohibited on the
Sabbath. I say for whatever purpose because we are not
told why the man was gathering sticks. It could be that he had
wanted to build a fire. It could be that he wanted to offer an
offering, it could be that he was carving tent poles. The
reason does not matter because the gathering itself was
forbidden. To say from this verse alone that building a fire,
offering an sacrifice, or carving tent poles is prohibited on the
Sabbath would be adding to that verse, because we are simply
not told. That information was not necessary to convict the
man, whose sole crime was the gathering. Similarly:

Exodus 23:10 And for six years you are to sow your land,
and shall gather its increase,

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Exodus 23:11 but the seventh year you are to let it rest,
and shall leave it, and the poor of your people shall eat.
And what they leave, the beasts of the field eat. Do the
same with your vineyard and your oliveyard.

The Sabbath day has similar rules to the Sabbath year, or

Shemitah. Nothing is to be gathered in the seventh year,
because a double portion is promised in the sixth. Preparation
must be made in the sixth day for the Sabbath and in the sixth
year for Shemitah. Gathering is prohibited. But it is
ridiculous to say that cooking or building a fire is prohibited
during the Shemitah year. It is the preparatory work, the
gathering, the harvesting, which is prohibited. Both the
Sabbath day and the Shemitah year are based on the faith of
the observer that will provide during those times for his
people.

Matthew 12:1 At that time went through the grain

fields on the Sabbath. And His taught ones were hungry,
and began to pluck heads of grain, to eat.

Matthew 12:7 And if you had known what this means, I

desire compassion and not offering, you would not have
condemned the blameless.
Matthew 12:8 For the Son of Adam is Master of the
Sabbath.

There are many who interpret this message of messiah as

giving permission, or rather of licentiousness, to break the
Sabbath day by gathering food. However, it is written
concerning the feast of unleavened bread that in the first and
seventh days no servile work is to be done, save that every
man must eat. While that phrase is never used in conjunction
with the weekly Sabbath, messiah's actions here infer the
connection. It is not unlawful to glean and gather for

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immediate sustenance on the Sabbath day, just as in the
Shemitah year.

Leviticus 25:6 And the Sabbath of the land shall be to

you for food, for you and your servant, and for your
female servant and your hired servant, and for the
stranger who sojourns with you,
Leviticus 25:7 and for your livestock and the beasts that
are in your land. All its crops are for food.

As well as during the Jubilee year.

Leviticus 25:12 It is a Jubilee, it is set-apart to you. Eat

from the field its crops.

It is permissible to eat directly from the field of that which

grows freely during the Sabbath day, during the Shemitah and
during the Jubilee years. It is not permissible to gather in, to
harvest, to store, or to put by what grows during those times.

Above all else, we are to have faith.

Leviticus 25:20 And since you might say, What do we

eat in the seventh year, since we do not sow nor gather in
our crops?
Leviticus 25:21 Therefore I have commanded My
blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth
the crop for three years.

We have faith that in the sixth day, enough will be gathered

and laid back for our provision on the seventh day. In the
sixth year, enough will be gathered and laid back for our
provision in the seventh year. Just as the children of Israel
learned week after week to depend upon the Creator for their
provision, so we also must learn that nothing has changed, and

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that the Word still has the power to bring itself to pass. For
over two thousand weeks during the time in the wilderness, a
single portion of manna was gathered for five days. A double
portion was gathered on the sixth to last for that and for the
seventh. For more information, see Chapter 10 on Shemitah
year.

The words of messiah show that the Sabbath day is not to be

considered a hardship in which even the immediate fulfillment
of hunger is not allowed. That particular law, that which
states that it is unlawful to gather and eat on the Sabbath day
is not one which is found in the bible, but which is only found
in rabbinic tradition. Messiah was not breaking the law of
Elohim, but the law of men.

Matthew 12:2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to
Him, Look, Your taught ones are doing what is not right
to do on the Sabbath!

They tried to trap him again, and show him to be guilty

according to the law of men - for they were unable to
distinguish between the law of Elohim and the laws of men.
This is the true danger of taking away from or adding to the
Word, because eventually, tradition trumps the Word and the
Way is no longer clear. The Pharisees were expecting
fulfillment of the prophecy of a sinless messiah. In not
knowing the difference between the commandment and the
tradition, they thought that this man was sinning. This is why
they did not recognize him. If they had known the Word and
not their vain traditions, they would have recognized him at
his coming. The same is true today. Those who know a
leavened mixture of the Word and tradition will not be looking
for the correct messiah when he comes. They will not
recognize him. The Jews do not recognize him to this day.
They were looking for a man who would come and teach

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Judaism. They still see him as unfit to be the messiah because
he didn't uphold their traditions when he came. Do you see
why tradition is so dangerous? The messiah does NOT teach
Judaism, but the unleavened Word of .

Matthew 12:10 And see, there was a man having a

withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, Is it right to
heal on the Sabbath? so as to accuse Him.
Matthew 12:11 And He said to them, What man is there
among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on
the Sabbath, shall not take hold of it and lift it out?
Matthew 12:12 How much more worth is a man than a
sheep! So it is right to do good on the Sabbath.
Matthew 12:13 Then He said to the man, Stretch out
your hand. And he stretched it out, and it was restored,
as healthy as the other.

Again, this is not permission to work on the Sabbath day.

This is illustrative of the distinction between the law of the
Creator, called Torah, and the laws of men. We must be very
careful not to add to the Word. To say that something is
prohibited on the Sabbath day when it is not prohibited by the
Word makes one a judge of the Word, a role which no man is
fit to hold. Had the Pharisees been able to show messiah a
single line of a Torah scroll which prohibits gathering wheat
or healing the lame on the Sabbath day, they would have been
correct in their attempted persecution of him.

He told his accusers that his healing of the lame man was no
more unlawful than the rescuing of a beast from a pit, a thing
which certainly had never been proclaimed as unlawful and
was indeed good to do at any time, even on the Sabbath day.
It is to be remembered that the words So it is right to do good
on the Sabbath are not open to private interpretation. No
man can tell you what is good, only my Father in heaven!

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(Mark 10:18) If the Word says don't do it, then it cannot be
done. If the Word makes no mention of a thing, then it is
adding to the Word to say that a thing is unlawful. A good
example of this would be sexual intercourse. While we are at
all times to guard against uncleanness, there is no law which
states that the children of Israel are to abstain from sex on the
Sabbath day. It is simply not disallowed, though the typical
rules for ritual cleanness should be observed at all times.
There are certainly groups and doctrines which would have
you believe that sexual intercourse is not to be practiced on
the Sabbath day, but those groups have added the doctrines of
men to the Word of Elohim. The Book of Jubilees, 50:8
suggests that sexual intercourse on the Sabbath is against
Torah, but that is adding to the Word. There are times and
places, however, where such acts are discouraged.

Keep it Clean

Exodus 19:15 And he said to the people, Be prepared by

the third day. Do not come near a wife.

At the base of Mt. Sinai, they were told to set themselves

apart against (in preparation for) the third day, when Elohim
would join them in marriage. They were to be ritually
clean. This will be visited again in the Chapters 6 and 12
about Shavuot and a Hebrew Wedding, respectively.

Numbers 9:6 But there were men who were defiled for a
being of a man, so that they were not able to perform the
Passover on that day. So they came before Moshe and
Aharon that day,
Numbers 9:7 and those men said to him, We are defiled
for the being of a man. Why are we withheld from
bringing near the offering of at its appointed time
among the children of Israel?

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Numbers 9:8 And Moshe said to them, Wait, let me hear
what commands concerning you.
Numbers 9:9 And spoke to Moshe, saying,
Numbers 9:10 Speak to the children of Israel, saying,
When any male of you or your generations is unclean for
a being, or is far away on a journey, he shall still perform
the Passover of .

Alternate instructions for the observance of Passover are then

given. This will be explored in greater depth in Chapter 3 on
Passover. Our purpose here in the chapter about the Sabbath
was to show that there are times when the ritual uncleanness
caused by sexual acts are prohibited. Another example:

Leviticus 15:16 And when a man has an emission of

semen, then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be
unclean until evening.

While the bible makes very clear and unabashed mention of

these events, none of them is explicitly prohibited on the
Sabbath day. To prohibit them would be to add to the Word.

The Word is forever. The Sabbath was instituted on the very

first seventh day and was subsequently lost to antiquity (not
for the last time), only to be remembered and re-taught to the
children of Israel in the wilderness. They were given an
explanation for the miracle of the double portion of gathered
manna, and for forty years were trained regarding the Sabbath
and its keeping.

Exodus 16:30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

It is interesting to remember that the command to observe the

Sabbath day was instituted, forgotten, remembered, and was
back in practice before the giving of the ten commandments.

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The Sabbath day, as with the other moedim, are foundational
covenant statutes, and are above and apart from the law
and the judgments, having existed since the beginning.
Remember that the covenant existed between and Adam
in the garden, but the laws and judgments for the sins of men
against men did not come until after sin entered the world.
Therefore, the Sabbath and the other moedim, and their
commanded observances, takes precedence over those things
(such as the law and the judgments) which came later. It
exists on a different plane, if you will, and independently from
other commandments which would appear to countermand the
Sabbath. For example, the command for circumcision. A male
child must be circumcised on his eighth day. Is it breaking the
Sabbath for a mohel or a surgeon to perform that ritual, even if
the child's eighth day happens to fall on a Sabbath? What did
messiah say?

Matthew 12:5 Or did you not read in the Torah that on

the Sabbath the priests in the Set-apart Place profane the
Sabbath, and are blameless?
Matthew 12:6 But I say to you that in this place there is
One greater than the Set-apart Place.

The Creator's plan and promise of the millennial reign at the

end of six days would be diminished if common tasks and
daily rituals could compromise the perfection of those things.

Is it then against the Sabbath to perform that which is required

to maintain life? The answer is no. Circumcision, the work
of healing, the work of the Levitical priests, even the
marching of the congregation around the city of Yericho,
because those things were commanded by Elohim, are not acts
which break the Sabbath. He could not command us to sin,
not ever. Therefore, nothing He ever commanded to be done,
which could possibly and practically have fallen on a Sabbath

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day, goes against the Word. It is not possible to obey one
command at the expense of breaking another. That is chaos!

Exodus 16:30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

I wanted to visit that verse again because of the simplicity of

it. In the Hebrew, that verse consists of four words. Rested
people day seven. They did what they were told to do! It is
beautiful.

We are told again about the need to observe the Sabbath when
Moshe descended Sinai with the ten commandments,
matters, or words, which he had received from Elohim.

Exodus 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day, to set it apart.

Exodus 20:9 Six days you labor, and shall do all your
work,
Exodus 20:10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath of
your Elohim. You do not do any work you, nor your son,
nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female
servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within
your gates.
Exodus 20:11 For in six days made the heavens and
the Earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the
seventh day. Therefore blessed the Sabbath day and
set it apart.

Coming in at four verses, this is by far the longest and most

explained of the ten commandments. It is the only
commandment which comes with the instruction to remember
it. It must be very important if we are told to remember it.
Since the children of Israel had previously forgotten it, the
word remember was a fitting addition. Unfortunately, it is
so often forgotten today. Six days we are to labor and do all
of our work. If you observe a day of complete rest on any

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other day but the Sabbath day, you are breaking the fourth
commandment because you should be working that day. You
are to abstain from work, as well as to maintain and ordain the
rest of those within your power to command - your son, your
daughter, your servants male and female, your beasts of
burden, even the dependent stranger who dwells with you.
None of them are to work for you, or to work for themselves,
within your realm of influence. You are responsible for
providing that time for their rest, even if they are slaves or
beasts, that rest is there for them as well. Denying them that
rest is equal to breaking the Sabbath yourself. Causing others
to work because of your own actions is included in this
command, as those people would be resting if not for those
who break the Sabbath. Going out to eat, purchasing things,
in any way causing any man, woman, child, or beast to work
for your benefit or increase, is violating the Sabbath day. We
are reminded in v. 11 that even is not above the Sabbath
day, as He Himself rested on that day. None of us above His
command.

It is Jewish tradition to employ a shabbos goy, literally a

gentile who works for you on the Sabbath. The idea is that
since this gentile is not bound by the Sabbath, no harm is
being done. This could not be further from the truth.

Matthew 5:19 Whoever, then, breaks one of the least of

these commands, and teaches men so, shall be called least
in the reign of the heavens; but whoever does and teaches
them, he shall be called great in the reign of the heavens.

The children of Israel are to be a light to the nations, to the

gentiles, to the non believers. (It should be stated here that the
bible considers gentiles to be synonymous with non
believers. There is absolutely no such thing as a gentile
believer. Either you are a child of Israel or you are a gentile.

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If you call yourself a gentile, you really want to examine your
doctrine. Gentile is a four letter word, as they say, and you
don't want to be one; there is no pride in that title). In what
way does the principal of a shabbos goy shine the light of
the Word upon the gentiles? Instead, it teaches them to break
the Sabbath. It is tantamount to placing a stumbling block
before the blind (Leviticus 19:14), causing them to err. It is
the employer of such a gentile who will reap multiple just
rewards for his actions, in causing the stranger within his
employ to break the Sabbath day, in teaching him that the
Sabbath can be so easily broken in spite of the Creator's Word
of its import, in being so proud as to presume that he is doing
justly, and keeping the light of the Word under the proverbial
basket (Matthew 5:15), guarding it solely for his own benefit
when it suits him.

Traditions and the Sabbath

Mark 7:9 And He said to them, Well do you set aside the
command of Elohim, in order to guard your tradition.

The tribe of Judah assumes that it owns the Sabbath day, and
can treat it as is befitting of its own traditions. Yet says
that it is HIS day of rest. As the primary group of Sabbath-
keepers extant, and as those who presume themselves to be
charged with the role of being a light to the nations, the
members of the religion of Judaism do a very poor job of
keeping the Sabbath day and have added many of their own
traditions to the Word. Though there are many sects of
Judaism, and many differing traditions for the keeping of the
Sabbath, there is only one Torah of and one very clear set
of instructions for keeping the Sabbath. Those who would
claim to be knowledgeable of its keeping destroy it with their
actions in the following ways.

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 The pre-tearing of toilet paper on the sixth day
Abstention from ringing a door bell, because the
spark is kindling a fire
Creating legislation determining the proper distances
which may be traveled
Tying around themselves and their surroundings ropes
which preclude them from observance, as a player would call
time out in a child's game
Refraining from carrying any items at all in pockets
Making it illegal to do any writing of any kind
Keeping private businesses open through the work of
gentiles, shabbos goyim, or non-observant Jews

In keeping sabbath in the way which most pleases them,

and in breaking it according to the authority of their own
traditions, such observers do little more than mock the weight
and importance of the Sabbath day. This incomplete list of
abominations is entirely contrary to the Word, as well as to the
intent of the Sabbath day. These are the types of traditions
and laws against which messiah taught, causing such hatred
and loathing among the Pharisees of his time. This leavening
of the Pharisees (Matthew 16:6), the addition of the doctrines
of men to the pure Word of , is what messiah warned his
taught-ones to beware of and to abandon in order to keep the
Way according ONLY to the Word. So must we also examine
ONLY the Word in determining the proper way to keep the
Sabbath day set apart. Do not be dragged into the ditch by
those who make up their own laws and are unable to tell the
Creator's Word from the words of their traditions and elders,
after whom they whore. (Leviticus 17:7, Exodus 34:15,
Deuteronomy 31:16)

Exodus 31:12 And spoke to Moshe, saying,

Exodus 31:13 And you, speak to the children of Israel,
saying, My Sabbaths you are to guard, by all means, for it

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is a sign between Me and you throughout your
generations, to know that I, , am setting you apart.

Ezekiel 20:12 And I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a

sign between them and Me, to know that I am who
sets them apart.
Ezekiel 20:20 And set apart My Sabbaths, and they shall
be a sign between Me and you, to know that I am your
Elohim.

The Sabbaths and the other moedim are the only signs
between the Creator and His people, the only way for Him to
determine who is His, a mark upon the hands and foreheads of
His own. (Ezekiel 9:4) And what did they do instead?

Ezekiel 20:21 But the children rebelled against Me. They

did not walk in My laws, and My right-rulings they did
not guard to do them, which, if a man does, he shall live by
them. They profaned My Sabbaths, so I resolved to pour
out My wrath on them to complete My displeasure against
them in the wilderness.

How do they profane His Sabbaths? See the list above.

Isaiah 1:13 Stop bringing futile offerings, incense, it is an

abomination to Me. New Moons, Sabbaths, the calling of
meetings I am unable to bear unrighteousness and
assembly.
Isaiah 1:14 My being hates your New Moons and your
appointed times, they are a trouble to Me, I am weary of
bearing them.

Those who profane His Sabbaths are hated by , in their

futile efforts to please Him through their own inventions. He
told us how to observe, how to obey, how to keep, how to

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guard, how to maintain, how to worship, and yet it seems that
the children of Israel forgot what He said, loving instead their
own words. I would call you to remember His Word, and to
turn back in obedience to it!

Exodus 31:14 And you shall guard the Sabbath, for it is

set-apart to you. Everyone who profanes it shall certainly
be put to death, for anyone who does work on it, that being
shall be cut off from among his people.
Exodus 31:15 Six days work is done, and on the seventh
is a Sabbath of rest, set-apart to . Everyone doing work
on the Sabbath day shall certainly be put to death.
Exodus 31:16 And the children of Israel shall guard the
Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their
generations as an everlasting covenant.
Exodus 31:17 Between Me and the children of Israel it is
a sign forever. For in six days made the heavens and
the Earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was
refreshed.
Where There's Smoke...

Let us now visit one of the most commonly misunderstood

and incorrectly taught Sabbath-related verses.

Exodus 35:3 Do not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings

on the Sabbath day.
For this verse, we must look at the Hebrew:

Remember that Hebrew is written and read from right to left.

The first word is lo, meaning do not. That second word is
teba'aru meaning consume [also eaten, burnt,
wasted, put away, take away] (with an implied you in
front of the word). The next word is fire, and then in any

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[all, total, altogether, every, as many as, whatsoever]. The
next word is a game changer, and we'll come back to it. The
last two words are seventh day. So we have so far: Do not
you consume [eat, burn, waste, put away, take away] with fire
in any of ____________ on the seventh day.

There are many words used in Hebrew for the idea of a tent,
home, house, hut, tabernacle, shack, cabin, cave, etc. The
Hebrew word we have left in this verse to identify is [H4186]
moshab. It appears over forty times in the old testament
and is translated into the following English words: dwelling,
habitation, sojourning, seat, sitting, situation of, assembly,
inhabited places. What basic underlying idea unites these
words? In whatever place you find yourself or happen to be
or anywhere. So we have translated this verse to say, Do
not consume [eat, burn, waste, put away, take away] with fire
anywhere that you are [dwell, inhabit, sojourn, sit, assemble]
on the seventh day. Now we're getting somewhere. Consider
the following.

Leviticus 1:11 And he shall slaughter it on the north side

of the altar before . And the sons of Aharon, the
priests, shall sprinkle its blood on the altar all around.

There was only one place which was set apart to offer a burnt
offering. It was on the north side of the altar, which was
before the tabernacle of meeting.

Leviticus 17:3 Any man from the house of Israel who

slaughters a bull or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or who
slaughters it outside the camp,
Leviticus 17:4 and does not bring it to the door of the Tent
of Meeting, to bring an offering to before the Dwelling
Place of , blood-guilt is reckoned to that man. He has
shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his

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people,
Leviticus 17:5 in order that the children of Israel bring
their slaughterings which they slaughter in the open field.
And they shall bring them to at the door of the Tent of
meeting, to the priest, and slaughter them as peace
offerings to .

The Word is very clear that nowhere is an offering to be made

except before the Tent of Meeting, before the priest. Exodus
35:3 is not talking about building a fire to keep warm or to
make a pot of tea. It is talking about offering a sacrifice in
any place on the Sabbath day. You are not to consume by fire
a burnt offering in any place where you are on the Sabbath
day. The children of Israel had learned to offer sacrifices to
the Egyptian gods at any time, wherever they were. is
here telling them that on the set apart day, contrary to what
they learned while in exile, they are not to offer a burnt
offering in any of their places. However, it was acceptable to
offer an offering in the correct place on the Sabbath day. A
correct offering is to be consumed with fire, even on the
Sabbath day.

Numbers 28:9 And on the Sabbath day two lambs a year

old, perfect ones, and two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour
as a grain offering, mixed with oil, with its drink offering,
Numbers 28:10 the burnt offering for every Sabbath,
besides the continual burnt offering with its drink
offering.

If it was against the law to consume an offering by fire in any

place where you happened to be, would Numbers 28 not be
instructing us to break that law? This was a weekly offering
to be made in addition to the daily offering, in the proper
place, to the north of the altar of offering which is in front (to
the east) of the tent of meeting. The command to not kindle

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a fire in your habitation on the Sabbath day has nothing to do
with preparing a meal or making a fire to get warm, and
everything to do with the proper time, place, and procedure
for offering a burnt offering to .

Consider one more proof. There are times when the children
of Israel are instructed to make fire.

Exodus 12:10 And do not leave of it until morning, and

what remains of it until morning you are to burn with fire.

The remains of the Passover meal were to be burned with fire.

This was not a community event, taking place before the tent
of meeting. This was a personal event, taking place in the
home or between two small homes (or whatever small group
was necessary to consume a single male lamb or goat of the
first year for the paschal offering). What if the morning in
question happened to fall on the Sabbath? Would have us
to be confused as to which command to break? Should we
obey the command to not build that fire on the Sabbath day?
Or should we obey the command to consume the remnant
with fire? Because you cannot obey both if your
understanding prevents you from creating fire in your
dwelling place on the Sabbath day. We are not to pick and
choose. We are to seek wisdom in these things, and to rightly
divide truth from untruth. Do not offer a burnt offering in any
place other than the one prescribed by the Creator. There is no
command against eating or keeping warm on the Sabbath day.
To say that there is would be adding to the Word.

It should be said here that since the death of messiah, there is

no longer any need for the blood of beasts to atone for sin.
Nor is there a need today for the many other blood offerings
spoken of and commanded in Torah. To practice animal
sacrifice today is to deny the atoning blood of the Anointed

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One, which was given as the complete removal for sin. Even
if the blood of animals was required today, the only place fit
to offer it would be north of the altar of burnt offerings in
front of the tent of meeting, located in the place which has
chosen to put His name. No such place exists at this time, and
it is not the responsibility of men to simply pick a place of
their own choosing. More information about the cessation of
animal sacrifices and their need will be given in Chapter 3 on
Passover.
Which Days are Which?

Several of the moedim of Leviticus 23 are called Sabbath

days, days of rest, or days in which no servile work is to
be done. Those days will each be expanded upon in their
respective chapters, but here is a list of the days which are
declared by the Creator to be set apart without work.

The seventh-day Sabbath is a day of rest, no work may be

done:

Leviticus 23:3 Six days work is done, but the seventh day
is a Sabbath of rest, a set-apart gathering. You do no work,
it is a Sabbath to in all your dwellings.

Pasach, The Passover, the fourteenth day of the first month, is

not a day of rest.

The first day of Unleavened Bread is a day of rest in which no

servile work may be done:

Leviticus 23:6 And on the fifteenth day of this month is

the Festival of Unleavened Bread to seven days you
eat unleavened bread.
Leviticus 23:7 On the first day you have a set-apart
gathering, you do no servile work.

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Yom Habikkurim, The Feast of First Fruits is not a day of rest.

The seventh day of Unleavened Bread is a day of rest in

which no servile work may be done:

Leviticus 23:8 And you shall bring an offering made by

fire to for seven days. On the seventh day is a set-
apart gathering, you do no servile work.

Shavuot, or Pentecost is a day of rest in which no servile work

may be done:

Leviticus 23:21 And on this same day you shall proclaim

a set-apart gathering for yourselves, you do no servile
work on it a law forever in all your dwellings throughout
your generations.

Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets, the first day of the

seventh month, is a day of rest in which no servile work may
be done:

Leviticus 23:25 You do no servile work, and you shall

bring an offering made by fire to .

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the tenth day of the

seventh month, is a day of complete rest in which no work
may be done:

Leviticus 23:28 And you do no work on that same day,

for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you
before your Elohim.
Leviticus 23:32 It is a Sabbath of rest to you, and you
shall afflict your beings. On the ninth day of the month at
evening, from evening to evening, you observe your
Sabbath.

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The first day of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, the fifteenth
day of the seventh month, is a day of rest in which no servile
work may be done:

Leviticus 23:35 On the first day is a set-apart gathering,

you do no servile work.

The seventh day of Sukkot is not a day of rest.

The eighth day, Shimini Atzeret [eighth day of assembly] is a

day of rest in which no servile work may be done:

Leviticus 23:36 For seven days you bring an offering

made by fire to . On the eighth day there shall be a set-
apart gathering for you, and you shall bring an offering
made by fire to . It is a closing festival, you do no
servile work.

Other than these days every year, the weekly Sabbath and
these six special Sabbaths, there are no prescribed Sabbath
days or days of rest. The addition of any extra rest days, or
the removal of any of those listed in Leviticus 23, would be
adding to or taking away from the Word.

The Sabbath day was the day on which new unleavened bread
was brought to the table of showbread in the tent of meeting.
In Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews 3:10:7, he suggests that it
was made fresh on Friday before the Sabbath. To this day,
there is no certainty as to the purpose of that bread. There is
much apparent symbolism, but no readily-available
explanation for the physical manifestation of the bread. Even
the rabbinic sages, who are quick to invent tradition, admit
they have no idea. Yet it was so important that it was an
everlasting covenant (for the now superseded Levitical
priesthood) and was deemed necessary work for the High

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Priest and his sons on the Sabbath day.

Leviticus 24:8 On every Sabbath he is to arrange it

before continually, from the children of Israel an
everlasting covenant.
Leviticus 24:9 And it shall be for Aharon and his sons,
and they shall eat it in the set-apart place, because it is
most set-apart to him from the offerings of made by
fire an everlasting law.

Let Them Eat Bread

It is important here to re-visit what messiah said in response to

the Pharisees who had accused him of doing what was
unlawful on the Sabbath day. He mentioned David and the
showbread in the same breath with the Sabbath.

Matthew 12:2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to
Him, Look, Your taught ones are doing what is not right
to do on the Sabbath!
Matthew 12:3 But He said to them, Have you not read
what David did when he was hungry, he and those who
were with him:
Matthew 12:4 how he went into the House of Elohim and
ate the showbread which was not right for him to eat, nor
for those who were with him, but only for the priests?

What did messiah mean by this? Consider that he was

explaining to a group of Pharisees how their traditions flew in
the face of the Torah, and how they assumed that laws were
being broken because of their long-held beliefs. Messiah was
saying that contrary to their traditions, it was not against Torah
for David and his men to eat the bread. Nowhere in the law
does it say that the bread is only for the High Priest and his
sons; they are simply the only ones who were ever instructed

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to eat it. Let us examine. Does it sound as if David stole the
bread?
1 Samuel 21:3 And now, what do you have on hand?
Give five loaves into my hand, or whatever is found.
1 Samuel 21:4 And the priest answered David and said,
There is no ordinary bread on hand, but there is set-
apart bread provided the young men have kept
themselves from women.
1 Samuel 21:5 And David answered the priest, and said to
him, Truly, women have been kept from us about three
days since I came out. And the vessels of the young men
are set-apart, and it is an ordinary mission, and also, it
was set-apart in the vessel today.
1 Samuel 21:6 Then the priest gave him set-apart bread,
for there was no bread there except the showbread which
had been taken from before , in order to put hot bread
in on the day it is taken away.

This bread was certainly not stolen! It was given to him by a

priest with the authority to give it. Certainly the priest knew
the law. Messiah was saying that he and his men had not
sinned in gathering and eating on the Sabbath day, just as
David and his men had not sinned in eating the showbread.
The Pharisees were unable to rightly divide the law of
from the laws of men, and they persecuted the innocent.

Though the purpose and need for the showbread has been lost
to antiquity, the fact of its relationship to the Sabbath as it was
shown both in Torah and by the words of messiah is quite
clear.
Rest of the Land

The need for a Sabbath of rest was not just for , for men
and for beasts. It was also needed by the land.

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Leviticus 25:2 Speak to the children of Israel, and say to
them, When you come into the land which I give you,
then the land shall observe a Sabbath to .

Much more information will be given in Chapter 10 on

Shemitah year. Let it suffice here to say that the same Hebrew
word for Sabbath, ( Shabbat), which was observed by
, reminded to the children of Israel in the wilderness, and
is listed as an appointed time in Leviticus 23, is used here for
the land. This is a picture of not only the seventh-day
Sabbath, but of the seventh millennial year, called all-
Shabbat. The seventh-year Shemitah can also be seen as a
perfect representation of the cycle of 7s, and the perfection of
the Sabbath day. Much like the Sabbath day, the Shemitah
year of rest occurs every seven years; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
Shemitah. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Shemitah, and on and on. It is
irrespective of the phase of the moon, just like the Sabbath
day. There are never more than six years between years of
land rest. Not sometimes eight or sometimes nine years.
There are no uncounted years. This is a perfect cycle,
which mirrors the perfect cycle of the Sabbath day. The
Shemitah year was never changed to the first year in the cycle,
nor is it observed on the eighth, fifteenth, twenty-first, or
twenty-eighth years of the Jubilee cycle. The idea here, as
with the Sabbath day, is perfect sevens.

Look how closely the following verses about the Sabbath

(Shemitah) year mirrors the verses regarding the Sabbath day.

Leviticus 25:6 And the Sabbath of the land shall be to

you for food, for you and your servant, and for your
female servant and your hired servant, and for the
stranger who sojourns with you,
Leviticus 25:7 and for your livestock and the beasts that
are in your land. All its crops are for food.

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Deuteronomy 5:14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath of
your Elohim. You do not do any work you, nor your
son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your
female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of
your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, so
that your male servant and your female servant rest as you
do.

As the Sabbath day is a day of rest to provide for life, so the

Sabbath year is a year of rest to provide for life (food). As
you may walk through a field of wheat on the Sabbath day
and eat (but not gather), so may you also walk through a field
of wild or volunteer wheat in the Sabbath year and eat (but
not gather). Each is a picture of the other, and each is
provided toward the same end - instructions for having life.
These institutions are not only to provide life for the children
of Israel, but for their progeny, servants, animals, and even the
non-believer within their influence.

Deuteronomy 5:15 And you shall remember that you

were a slave in the land of Mitsrayim, and that your
Elohim brought you out from there by a strong hand and
by an outstretched arm. Therefore your Elohim
commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

We are commanded to remember that though the children of

Israel were enslaved and prevented from keeping the Sabbath,
they were brought out by the power of so that they could
keep it themselves and to allow even their own slaves and
servants the ability to keep it as well.

Though it is often mentioned throughout the rest of the old

testament and the new, the above verses are the last which
directly reference the Sabbath day in the Torah of Moshe, and
they are prefaced with one final exhortation:

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Deuteronomy 5:12 Guard the Sabbath day, to set it
apart, as your Elohim commanded you.

We are commanded to guard it. That Hebrew word guard is

[ H8104] Shamar and it means to hedge about as with
thorns, protect, attend to, keep, take heed,
observe, wait for. We are told not only to remember that
day, but to wait for it, to protect it when it comes, and to set it
apart from the other days.

Let us look at a few other places where the Sabbath day was
mentioned in the prophets and in the writings of the old
testament.

2 Kings 4:22 And she called to her husband, and said,

Please send me one of the young men and one of the
donkeys, so that I hurry to the man of Elohim and
return.
2 Kings 4:23 And he said, Why are you going to him
today? It is neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath. And
she said, It is well!

Apparently it was this woman's habit to go to the man of

Elohim, Elisha, on the New Moon and on the Sabbath day,
possibly to inquire of and to learn from him. It is good to
follow her example!

2 Kings 11:5 And he commanded them, saying, This is

what you are to do: One-third of you who come in on the
Sabbath to be on guard in the sovereigns house,

Here, the Sabbath is still being kept, many years after the
death of David.

1 Chronicles 9:32 And some of their brothers of the sons

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of the Kohathites were over the showbread, to prepare
every Sabbath.

This injunction is still being performed hundreds and

hundreds of years after it was given in the wilderness, and still
by the Kohathites, the sons of Kohath, the son of Levi.

2 Chronicles 36:20 And those who escaped from the

sword he exiled to Babel, where they became servants to
him and his sons until the reign of the reign of Persia,
2 Chronicles 36:21 in order to fill the word of by the
mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her
Sabbaths. As long as she lay waste she kept Sabbath, until
seventy years were completed.

For 490 years, the children of Israel had not let the land rest in
the seventh year. And having become servants in a foreign
land, their own land lay waste for 70 years, the exact number
of seventh year Sabbaths which went wanting over their 490
year time of apostasy. The land will have its rest!

Nehemiah 9:14 And You made known to them Your set-

apart Sabbath, and You commanded them commands and
laws and Torot (plural of Torah), by the hand of Moshe
Your servant.

The two southern tribes, Benyamin and Judah, having

returned from captivity in Babylon, are rebuilding their city
and are being taught by the Levites from the book of the
Torah. The need for the Creator's set-apart Sabbath is
remembered.

Nehemiah 10:31 and that if the peoples of the land bring

wares or any grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we would
not buy it from them on the Sabbath, or on a set-apart

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day, and we would forgo the seventh year and the interest
of every hand.

This is instruction for us today. Though the nations of the

world around us bring and buy and sell on the Sabbath day,
we do not buy from them on that day, or on any of the set-
apart days or appointed times. We will keep the Sabbath and
the appointed days of because we are His chosen people,
and we remember the covenant!

Nehemiah 13:15 In those days I saw in Yehudah those

treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in
sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, and figs,
and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into
Yerushalayim on the Sabbath day. So I warned them on
the day they sold food.
Nehemiah 13:16 And men of Tsor dwelt there, bringing in
fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath
to the children of Yehudah, and in Yerushalayim.
Nehemiah 13:17 Then I contended with the nobles of
Yehudah, and said to them, What evil matter is this that
you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day?
Nehemiah 13:18 Did not your fathers do the same so that
our Elohim brought all this evil on us and on this city? Yet
you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the
Sabbath.
Nehemiah 13:19 And it came to be, at the gates of
Yerushalayim, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath,
that I commanded the gates to be shut, and commanded
that they should not be opened till after the Sabbath. And
I stationed some of my servants at the gates, so that no
burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day.
Nehemiah 13:20 And the merchants and sellers of all
kinds of wares spent the night outside Yerushalayim once
or twice,

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Nehemiah 13:21 and I warned them, and said to them,
Why do you spend the night around the wall? If you do
so again, I lay hands on you! From that time on they
came no more on the Sabbath.
Nehemiah 13:22 And I commanded the Levites that they
should cleanse themselves, and they should come,
guarding the gates, to set apart the Sabbath day.
Remember me, O my Elohim, concerning this also, and
pardon me according to the greatness of Your kindness!

This long passage reminds us of the importance even then,

several hundred years before the coming of messiah, of
keeping the Sabbath properly, and by not buying or selling or
burdening beasts on that day. Against this stack of evidence,
how could it even be suggested that the Sabbath was changed
or done away with? We are reminded not to tread wine
presses, bring in sheaves, to load beasts with burdens, to bring
things into the city for sale. These things profane the Sabbath!
It became necessary for righteous men to guard, to hedge
about the Sabbath and even the city to set the day apart.

Isaiah 56:2 Blessed is the man who does this, and the son
of man who lays hold on it, guarding the Sabbath lest he
profane it, and guarding his hand from doing any evil.

Isaiah 58:13 If you do turn back your foot from the

Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My set-apart day,
and shall call the Sabbath a delight, the set-apart day of
esteemed, and shall esteem it, not doing your own
ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your
own words,

Isaiah 66:22 For as the new heavens and the new Earth
that I make stand before Me, declares , so your seed
and your name shall stand.

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Isaiah 66:23 And it shall be that from New Moon to New
Moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come
to worship before Me, declares .

Now look here. This is a prophecy of the end of days. The

new heavens and the new Earth have been made and the New
Moon and the Sabbath is still being observed. From the
beginning of time to the vanishing point, the Sabbath is a set-
apart day to . Those who are not comfortable keeping the
Sabbath today will not be comfortable keeping it in the New
City. I daresay they probably won't be there at all.

Jeremiah 17:21 Thus said , Guard yourselves, and

bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the
gates of Yerushalayim,
Jeremiah 17:22 nor take a burden out of your houses on
the Sabbath day, nor do any work. And you shall set apart
the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.

The need for the Sabbath is being taught in the time of the
prophet Jeremiah. Warnings are given should it be forgotten:

Jeremiah 17:27 But if you do not obey Me to set apart

the Sabbath day, and not to bear a burden when entering
the gates of Yerushalayim on the Sabbath day, then I shall
kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall consume the palaces
of Yerushalayim, and not be quenched.

No argument can stand against the Sabbath. It is commanded

and upheld throughout the scriptures, and is never diminished
or done away with.

Ezekiel 46:1 Thus said the Master , The gate of the

inner courtyard facing east is shut the six days of work,
but on the Sabbath it is opened, and on the day of the New

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Moon it is opened.
Ezekiel 46:3 And the people of the land shall also bow
themselves at the entrance to this gate before , on the
Sabbaths and on the New Moons.

Just as with the woman who went to speak with Elisha, it was
customary for the people to seek on the new moon and on
the Sabbath. The door to the courtyard was closed on all other
days. Notice that even still, the non-Sabbath days are called
the six days of work. It is expected that work be done on
these six days. (Not sometimes seven or eight days) They
were to observe the Sabbath day and the New Moon and to
bow themselves before (the true meaning of the word
worship - to make themselves low before) the Creator.

Amos 8:5 saying, When does the New Moon pass so that
we sell grain, and the Sabbath so that we trade our wheat,
to make the ephah small and the shekel large, and to
falsify the scales by deceit,

These words of the wicked mark the last mention of the

Sabbath in the old testament, and it is not mentioned again
until the story of messiah and his men gathering and eating
wheat in the field. How fitting that the last mention should be
the words of the wicked, who are aware of but labor against
their feelings of being oppressed by the set-apart day of .
These are people who do not call the Sabbath a delight (Isaiah
58:13), do not esteem that day, and speak their own words
against it. May we not be like them, thinking our own
thoughts on that day. May we always remember that day, call
it a delight, and keep it set apart. As we have already
discussed the story of messiah and the wheat, let us skip ahead
into the new testament commentary regarding the Sabbath
day.

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 Nothing New Under the Sun

Matthew 24:20 And pray that your flight does not take
place in winter or on the Sabbath.

This verse is in reference to the abomination that lays waste,

spoken of by Daniel the prophet. There are various schools of
thought as to what time this is talking about, but that is
beyond the scope of this book. We will use that verse here to
discuss the idea that a flight, escape or travel is a task
which is undesirable on the Sabbath day, or even in the
Sabbatical year (Shemitah). Consider the following verse:

Exodus 16:29 See, because has given you the

Sabbath, therefore He is giving you bread for two days on
the sixth day. Let each one stay in his place, do not let
anyone go out of his place on the seventh day.

They were told to not go out of their place on the Sabbath.

That word place means locality, space, room,
country, home, etc, and not necessarily house or dwelling.
Consider that at its largest, the camp of the children of Israel
may have been miles across. With over 600,000 men of
fighting age, as well as those younger and older, as well as
women and children, the children of Israel must have equaled
a group into the millions. For the sake of argument, we'll say
that it was only 1.5 million, and that's a very conservative
estimate. Consider that 1.5 million is the approximate
population of Detroit, Boston, and Tampa put together.
Needless to say, this was not a small encampment. Travel
from the outermost tents to the tabernacle, which was
certainly allowed on the Sabbath, would not have been a
quick walk. It may have been miles and miles. Picture the
encampment in your mind. Liken it to a city. There are tents
for housing, tents for food and dry goods storage. There are

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roads, not just for walking but for the moving of large carts
full of animals, food, whatever supplies were demanded by
the logistics of the encampment in one site or another. The
roads were likely wide enough to allow for dual
carriageway travel; an oxcart headed in each direction with
room to spare to avoid destroying tents. It was likely laid out
in approximately the same configuration at each campsite, not
just for ease of the community but because of practice and
practicality over forty years' time. It was likely and
reasonable that travel within the encampment was allowed on
the Sabbath, to bring in offerings and to inquire of at the
Tent of Meeting.

Likewise today, we each travel to our assembly or meeting

place. It has always been the case that the people go to hear
the Word on the Sabbath. Whether it was people going to
hear messiah read in the synagogue or the woman whose
husband asked of her why she was going to see Elisha, seeing
as how it was neither the new moon nor the Sabbath.

It is said that the city of Jericho was about six acres in size.
The information available today may not be entirely accurate,
as to the size, location or layout of the original city of Jericho.
Let us say for the sake of argument that it was ten acres in
size. The local park in my community is ten acres square, and
there's a sidewalk all the way around it. It is no more than 1/8
of a mile on a side, and to walk comfortably around it takes no
more than twelve to fifteen minutes. That must certainly have
been only a fraction of the size of the encampment of the
children of Israel in the wilderness. If you could camp two
thousand people in a ten acre park, which sounds about right,
1.5 million people would be in an encampment approximately
12 miles on a side. Yet the marching of the people around the
city of Jericho for seven days is often used as an example as
to why none of those days could have included a Sabbath

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(lunar sabbath theory), for commandments against traveling
on the Sabbath.

To come right down to it, there is no commandment which

says not to travel at all on the Sabbath. There are rabbinic
laws, which have changed through time, which presume to
govern such things. Yet simply discussing the unknown
details of the topic prove that there is no hard and fast rule
presented anywhere in Torah, or indeed in the rest of the bible,
which are unchanging and were laid down as a commandment
to the children of Israel. My wife and I often walk our dogs
around the park shortly after sunset just as the Sabbath has
started. I don't believe that the walk to the park, and encircling
around the ten acres contained there and back to the house
again would be considered breaking the Sabbath, considering
the legal travel distances necessary and mandated within an
area the size of an encampment of 1.5 million people. It has
been suggested to me that longer distances are permissible,
though such suggestions have never come with scripture to
back them up. To set a fixed distance which is acceptable to
be walked or driven on the Sabbath would be to add to the
Word.

While not a weekly Sabbath day, let us not forget that the
children of Israel left Egypt on the first day of Unleavened
Bread, a day in which we are told to do no servile work.
Their flight from Egypt may be prophetic of the flight of the
chosen people of during the time of the abomination
which makes desolate. (Daniel 12:11, Matthew 24:15, Mark
13:14) The Greek word for flight in Matthew 24:20 is
[G5437], fugay, the root of the English word fugitive.
What were they and what will they be, but fugitives from the
desolation which they left behind?

That being said, the words of messiah ring back to us, that we

91
are to pray that our flight not be in the winter or on the
Sabbath. May we obey his advice, even if we do not know
exactly why.

The Sabbath is Coming!

Mark 15:42 And when evening had come, because it was

the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,
Mark 15:43 Joseph of Aramathea, a prominent council
member, who was himself waiting for the reign of Elohim,
came, boldly went in to Pilate and asked for the body of
.
Mark 15:44 But Pilate wondered whether He was already
dead, so summoning the captain, he asked him if He was
already dead.
Mark 15:45 And when he learned this from the captain,
he gave the body to Joseph.

It was necessary to acquire the body and to put it in the tomb

before the Sabbath began, such work being unacceptable on
the Sabbath day. It is very important to note that this was not
a weekly Sabbath. The Sabbath which was fast approaching
was the first day of Unleavened Bread. Like the children of
Israel and their exodus from Egypt, this was the exodus of
messiah from temptation and corruption. Messiah was killed
on a Wednesday before sunset. He was put into the tomb just
before sunset on the fourteenth day of the first month, going
into the fifteenth day, which is the first day of the feast of
Unleavened Bread. It is important to note also that Joseph of
Aramathea made himself unclean by way of a dead body and
that he would have needed to bathe before sunset to become
clean. Though only speculation on my part, he would have
likely wanted to make himself clean before sunset so he
would be clean for the Sabbath. We know also that this man
Joseph of Aramathea was not a High Priest, or he would not

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have been allowed to defile himself for the dead.

Luke 23:55 And the women who had come with Him from
Galilee followed after, and saw the tomb and how His body
was laid.
Luke 23:56 And having returned, they prepared spices
and perfumes. And they rested on the Sabbath according
to the command.

They rested on the first day of Unleavened Bread, after having

seen where and how the body was laid. After sunset sometime
on Thursday, the fifteenth day of the month, they went to buy
and prepare spices and perfumes. (Mark 16:1) That was a
Friday. They rested on the weekly Sabbath according to the
command, and went only to see his body after the weekly
Sabbath, likely why the term toward the first day of the
week is used below. Messiah also rested on the Sabbath, in
his tomb. As soon as the Sabbath was over, however:

Matthew 28:1 Now after the Sabbath, toward dawn on

the first day of the week, Mary from Magdala and the
other Mary came to see the tomb.

Luke 24:1 And on the first day of the week, at early dawn,
they came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had
prepared,

John 20:1 And on the first day of the week Mary from
Magdala came early to the tomb, while it was still dark,
and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.

It was after the weekly Sabbath had ended when the women
went to the sepulcher. I say weekly Sabbath because this
calendar week was full of Sabbaths, including the first day
of Unleavened Bread, the weekly Sabbath, and the seventh

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day of Unleavened Bread, all within a seven-day period. The
time at which the women went to the tomb is not to be
confused with either of these other days of rest. For more
information, see the calendar in Appendix A. It is important to
remember also that the first day of the week had begun the
minute the sun sank below the horizon after Sabbath. Dawn
was not the requirement for a new day. The new day began at
sunset on the previous day. Matthew and John agree that it
was toward dawn or still dark. Given the time of year,
this could have been at any time between 7:00pm on Saturday
and 4:30am on Sunday. The exact time is completely
unknown. Our only clue is that we are told the women went
sometime before sunrise on the first day (Sunday) of the
week.

While discussion of the profane and satanic feast days is not

within the purview of this book, those who celebrate a
sunrise service would do well to learn that they have
arrived, much like the virgins who went to purchase oil, too
late. To pretend that such an event does other than pay
homage to the sun itself, a practice right out of Egypt,
Babylon, or Rome, is ludicrous. Many hours passed between
the resurrection of messiah and sunrise. Unless, of course, he
was to be in the Earth for three days, three nights, and part of
the fourth day.

Mark 1:21 And they went into Capernaum, and

immediately on the Sabbath He went into the congregation
and taught.

The messiah went in and taught on the Sabbath. Therefore

teaching (and learning!) are acceptable activities on the
Sabbath.

John 5:9 And immediately the man became well, and he

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took up his bed and was walking. Now it was Sabbath on
that day.
John 5:10 The Yehudim therefore said to him who had
been healed, It is the Sabbath, it is not right for you to
take up the bed.

It is against rabbinic law to carry anything on the Sabbath day.

They were attempting to persecute this man not for breaking
the laws of Elohim, but for breaking their own laws. Those
who are unwise do not know the difference between the law
and the tradition.

John 7:23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath,

so that the Torah of Moshe should not be broken, are you
wroth with Me because I made a man entirely well on the
Sabbath?

The Torah is instructions for having life. The whole purpose

of Torah is to offer life and blessings, and all of the
commandments, when obeyed, work together toward life.
Just as messiah worked toward life and blessings by healing
(into life) on the Sabbath. As with all of the commandments,
the Sabbath is for life. It is a day to become well and to be
blessed!

John 9:14 Now it was a Sabbath when made the

clay and opened his eyes.

Messiah did a lot of healing on Sabbath. Make note of that.

He was also persecuted for doing so. Allow me to submit to
you that those today who are attempting to keep the Sabbath
day set apart, and those who promote obedience for life will
be rejected and even persecuted for their righteousness, even
though they are following messiah in doing those things the
Word says to do. It is the job of the adversary, the job of the

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unrighteous, to reject that which is good.

John 9:16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, This

Man is not from Elohim, because He does not guard the
Sabbath. Others said, How is a man who is a sinner able
to do such miracles? And there was a division among
them.

Do you see? How is a man who is a sinner able to do such

miracles? This is why they did not recognize him for what
he was! They thought he was a sinner, and they were looking
for a messiah who would be spotless in the Word. They were
unable to distinguish between the spotlessness of the Word of
and their own filthy tradition. May we not be guilty of
the same!

Although the Pharisees were doing it wrong, at least they

recognized the need to guard the Sabbath. Remember it was
said that unless your righteousness EXCEEDS the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter
into the kingdom of Elohim. That means not only recognizing
the need to guard the Sabbath, but keeping it according to the
Word and not to the traditions of men. That is the way to
exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees. (Matthew 5:20) Do
what they say when they are reading from Moshe's seat, but
do not do what they do; they defile themselves, holding the
traditions of men above the commands of Elohim. (Matthew
23:2; Matthew 15:3)

John 19:31 Therefore, since it was the Preparation Day,

that the bodies should not remain on the stake on the
Sabbath for that Sabbath was a high one the Yehudim
asked Pilate to have their legs broken, and that they be
taken away.

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The High Sabbath in question was, again, not the weekly
seventh-day Sabbath, but the first day of the Feast of
Unleavened Bread, which according to Leviticus 23, is a day
of rest - a High Sabbath. The day of the execution of messiah,
the preparation day for the first day of Unleavened Bread,
which always falls on the fifteenth day of the first lunar
month, was a Wednesday.

Acts 1:12 Then they went back to Yerushalayim from the

Mount of Olives, which is near Yerushalayim, a Sabbath
days journey.

That distance, the distance from the Mount of Olives to

Yerushalayim, was considered by Luke, the author of the book
of Acts, to be a Sabbath day's journey. The Mount of Olives
is due east of what is considered today to be the Temple
Mount. It is important to remember, however, that the
present day so-called temple mount is little more than the
remains of the Roman Antonia Fortress. It was prophesied
that the first temple would be utterly destroyed and that even
the mountain would be shaved down and destroyed. (Micah
3:12, Jeremiah 26:18) This was done by Simon the
Hasmonean to not only purge the area of the desolation
committed by the Selucid empire, but to remove the highest
point around, the high ground which might be captured again
in the future as an enemy stronghold. The writings and
descriptions of Josephus, a witness not only of the location of
the temple but of its destruction, do not come close to
matching the model of the old city of Yerushalayim, created
by Michael Avi Yonah. The temple mount which existed
before it was destroyed in 70CE was south-west of the Mount
of Olives, on the other side of the Kidron valley from the
fortress. There is an excellent video on this topic called
Jerusalem and the Lost Temple of the Jews from Ken Klein
Productions. See Appendix F for details.

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In any case, the distance to Yerushalayim from the Mount of
Olives was no less than one mile, though likely more than a
mile to the location of the upper room. The supposed
location of this place, as with the location of the Temple, is
very like incorrect according to Christian tradition. Simply
put, the bible is not clear about the location of this place and
therefore we do not know. It is said to be within the city of
Yerushalayim, and that is good enough for us at this time.

Acts 13:14 But passing through from Perge, they came to

Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the congregation on the
Sabbath day and sat down.
Acts 13:15 And after the reading of the Torah and the
Prophets, the rulers of the congregation sent to them,
saying, Men, brothers, if you have any word of
encouragement for the people, speak.

As is evidenced by the acts of rav Sha'ul (the apostle Paul), as

well as the acts of messiah during his own life, it was typical
on the Sabbath day to go into the congregation and to hear
from the Torah and the Prophets. In fact, according to Rav
Shaul himself, it was done every Sabbath, and not just in
Yerushalayim:

Acts 13:27 for those dwelling in Yerushalayim, and their

rulers, because they did not know Him, nor even the
voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have
filled them in having judged Him.

Acts 15:21 For from ancient generations Moshe has, in

every city, those proclaiming him being read in the
congregations every Sabbath.

Witnessed by Luke, travel was even permitted outside the city

on the Sabbath:

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Acts 16:13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the
city by a river, where there used to be prayer. And having
sat down we were speaking to the women who met there.

Acts 13:42 And when the Yehudim went out of the

congregation, the gentiles begged to have these words
spoken to them the next Sabbath.

It is unclear whether the gentiles themselves were Sabbath

keepers or that they simply knew that the teachers who were
present at the congregation this week would also be there the
following Sabbath.

Though it hardly seems to matter, as the effect was the same:

Acts 13:44 And on the next Sabbath almost all the city
came together to hear the Word of Elohim.
Acts 18:4 And he was reasoning in the congregation every
Sabbath, and won over both Yehudim and Greeks.

The last mention of the Sabbath in the bible is the single most
important mention of the Sabbath in the new testament
commentary:

Hebrews 4:9 So there remains a Sabbath-keeping for the

people of Elohim.

The Sabbath exists still. It still remains, to be kept and

guarded by the people of Elohim. As from the beginning, it is
an everlasting covenant between Elohim and His set-apart
people.

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 Quick Reference: Keeping the Sabbath
This section is intended as a quick reference guide for those
who wish to keep the Sabbath day set apart. Each of the
points presented in this section were discussed at length in the
chapter which came before it, and for the sake of brevity and
ease for the casual reader, the referential verses will not be
noted here in the Quick Reference section. For detailed
information including chapter and verse, please read the
preceding chapter.

Please understand that the instructions presented here are only

for the weekly Sabbath, and the rules and guidelines which
govern that day are not necessarily the same rules and
guidelines which govern the other moedim known as high
Sabbaths. For a quick reference on each of the remaining
moedim and festivals of , please refer to the Quick
Reference section at the end of those respective chapters.
Also contained here will be my own advice, which follows
logically from but is not necessarily found in Torah. The need
for such advice comes only when questions arise which are
not directly answered by Torah, the writings, the prophets, or
by the new testament commentary. Please take this advice for
what it is, the words of a person living in our day, whose only
wisdom has come from repeated and continual efforts to
adhere to the Word. If I am found to be incorrect on ANY
point, according to specific chapter and verse, I wish very
much to hear from my readers. Contact information is
presented in Appendix F at the back of this book. I would
love to hear from you!

The Sabbath day is the seventh day of the week. It begins at

sunset on Friday and ends at sunset on Saturday. It is a day
set apart to , and is a period of spiritual rejuvenation and
rest.

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Blow the shofar to announce the Sabbath has begun and to
invite those within hearing distance to join you for fellowship
and study, perhaps even a Sabbath meal. Count the days
between the Sabbaths. You should have six working days,
then a Sabbath day. Six working days then a Sabbath Day. If
you EVER (even once) have more days or fewer days
between Sabbaths, something is wrong. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
Sabbath. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Sabbath. Repeat until the heavens
and the Earth pass away. Say a prayer of thanks and be joyful
for the rest which has been given to you. Actively seek to
prohibit those within your influence from working on the
Sabbath (i.e. children, your spouse, servants, employees,
beasts of burden, guests in your home). Study the Torah and
the Prophets as messiah did. It is okay to study the new
testament commentary as well, but remember, messiah only
studied the Torah and the prophets. The new testament
commentary didn't exist yet. While you're reading, pick
words occasionally from the scriptures and have a word study.
What is that Hebrew word? Look it up in a Hebrew dictionary
or lexicon such as Strong's, Brown-Driver-Briggs, or J.P.
Green. What does it mean? How close is your translation to
the actual meaning of the Hebrew word? Now that you've
seen the Hebrew word and its translation, does that change the
meaning of the verse for you?

You may travel as far as is necessary for the preservation of

your life and the lives of others, as well as to study the Word.
You may perform whatever tasks are necessary so that
everyone in your household may eat to preserve his or her life,
but it is, in my own opinion, a good idea to refrain from
cooking lavish meals which take hours to prepare. There is no
command which says to abstain from cooking on the Sabbath.
It just is not in the bible. Find ways to set the day apart. A
special meal, special place settings at the table, special
Sabbath-only toys or books for young children. Teach them

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when they are young to set the day apart. Bring up a child in
the Way and when he is old he will not depart from it
(Proverbs 22:6). Be careful not to teach any family traditions
or religious doctrines which may be elevated to the same level
as the Word. Only the Word matters, tradition is worthless.
Find teachers or study groups so that you can learn together
with other believers from the Word. Read from Josephus,
Eusebius, Philo, the apocrypha. Prove or disprove what you
read, according to the Word. It is okay to teach on the
Sabbath. Teach, learn, study, instruct, take notes, write books.
Just remember that any books you write on the Sabbath
should not be money-makers because you shouldn't be
working to earn money on that day. Contact teachers,
speakers, authors for more information. Many may be willing
to come and speak to your group or phone conference with
you. Check online for radio programs on the Sabbath. Watch
Youtube videos or DVDs or read books put out by Torah
teachers. See Appendix F for some excellent resources. Many
teachers would love for you to contact them with questions or
things which you have learned from the Word!

Do not perform servile work on the Sabbath. Do not perform

work which will add to your increase on the Sabbath (i.e.
farming, making money). Refrain from performing
housework such as doing the dishes or laundry. This is a day
of rest, there are six other days to do laundry! Do not spend
money, causing others to work on that day. Do not cause
others to work so that you benefit or maintain your business
or income on the Sabbath, such as a shabbos goy, a gentile,
or a non-believing Jew. Do not light candles according to the
traditions of men. Study those things which are traditions to
test them against the Word. It doesn't do you any good for me
to tell you that these things are worthless tradition; you must
learn that directly from the Word. Don't concern yourself with
money problems or work problems on the Sabbath. Rest from

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your responsibilities. Try not to watch the same television
programs or read the same books as you would read on a non-
Sabbath day.

For those just starting out, the Sabbath can seem boring. Try
to find interesting things to do to set the day apart. Remember
to use tithe for books and study materials if you want them, so
you can gain wisdom in the Word. Tithe is for life, after all.
The Word is life! Do not attempt to drink wine or strong
drink and come near to the presence of . Remember not to
allow more or fewer days than six between Sabbaths. It is
never correct to have a 9-day week, with seven or eight days
between Sabbaths. This is imperfection and chaos, just as
sometimes having 31 hours between sunsets would be
imperfection and chaos. Keep the idea of perfect cycles in
your mind when you think of these things. Do not be
surprised if people think that you are unusual, unorthodox, or
are trying to be Jewish. NEVER assume you know it all.
Learn! Study and welcome opposing points of view, and the
opportunity to share what you have learned. Prove or
disprove them according only to the Word. Don't sit idly and
wish the Sabbath was over. It is a gift! Use it wisely!

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104
Chapter 3: Passover

Leviticus 23:5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day

of the month, between the evenings, is the Passover to .

The Passover, or Pesach [ H6453] is the first moed

(appointed time) of the year, and after the Sabbath is the first
listed special set-apart day to . The word Pesach can
mean two things. It can mean the day on which the Passover
sacrifice is offered, or it can mean the sacrifice itself.

Passover is not a Jewish holiday, although (with more or

less success) the Jews represent the largest group of people
still keeping the Passover as a set-apart day. It is a Passover
to , according to His own Word in the verse above, not a
Passover to the Jews. There are many traditions kept on the
Passover which in no way reflect and even detract from what
the Torah, prophets, writings, and even the new testament
commentary say about the Passover. It is unique among the
moedim of for several reasons, which we will explore in
great detail in this chapter. The first Passover, as well as the
perpetual festival of remembrance, are pictures of the messiah
who was then to come, and is today the remembrance of him
who came. Every detail of the original Passover and of the
perpetual festival can be seen in the life and death of messiah.

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Exodus 12:5 Let the lamb be a perfect one, a year old
male. Take it from the sheep or from the goats.
Exodus 12:6 And you shall keep it until the fourteenth
day of the same month. Then all the assembly of the
congregation of Israel shall kill it between the evenings.
Exodus 12:7 And they shall take some of the blood and
put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses
where they eat it.
Exodus 12:8 And they shall eat the flesh on that night,
roasted in fire with unleavened bread and with bitter
herbs they shall eat it.
Exodus 12:9 Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with
water, but roasted in fire, its head with its legs and its
inward parts.
Exodus 12:10 And do not leave of it until morning, and
what remains of it until morning you are to burn with fire.
Exodus 12:11 And this is how you eat it: your loins
girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your
hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Passover of
.
Exodus 12:12 And I shall pass through the land of
Mitsrayim on that night, and shall smite all the first-born
in the land of Mitsrayim, both man and beast. And on all
the mighty ones of Mitsrayim I shall execute judgment. I
am .
Exodus 12:13 And the blood shall be a sign for you on the
houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I shall
pass over you, and let the plague not come on you to
destroy you when I smite the land of Mitsrayim.
Exodus 12:14 And this day shall become to you a
remembrance. And you shall observe it as a festival to
throughout your generations observe it as a festival, an
everlasting law.

The first Passover was unique in that it had never taken place

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before, and only this first time are we told and indeed shown
why it was being performed. It was to be a physical and
visual sign between the people and their creator, which would
save the lives of their firstborn and prevent the plague from
coming on them.

The Tenth Day

The Passover lamb or goat, of at least a year old, perfect and

without blemish, was to be chosen by each household (by
each group consuming an individual lamb or goat) on the
tenth day of the first month and set apart (guarded, protected,
hedged about) for three days. Let us say for the sake of
illustration that it was chosen at 5:00pm on the tenth day. The
evening (after sunset) and the morning of the eleventh are the
first complete day. The evening and the morning of the twelfth
are the second complete day. The evening and morning of the
thirteenth are the third complete day. There is not another
complete day because the lamb is to be killed before sunset on
the fourteenth.

The Passover sacrifice is symbolic of messiah, who had to be

sequestered and anointed for his own execution in order that
he would be free from uncleanness in preparation for that day.

Matthew 26:7 a woman came to Him, having an alabaster

flask of costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as
He sat at the table.

This was on the tenth day of the first month, which is very
easy to gather from the accounts of the synoptic gospels. On
the same day when the one-year-old lamb was to be chosen,
set apart, and guarded as the Passover offering, messiah
himself was set apart and anointed for his task.

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Consider that the world began with the first millennium of a
seven thousand year plan and that a day is to a thousand years
in bible prophecy. Although messiah was not present at
creation (a real bubble-buster for those of the pre-existance
doctrine), his role was known to from the beginning.
Messiah was chosen at that time, selected and anointed to be
the Passover. He was guarded, protected, hedged about, for
three complete thousand years, and was executed in the fourth
millennium, in the middle of the week, according to Daniel.

Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm a covenant with many

for one week. And in the middle of the week he shall put
an end to slaughtering and meal offering.

Messiah was selected in the beginning (representative of the

tenth day) to confirm the covenant between and His
chosen people for one week (seven thousand years). In the
middle of the week, the fourth millennium, he became the
ultimate Passover and did away with the need for the lesser
offerings of slaughtered animals and grain offerings.

As he was in the ground for three days and three nights, so

also his bride waits for him for three complete thousand years
before he comes back for her. The story of the Passover
offering of messiah, from his anointing to his return for his
bride, is the same seven-day story from creation until the
marriage supper of the lamb. This marriage will take place at
the end of the millennial reign when evil and sin has been
destroyed.

Messiah was killed on Passover, a Wednesday. Thursday was

the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a day of no servile work.
Friday was the preparation day before the weekly Sabbath.
Saturday was the Sabbath, Sunday was the Feast of First
Fruits. There is no Hebrew word for Wednesday. The only

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day with a name is Shabbat. The expression for Wednesday
is simply day four. Just as messiah came and put an end to
the lesser offerings in the fourth millennium, in the middle of
the week, he also died on a Wednesday, day four in the
week. For more information about the series of events during
passion week, see the calendar in Appendix A.

The lamb is guarded for three complete days, is slaughtered in

the "middle of the week", (Daniel 9:27) putting an end to the
slaughtering of animals because of the perfect removal of sin
in his own blood. Just as he was three days in the tomb, he is
awaited by his spotless bride for three complete days for his
return on the Feast of First Fruits AFTER the Sabbath, (which
is when messiah rose), symbolic of the millennial reign.
Messiah does not marry his bride while there is sin yet in the
world, but in the eighth day, after the purging of uncleanness
from the Earth, after the millennial reign. Remember that a
marriage, a union, makes two bodies one, echad,
[H259]. We will be one with messiah, who was the first-fruits
of those risen from the dead. This unification does not occur
while sin is in the world.

Between the Evenings

Messiah was unblemished and of suitable age, was anointed

(selected from among the eligible) on the tenth day of the first
month, and was slaughtered between the evenings on the
fourteenth.

The phrase between the evenings is Hebrew idiom which

means the time existing between solar noon and sunset. The
fact that between the evenings means absolutely nothing in
Greek illustrates the reality that the gospels were written in
Hebrew and were later translated into other languages. Just as
turkey day today in America brings the word and concept of

109
Thanksgiving to mind, and yet the phrase jour de dinde
(the French translation of turkey day) means absolutely
nothing to the French. So the phrase between the sunsets
means absolutely nothing to the Greeks, and is entirely a
Hebrew expression.

In any case, given the time of year in question, the springtime,

between the evenings means at any time between
approximately 12:00pm and 6:30pm. This is very specific.
No other moed gives such close instruction, a six or seven
hour window of opportunity for obeying the instructions.
This is because of the importance of the event taking place;
the first Passover, because it was prophecy of what was to
come, the messianic Passover, because it had to fulfill the
prophecy about it, and the remembrance festival, because it
calls to memory the importance of the events which occurred
approximately 1,400 years apart and were each a picture of
the other.

If the children of Israel had been a minute late with the blood
on the doorposts, they would have been risking their lives. If
messiah had been a minute late with his blood, he would have
been risking our lives. The appointed time would have passed
and he no longer would have been suitable to be the messiah
(the anointed one). Through this lens, it becomes quite clear
why timing is of the utmost importance. Just a little bit of
time to the left or to the right in the middle of this perfect
timeline, and it all falls apart.

It is said that all of the children of Israel shall kill it between

the evenings. Not them, but it. Remember that there
were thousands of year-old lambs and goats being slaughtered
on that day (2 Chronicles 35:7 says 30,000 young lambs and
goats!) And yet the singular pronoun is used because it is
representative of the one Passover, the one whose blood was

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to be spilled not only BY but FOR the children of Israel, and
no others.

Leviticus 1:4 And he shall lay his hand on the head of the
burnt offering, and it shall be accepted on his behalf to
make atonement for him.
Leviticus 1:5 And he shall slaughter the bull before .
And the sons of Aharon, the priests, shall bring the blood
and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar which is at
the door of the Tent of Meeting.

It is by the hand of the sinner that the offering is sacrificed.

The transgression is placed upon the head of the offering, and
that animal is made to be sin for the repentant one who
offers, as a blood replacement for the blood of the one who
offers. Just as messiah was made to be sin for us. (2
Corinthians 5:21) Unless you are a child of Israel, unless you
place your transgression upon the head of the lamb and allow
it to be made sin for you, unless you kill it yourself, and
accept the spilled blood as your atoning sacrifice, then you
have no other blood but your own to be offered at the
appointed time (Yom Kippur, Day of Atonement). But in
Leviticus 1, as well as in Exodus 12, we are given the promise
that the blood of the lamb shall be accepted to provide the
repentant with life.

The blood of the lamb was then put on the doorposts as a sign
before that those within, those under the covenant
protection of the blood, were His. He was faithful to keep His
promise.

Deuteronomy 6:6 And these Words which I am

commanding you today shall be in your heart,
Deuteronomy 6:9 And you shall write them on the
doorposts of your house and on your gates.

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Why in your heart? It carries blood and provides life. Why on
the doorposts? Because that is the sign before , that those
within, those under the covenant protection of the blood, are
His. He is faithful to keep His promise.

The children of Israel were to eat the Passover on that night,

roasted with fire and eaten with unleavened bread and bitter
herbs. They were not to leave any of it until morning.
Remember that this lamb had been sequestered for three days
and was clean from all uncleanness. To allow the meat to sit
out until morning would allow it to see corruption. Better that
it be destroyed than to see corruption. Just as the body of
messiah was taken and placed into the tomb by his taught one,
Joseph of Aramathea, before the high Sabbath, the first day
of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, lest the body see
corruption. The paschal offering was to be roasted with fire
because it was technically a burnt offering, but it was being
consumed. Therefore, that which was not being consumed,
had to be turned to smoke upon the altar. It was necessary
to completely remove it from existence to ensure that it would
not see corruption. This offering was not to be made in a
private place.

Deuteronomy 16:5 You are not allowed to slaughter the

Passover within any of your gates which your Elohim
gives you,
Deuteronomy 16:6 but at the place where your
Elohim chooses to make His Name dwell, there you
slaughter the Passover in the evening, at the going down of
the sun, at the appointed time you came out of Mitsrayim.

A Nazarite Vow

A brief aside; the gospels of Matthew and John say that

messiah drank of, or at least tasted of, the wine mixed with

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myrrh, and that he denied it after he had tasted it. This is not
only in contradiction with the gospel of Mark and of Luke, but
goes against what messiah himself said at the last supper.

Matthew 26:29 But I say to you, I shall certainly not

drink of this fruit of the vine from now on till that day
when I drink it anew with you in the reign of My Father.

That is called a Nazarite vow, during which time of the vow

one is not allowed to consume any grape product, including
wine or wine vinegar. Seeing as how messiah has not drank
of the fruit of the vine with his taught one or with his bride in
the reign of his Father, I would like to submit that not only did
messiah NOT taste of or accept the wine mixed with myrrh,
but he is currently abstaining from all products of the grape.
As such, we are likely to recognize him by his unshorn beard
and hair upon his return, another sign of the Nazarite vow.

Numbers 6:2 Speak to the children of Israel, and say to

them, When a man or woman does separate, by making a
vow of a Nazarite, to be separate to ,
Numbers 6:3 he separates himself from wine and strong
drink he drinks neither vinegar of wine nor vinegar of
strong drink, neither does he drink any grape juice, nor
eat grapes or raisins.
Numbers 6:4 All the days of his separation he does not
eat whatever is made of the grapevine, from seed to skin.
Numbers 6:5 All the days of the vow of his separation a
razor does not come upon his head. Until the days are
completed for which he does separate himself to , he is
set-apart. He shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow
long.
Numbers 6:6 All the days of his separation to he does
not go near a dead body.
Numbers 6:7 He does not make himself unclean for his

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father, or for his mother, for his brother or his sister, when
they die, because his separation to Elohim is on his head.
Numbers 6:8 All the days of his separation he is set-apart
to .
Redemption

The Passover lamb was to be eaten by the children of Israel in

a state of preparedness. They were not to consume it in
ignorance or in like manner as any common meal, but with
haste and discrimination. They were to eat it with their loins
girded and with their shoes on their feet, ready for the signal
which was to call them out. They were to eat it with purpose
and clarity, knowing full well what they were doing. That is
why it is written:

Exodus 12:43 And said to Moshe and Aharon, This

is the law of the Passover: No son of a stranger is to eat of
it,
Exodus 12:45 A sojourner and a hired servant does not
eat of it.

The Passover was a redemption. Another word for a

redemption is a purchase. Two things were purchased
during the first Passover. The firstborn of all of the
Egyptians, of men and beast, were purchased by their own
blood. This is symbolic of the purchase or redemption of the
unbeliever at the end of days, his sin being redeemed by his
own blood. (For more information, see Chapter 8 on Yom
Kippur.) The firstborn of the children of Israel however, were
purchased or redeemed by the blood of the lamb which was
spilled and put on the doorposts for their protection.

Exodus 13:2 Set apart to Me all the first-born, the one

opening the womb among the children of Israel, among
man and among beast, it is Mine.

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Exodus 13:15 And it came to be, when Pharaoh was too
hardened to let us go, that killed every first-born in
the land of Mitsrayim, both the first-born of man and the
first-born of beast. Therefore I am slaughtering to
every male that open the womb, but every first-born of my
sons I ransom.

Remember before how the blood of the lamb was likened to

the Word being put on the doorposts? Likewise, the Word
was to be a sign:

Deuteronomy 6:8 and shall bind them (the Word) as a

sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between
your eyes.

Exodus 13:16 And it (the blood) shall be as a sign on

your hand and as frontlets between your eyes, for by
strength of hand brought us out of Mitsrayim.

The blood is the life. Torah (the Word) is the instruction for
having life. The blood is the Word. They are one. To be
obedient to the Word is to be protected by the blood of
messiah. To be disobedient to the Word is to die as did the
firstborn of Egypt, redeemed in their own blood.

Through the keeping of the Passover, the remembrance of a

life-and-death event, we remember also the acts of the
messiah who came to offer his own blood in a much bigger
life-and-death event. It is by the things which happened in the
past that we will know the future. The purpose of the
Passover was not simply to save the children of Israel from
the death meted out to the Egyptians, but to save those in the
end who accept the perfect blood of the messiah as their
Passover. They are one and the same event, and nobody is
saved but the lost sheep of the house of Israel, (Matthew

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15:24) as they will be called from among the nations and back
to the promised land. That is why the children of Israel were
commanded to remember that day forever. Not just to look
backward to it for their salvation but to look forward to it for
their salvation.

The Passover meal was to be eaten with unleavened bread.

Many today teach that leavening is symbolic of sin. It is not.
Leavening is symbolic of false doctrine. A little bit of
leavening leavens the whole lump, just as a little bit of
doctrine indoctrinates the whole Word. To mix in just the
smallest bit of poison poisons the whole, and so the Passover
meal is consumed without the doctrines of men. Sadly today,
there is much doctrine and very much leavening which takes
place at a traditional Passover seder. It is those who hold
such traditions that teach a parallel between leavening and sin,
as opposed to the truth, that leavening represents tradition.
You wouldn't expect a people so in love with their own
traditional creations to teach the truth about the evils of
tradition.

There are those who teach that the last supper was a Passover
meal. It was not. Let's go through it. It has been established
heretofore that messiah is the Passover lamb. Messiah
himself certainly seemed to think so.

Matthew 26:2 You know that after two days the Passover
takes place, and the Son of Adam is to be delivered up to
be impaled.

Yet the following verses are used to suggest that messiah ate
the Passover with his taught-ones:

Matthew 26:19 And the taught ones did as had

ordered them, and prepared the Passover.

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Matthew 26:20 And when evening came, He sat down
with the twelve.
Matthew 26:21 And while they were eating, He said,
Truly, I say to you, one of you shall deliver Me up.

However, the following verse contradicts such a belief:

Matthew 26:26 And as they were eating, took bread,

and having blessed, broke and gave it to the taught ones
and said, Take, eat, this is My body.

The word there translated as bread is not the word for

unleavened bread, either in the Greek or in the original
Hebrew. See for example the Shem Tov text. It is impossible
that messiah would have broken the command to eat only
unleavened bread during the Passover meal, by breaking and
serving leavened bread!

One teacher, who will remain nameless, ignores the fact above
and twists the Torah to match his theory that the last supper
was the Passover meal. He suggests that the meal was eaten
after sunset on the thirteenth, it being the beginning of the
fourteenth, disregarding the verse about it being killed
between the sunsets. With all delicacy and tact removed,
you know the best time to eat lamb? When it is dead. They
were told to kill the lamb on the fourteenth day, between solar
noon and sunset. How is it possible to eat the lamb after
sunset on the thirteenth if it is not permitted to kill it until
afternoon on the fourteenth? Without trying to cause
confusion, let me state a fact on which Exodus 12 and the
gospels regarding messiah all agree. The lamb is not killed
until the period of time called by Hebrew idiom, between the
sunsets. The meal was not eaten after sunset on the
thirteenth day but after sunset on the fourteenth day.
Remember that when the sun set on the fourteenth, the

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fifteenth day was at hand.

The Passover was killed between the sunsets (between solar

noon and around 6:30pm), and was cooked and not eaten until
the fifteenth day had begun, after sunset on the fourteenth.
Let's examine the case with messiah.

Mark 15:25 And it was the third hour, and they impaled
Him.

The third hour is 9:00am. So he was attached to the execution

stake at 9:00am on the day of the fourteenth.

Mysterious Darkness

Mark 15:33 And when the sixth hour came, darkness

came over all the land until the ninth hour.

The sixth hour is 12:00pm. So from noon to 3:00, darkness

came over all the land. The period of time known as
between the sunsets began at noon. According to the
prophecy and the keeping of Passover, messiah will die
sometime before sunset.

It is of utmost importance to remember what was discussed in

Chapter 1 regarding the position of the moon in the sky when
it is full. A solar eclipse is caused when the moon comes
between the sun and the Earth, in conjunction. When the
moon is full, however, as it is at sunset on the fourteenth day
of the lunar month, it is just rising as the sun is setting. The
sun and moon are on opposing horizons in the middle of the
lunar month. This period of darkness mentioned in Mark 15
could NOT have been a solar eclipse - that event is not
possible at this time. The moon is full on the fifteenth day of
the lunar month, and it is not possible to have a solar eclipse

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when the moon is full. When messiah died on the execution
stake, the full moon had not risen yet. The full moon only
rises in the east as the sun is setting in the west. The darkness
which occurred for three hours that day happened for celestial
reasons unknown. There is no other body large enough or
close enough to the Earth to block the sun's light for any
period of time. The sun did not set and rise again quickly. It
simply went dark. Consider the following parallel.

Exodus 10:21 And said to Moshe, Stretch out your

hand toward the heavens, and let there be darkness over
the land of Mitsrayim, even a darkness which is felt.
Exodus 10:22 And Moshe stretched out his hand toward
the heavens, and there was thick darkness in all the land
of Mitsrayim for three days.

With the exception of the slaughtering of the sons of

Mitsrayim, this darkness was the final plague cast upon the
land for the sake of the Children of Israel. It lasted for three
days and ended the day before Passover. Could this be the
same type of unknown darkness which existed for three hours
just before messiah died? The account of the darkness
between the sixth and ninth hour in the gospel of Luke uses
the words, , literally, the sun's light
failed. Could this be the same type of darkness which we are
to expect in the future?

Joel 2:31 the sun is turned into darkness, and the moon
into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome
day of .

Amos 5:20 Is not the day of darkness, and not light?

Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?

Job 5:14 By day they encounter darkness, and at noon

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they grope as in the night.

Is this some different type of darkness? No matter what it is or

what causes it, it seems to be a sign.

Genesis 1:14 And Elohim said, Let lights come to be in

the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the
night, and let them be for signs and appointed times, and
for days and years,

Joshua 10:13 So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
till the nation avenged itself upon their enemies. Is this not
written in the Book of Yashar? Thus the sun stopped in the
midst of the heavens, and did not hasten to go down for an
entire day.

2Kings 20:11 And Isaiah the prophet cried out to , and

He brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it
had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.

An eclipse is certainly not as good a sign as the uncovered sun

simply failing to shine its light, or to stay still or to fall back
in the sky. It would appear that eclipses are too common to be
an effective sign, but that is capable of showing very
impressive signs with His heavenly luminaries - signs that His
chosen people will be saved. A particular number pops up in
this study. In Egypt, the darkness lasted for three days. On
Passover before messiah died, it lasted three hours (from the
sixth hour to the ninth hour). The sun moved backward ten
degrees on the dial of Ahaz on the third day after Hezekiah's
prayer. In all these cases, these solar phenomena were signs
of delivery for the children of Israel. So will it be one day in
the future, when the signs of the sun inexplicably turning into
darkness and the moon into blood (also more than an eclipse?)
will herald the salvation of His chosen people.

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 The End of the Fourteenth Day

Mark 15:37 And cried out with a loud voice, and

breathed His last.

As was shown in the chapter regarding the Sabbath, care was

taken to prepare and bury the body before the quickly-
approaching sunset and high Sabbath. The time when
messiah died was precisely the time when thousands of
Passover lambs were being slaughtered all over Yerushalayim,
between the sunsets, just as it is commanded in Exodus 12.
Messiah died as the Passover, ON the Passover, and not a
minute before. If the last supper had been the day of
Passover, then messiah died one day late, on the fifteenth, and
is not fit to be the anointed one of .

Exodus 12:22 And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, and

dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel
and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin,
and you, none of you shall go out of the door of his house
until morning.
Exodus 12:24 And you shall guard this word as a law for
you and your sons, forever.

The children of Israel were instructed to not venture outside

the protection of the sign for life until the danger had passed.
Yet they were told to be prepared to travel during the meal,
with their shoes on their feet.

Exodus 12:25 And it shall be, when you come to the land
which gives you, as He promised, that you shall guard
this service.
Exodus 12:26 And it shall be, when your children say to
you, What does this service mean to you?
Exodus 12:27 then you shall say, It is the Passover

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slaughtering of , who passed over the houses of the
children of Israel in Mitsrayim when He smote the
Mitsrites and delivered our households. And the people
bowed their heads and did obeisance.

It has been suggested that since we are not in Israel, we do not

need to keep the Passover outside of the promised land.
However, there is record of the children of Israel keeping the
Passover not only in Egypt, but in the wilderness before they
came to the land of Canaan. Since we look not only back at
the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt, but also
forward to the deliverance of the children of Israel through the
messiah, we can tell our children that it is the Passover of ,
who did and will pass over the houses of the children of Israel
in Egypt and in Mystery Babylon (Revelation 17:5) to
slaughter the unrepentant and to deliver us into life.

Exodus 12:29 And it came to be at midnight that

smote all the first-born in the land of Mitsrayim, from the
first-born of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the first-
born of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the
first-born of livestock.
Exodus 12:30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and
all his servants, and all the Mitsrites. And there was a
great cry in Mitsrayim, for there was not a house where
there was not a dead one.
Exodus 12:31 Then he called for Moshe and Aharon by
night, and said, Arise, go out from the midst of my
people, both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve
as you have said.

We see that it was at midnight when all the firstborn of Egypt

were killed, and that Pharaoh rose up in the night, and called
for Moshe and Aharon by night. How can this be possible
when they were told not to go out of their homes until

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morning?

Exodus 10:29 And Moshe said, You have spoken rightly

never again do I see your face!

Moshe was aware that he would never again see Pharaoh. So,
though he called for Moshe and Aharon by night, they did not
go to him. They were no longer under his power, they had
been delivered by the mighty outstretched arm of . They
did not leave their dwellings until morning. When they did,
they took four hundred years' worth of wages in items of gold
and of silver and in garments. Some translations and
traditions make it appear that the children of Israel had stolen
or plundered the nation of Egypt. However, the situation of
the wealth in Egypt in the first place was all to do with the
skill of Joseph and his collection of wealth during the famine
which occurred centuries before the exodus. All of this
wealth was held in escrow for his descendents and was paid in
full upon their departure. Naturally, the children of Israel had
left before their bread had had time to rise and thus ate
unleavened bread for seven days, according to the command.
They went out 430 years to the day that they went in, on
Passover:

Genesis 46:6 And they took their livestock and their

property which they had acquired in the land of Kenaan,
and came into Mitsrayim, Jacob and all his seed with him.

About six hundred thousand men of fighting age - those 20

and above (Numbers 1:3) - left Egypt. Along with them went
their wives, daughters, sisters, elderly, and children under the
age of 20. It is not unreasonable to expect that the number of
men was relatively equal to the number of women, which
would make the population closer to 1.2 million. It is also not
unreasonable to assume that the children and elderly were

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equal to about 25% of the total population, bringing the
overall total to at least 1.5 million. Picture in your mind a
million and a half people marching en masse out of Egypt,
taking along flocks and herds and very much livestock, tents,
building materials, all of their possessions, and attracting a
mixed multitude to go with them. Among this mixed
multitude was Caleb, son of Yephunneh. Remember that this
mixed multitude was a group of people who were not native
born children of Israel. They may have been Egyptians, or
other slaves, or conquered people from other nations. They
were not likely to have been circumcised, and were unlikely
to have participated in the Passover event. Their participation
at this time was limited to the exodus and the eating of
unleavened bread. However, since they had attached
themselves to the children of Israel, they also partook of the
covenant promises of protection and life. They also
participated in the remembrance rituals and the keeping of
Passover in the wilderness.

Exodus 12:42 It is a night to be observed unto for

bringing them out of the land of Mitsrayim. This night is
unto , to be observed by all the children of Israel
throughout their generations.
Exodus 12:43 And said to Moshe and Aharon, This
is the law of the Passover: No son of a stranger is to eat of
it,
Exodus 12:44 but any servant a man has bought for silver,
when you have circumcised him, then let him eat of it.
Exodus 12:45 A sojourner and a hired servant does not
eat of it.
Exodus 12:46 It is eaten in one house, you are not to take
any of the flesh outside the house, nor are you to break
any bone of it.
Exodus 12:47 All the congregation of Israel are to
perform it.

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Exodus 12:48 And when a stranger sojourns with you
and shall perform the Passover to , let all his males be
circumcised, and then let him come near and perform it,
and he shall be as a native of the land. But let no
uncircumcised eat of it.
Exodus 12:49 There is one Torah for the native-born and
for the stranger who sojourns among you.

The Passover is to be kept as a remembrance that brought

His chosen people out of the land of Egypt. It is also to be
remembered by this that He will do it again, He will call His
people out from among the nations and has the power to
provide for their welfare. It is to be observed by ALL of the
children of Israel (not just the two tribes which became the
Jews, but by all 12 tribes of Israel AND by any non-native
born who attach themselves to this group to enjoy the
covenant promises of protection and life). No son of a
stranger is to eat of the Passover. Caleb, as the son of a
stranger, did not eat the first Passover meal. It is possible that
his house was among the houses where the eldest son died.
We are not given the genealogy of the house of Yephunneh the
Kenizzite, Caleb's father. Any servant who has been bought
(purchased, redeemed, as the first-born of the children of
Israel were redeemed by the blood of the lamb) for silver,
after he has been circumcised, may eat of it. It is to be eaten
in one house, none of it is to be taken outside, no bones are to
be broken, and any remaining in the morning must be burned
with fire INSIDE the house, because it can't be taken outside.
This means that a fire must be built within the dwelling on a
high Sabbath to dispose of the remnant lamb. This flies in the
face of those who say that it is against Torah to build a fire in
the house on Sabbath, which verse was covered in great detail
in the previous chapter. The stranger who is circumcised and
comes near to perform the Passover is to be considered a
native of the land, a native child of Israel. There is one law

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for the native born, the same one law for the grafted in. In
Hebrew this is expressed by the phrase ca-ger ca-ezrach
"meaning as for the stranger, so for the native-born.

In the wilderness, Passover was kept on the first anniversary

of the original Passover, on the fourteenth day of the first
month in the second year in the wilderness.

Numbers 9:1 And spoke to Moshe in the Wilderness

of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they
had come out of the land of Mitsrayim, saying,
Numbers 9:2 Now, let the children of Israel perform the
Passover at its appointed time.
Numbers 9:3 On the fourteenth day of this month,
between the evenings, perform it at its appointed time.
According to all its laws and right-rulings you perform it.
Numbers 9:4 And Moshe spoke to the children of Israel to
perform the Passover.
Numbers 9:5 So they performed the Passover on the
fourteenth day of the first month, between the evenings, in
the Wilderness of Sinai. According to all that
commanded Moshe, so the children of Israel did.

There were some changes from the original Passover in this

first remembrance festival. They were still to choose a lamb
or goat of the proper age, pure and without blemish, to contain
it after the tenth day to ensure its purity, to kill it between the
sunsets, to roast it with fire, refrain from breaking any bones,
to eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, and to destroy
with fire any remaining before morning. However, they no
longer required the protection of the blood on their doorposts
because they had already been redeemed and had been saved
by that blood. That was a one-time event, required only as a
sign between the children of Israel and , a sign which
would distinguish them from the Egyptians so that they might

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be saved from that point forward. Though they still
slaughtered the lamb, they were never again in the rest of the
Torah, the prophets, or the writings instructed even a single
time to put the blood of the Passover on their doorposts for
protection against death. They were covered ONCE by the
blood of the lamb. The first-born of the children of Israel had
been purchased and belonged forever more to the Creator,
who had redeemed them for Himself. In that way, He
sanctified the entire nation of Israel, by redeeming the first-
born and then giving them the power over each of their houses
(by the inheritance of the first-born, the spiritual leadership) to
perpetuate the covenant. After the exodus, blood was never
again used for protection.

As with those who are strangers and those who are

uncircumcised, there are others who are unable to participate
in the Passover meal. Those who are unclean are not fit to
partake of the pure lamb.

Numbers 9:6 But there were men who were defiled for a
being of a man, so that they were not able to perform the
Passover on that day. So they came before Moshe and
Aharon that day,
Numbers 9:7 and those men said to him, We are defiled
for the being of a man. Why are we withheld from
bringing near the offering of at its appointed time
among the children of Israel?

There are a number of things which can make one biblically

unclean or defiled. It is the responsibility of the children of
Israel to know those things. It is expected of us to distinguish
the clean from the unclean, and to guard against uncleanness.

Leviticus 10:10 so as to make a distinction between the

set-apart and the profane, and between the unclean and

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the clean,

Those who are unclean, either from coming into contact with
death, by an emission of semen, by way of menstruation, etc,
are not fit to partake of the Passover. Thankfully, concession
was made to ensure that all of the children of Israel could still
partake of the Passover:

Numbers 9:10 Speak to the children of Israel, saying,

When any male of you or your generations is unclean for
a being, or is far away on a journey, he shall still perform
the Passover of .
Numbers 9:11 On the fourteenth day of the second
month, between the evenings, they perform it with
unleavened bread and bitter herbs they eat it.
Numbers 9:12 They do not leave of it until morning, and
they do not break a bone of it. According to all the laws of
the Passover they perform it.

All of the rules still applied, but the Passover was held a
month later. Hopefully those who were unclean for the first
offering would take special care to maintain their state of
cleanness in the second month. These things have not
changed, they are an everlasting covenant. The punishment
for not obeying these commands is harsh.

Numbers 9:13 But the man who is clean and is not on a

journey, and has failed to perform the Passover, that same
being shall be cut off from among his people, because he
did not bring the offering of at its appointed time
that man bears his sin.
Numbers 9:14 And when a stranger sojourns among you,
then he shall perform the Passover of . He shall do so
according to the law of the Passover and according to its
right-ruling. You have one law, both for the stranger and

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the native of the land.

It is better not to perform the Passover at all if you are unclean

for both the first and second months of the year than to
perform it in a defiled state. The rule is: Perform it if you are
able and do not presume to perform it if you know yourself to
be defiled. We need to remember that the feast days, the
appointed times, are more or less dress rehearsals for the real
events. It is important to glean what we can from the Word, to
buy wisdom, (Proverbs 23:23) and put precept upon precept,
(Isaiah 28:10) and to come as close as we can to what we are
told to do. None of us knows it all. None of us performs
these feasts and festivals perfectly. We make changes to what
we do almost every year based on newly-learned information,
because it is better to repent and return to what is correct than
to blindly follow tradition in error.

A second telling of the exodus is found in Numbers:

Numbers 33:2 And Moshe wrote down the starting points

of their departures at the command of , and these are
their departures according to their starting points:
Numbers 33:3 So they departed from Ramses in the first
month, on the fifteenth day of the first month, on the
morrow of the Passover the children of Israel went out
with boldness before the eyes of all the Mitsrites,
Numbers 33:4 and the Mitsrites were burying all their
first-born, whom had smitten among them. Also on
their mighty ones had executed judgments.

It was on the morning of the fifteenth day of the month,

during the high Sabbath, when the children of Israel left
Egypt, their starting point the city of Ramses. This was the
same place where Joseph and his family settled upon their
arrival:

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Genesis 47:11 So Joseph settled his father and his
brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of
Mitsrayim, in the best of the land, in the land of Ramses,
as Pharaoh had commanded.

More detail is given about the Passover in Deuteronomy:

Deuteronomy 16:1 Guard the month of Abib, and

perform the Passover to your Elohim, for in the
month of Abib your Elohim brought you out of
Mitsrayim by night.
Deuteronomy 16:2 And you shall slaughter the Passover
to your Elohim, from the flock and the herd, in the
place where chooses to put His Name.
Deuteronomy 16:3 Eat no leavened bread with it. For
seven days you eat unleavened bread with it, bread of
affliction, because you came out of the land of Mitsrayim
in haste so that you remember the day in which you
came out of the land of Mitsrayim, all the days of your life.
Deuteronomy 16:4 And no leaven should be seen with
you in all your border for seven days, neither should any
of the meat which you slaughter in the evening on the first
day stay all night until morning.
Deuteronomy 16:5 You are not allowed to slaughter the
Passover within any of your gates which your Elohim
gives you,
Deuteronomy 16:6 but at the place where your
Elohim chooses to make His Name dwell, there you
slaughter the Passover in the evening, at the going down of
the sun, at the appointed time you came out of Mitsrayim.
Deuteronomy 16:7 And you shall roast and eat it in the
place which your Elohim chooses, and in the morning
you shall turn and go to your tents.

It is said here that the Passover is to be offered ONLY in the

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place where He chose to put His name. Not within your
gates, not under every green tree, but in the place where
puts (or will put) His name. Until the time of messiah, the
Festival of Unleavened Bread was a pilgrimage feast, one of
the three times of the year when all of the men were to gather
first at Shiloh and then in Yerushalayim (wherever the
tabernacle and later the temple happened to be), for the
appointed time. They were to bring their tithes to the
tabernacle or to the temple (the tabernacle in the wilderness
was acceptable, as that was the location where chose to
put His name) at the appointed time, and to slaughter the
Passover. After the days of Unleavened Bread, the men of
Israel were given leave to travel home. Though for the
original Passover, the exodus from Egypt took place on the
morning of the fifteenth. They traveled under the protection
of into the wilderness where He had chosen to put His
name. To say that travel is not allowed on this day would be
quite contrary to the Word.

It is Jewish tradition that the children of Israel kept the

Passover only one time in the wilderness; the first anniversary
of the Passover in the second year of their sojourn. (Numbers
9:1) I fought against this idea for quite some time. Indeed,
after Numbers 33 and the account of the first anniversary
Passover in the wilderness, it is not again mentioned as being
kept until 39 years later, on the plains of Yericho after the
children of Israel had crossed the Yarden.

Joshua 5:10 And the children of Israel camped in Gilgal,

and performed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the
month at evening on the desert plains of Jericho.

I did not like the possibility or even the suggestion that they
did not do as they were told to do in the wilderness. However,
just a few verses before the mention of the Passover being

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kept in the plains of Yericho, we read:

Joshua 5:5 For all the people who came out had been
circumcised, but all the people who were born in the
wilderness on the way as they came out of Mitsrayim had
not been circumcised.

It seems that none of the men of fighting age, who were under
the age of 20 at the time of the exodus (who could be as old as
59 at this time, 39 years later), or those who had been born
since, had been circumcised! This would have disqualified
them from keeping the Passover for the past 39 years. This
may have been counted against the children of Israel as a
point of disobedience, included as a judgment against them
and among the reasons for the deaths of all of those listed in
the first census. In any case, I am convinced that the children
of Israel did not do exactly as they were supposed to do in the
wilderness, but that Yehoshua ben Nun brought them back to
the path of righteousness.

Passover is not mentioned again until after it had been long

forgotten.

2 Kings 22:8 And Hilkiah the High Priest said to Shaphan

the scribe, I have found the Book of the Torah in the
House of . And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan,
and he read it.

The children of Israel had fallen into apostasy and so far away
from the Word that the Torah of was entirely forgotten.
Much like today.

2 Kings 22:11 And it came to be, when the sovereign heard

the words of the Book of the Torah, that he tore his
garments,

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2 Kings 22:13 Go, inquire of for me, for the people
and for all Yehudah, concerning the words of this book
that has been found. For great is the wrath of that is
kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed
the words of this book, to do according to all that is
written concerning us.
2 Kings 23:21 And the sovereign commanded all the
people, saying, Prepare the Passover to your Elohim,
as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.
2 Kings 23:22 For such a Passover had not been prepared
since the days of the rulers who ruled Israel, nor in all the
days of the sovereigns of Israel and the sovereigns of
Yehudah,
2 Kings 23:23 but in the eighteenth year of Sovereign
Josiah this Passover was prepared before in
Yerushalayim.

HalleluYAH!

Just imagine how felt when people once again began to

call upon His name and to ask of Him regarding His Passover.
I'd like to think that's how He feels watching me write this
book. Those who ask of Him will be given all of the
information they need. And I have asked much during the
writing of this book, hoping to steer myself and my readers
only toward truth.

Deuteronomy 30:1 And it shall be, when all these words

come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set
before you, and you shall bring them back to your heart
among all the gentiles where your Elohim drives you,

This is what is happening in the time of the Sovereign Josiah,

a return of the people back to the Word. That is what is
happening today, as well. People have forsaken the gods of

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the nations into which they were driven, and have begun to
call upon the name of , inquiring of Him concerning the
words of this book called Torah which they have found.
Hallelujah!

2 Chronicles 30:1 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and

Yehudah, and he also wrote letters to Ephrayim and
Manasseh, to come to the House of at Yerushalayim,
to perform the Passover to Elohim of Israel.
2 Chronicles 30:2 But the sovereign and his leaders and
all the assembly in Yerushalayim had taken counsel to
perform the Passover in the second month.
2 Chronicles 30:3 For they were unable to perform it at its
time, because not enough priests had set themselves apart,
and the people had not gathered at Yerushalayim.
2 Chronicles 30:4 And the matter was right in the eyes of
the sovereign and in the eyes of all the assembly.

If you are unprepared to observe the Passover in the first

month, it is a good thing that an alternate time is given to you!
It is better to wait until the second month, or even until next
year if there is a possibility that you will defile the observance
by uncleanness or presumption.

2 Chronicles 30:5 And they settled the matter, to send a

call to all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, to come to
perform a Passover to Elohim of Israel at
Yerushalayim, since they had not done it for a long time,
as it is written.
Again, it had not been performed in a long time. The Torah is
being dusted off and the people are learning to follow all of its
commands.

2 Chronicles 30:17 For many in the assembly had not set

themselves apart. Therefore the Levites were over the

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slaughter of the Passover for everyone who was not clean,
to set them apart to .
2 Chronicles 30:18 For many of the people, many from
Ephrayim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not
been cleansed, yet they ate the Passover contrary to what
was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying,
who is good, provide atonement for everyone
2 Chronicles 30:19 who has prepared his heart to seek
Elohim, Elohim of his fathers, though he is not
cleansed according to the cleansing of the set-apart place.
2 Chronicles 30:20 And listened to Hezekiah and
healed the people.

Although it was accepted that time, it is inadvisable to repeat

this presumption. Unlearned as we are in the ways of , it
is unwise to presume that performing contrary to what is
written will have any but dire consequences. We can avoid
this by learning to distinguish what is clean from what is
unclean and learning how to make ourselves fit to observe the
Passover some time before the need arises.

2 Chronicles 35:18 There had not been a Passover

performed in Israel like it since the days of Samuel the
prophet. And none of the sovereigns of Israel had
performed such a Passover as Josiah performed, with the
priests and the Levites, and all Yehudah and Israel who
were present, and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim.

The proper Passover had not been kept for many, many years.
Just like now, as people are beginning to come out of their
religions and their doctrines and are learning to observe the
Passover; such a thing had not been properly done by the
people of in many years. Though there are some groups
who claim to have kept Passover for the past thousands of
years, the traditions observed in its keeping make it entirely

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unrecognizable when compared with the book of the Torah
which was found in the house of and was used by the
sovereign Josiah to perform the Passover as described above.
Beware of the leaven of the scribes and the Pharisees.

The Passover was seemingly forgotten for some number of

years, and was not mentioned again until its keeping after the
return of the two southern tribes from Babylonian exile.

Ezra 6:19 And the sons of the exile performed the

Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month,
Ezra 6:20 for the priests and the Levites had cleansed
themselves all of them were clean. And they slaughtered
the Passover for all the sons of the exile, and for their
brothers the priests, and for themselves.
Ezra 6:21 And the children of Israel who had returned
from the exile ate together with all who had separated
themselves from the uncleanness of the gentiles of the land
in order to seek Elohim of Israel.

The last time that the Passover is mentioned in the old

testament is in prophecy about its remembrance at some
future date, in the New City of Yerushalayim in the messianic
age. We know this is in the future because the events
recorded here have never been fulfilled, and are not recorded
as having been performed by any previous prince or
sovereign in regard to any previous house of .

Ezekiel 45:21 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of

the month, you have the Passover, a festival of seven days,
unleavened bread is eaten.

So even in the New City, the Passover will be kept! The new
city is the place where will choose to put His name. It is
likely that all of those in the city will be called on that day to

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gather before . If you plan on being included among the
bride who will be taken by the bridegroom into the place
which has been prepared for her, the act of 'making yourself
ready' includes getting used to the keeping of Passover and the
other moedim. It could be said that without being prepared,
you would not be comfortable in the New City. I say to you
that without being prepared now, you won't have to worry
about then because you won't be there.

The old testament covers two forms of Passover. The original,

with the spreading of the blood on the doorposts for protection
from death. And the memorial, the killing and eating of the
lamb in memory of the mighty arm of having saved His
people from death and having brought them out of the land of
Egypt. The new testament covers two more forms of
Passover. Another original and another memorial. Let us
explore.

Matthew 26:26 And as they were eating, took bread,

and having blessed, broke and gave it to the taught ones
and said, Take, eat, this is My body.
Matthew 26:27 And taking the cup, and giving thanks, He
gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you.
Matthew 26:28 For this is My blood, that of the renewed
covenant, which is shed for many for the forgiveness of
sins.

It is said that for lack of knowledge, His people are destroyed.

(Hosea 4:6) Since Christianity does not recognize the need or
the importance of Passover, they have used these verses to
create a new thing which they call communion. These
verses in Matthew, the words of messiah, were regarding the
keeping of the Passover, not a new thing called communion.
The tradition of communion is one which has simply been
invented by the Christian church. It is not found in the bible, it

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is not, as they say, required under the new covenant. It is a
custom developed by men in order to be a replacement for the
Passover of , according to the will of their father, the
adversary. (John 8:44) It was developed by the church to be a
replacement for the acts of righteousness found in Torah,
which the church no longer wanted to participate in.
According to the blasphemy of the church, you can live as
wickedly as you like for your entire life, but be saved by your
acceptance of the Eucharist on your death bed. This ritual,
developed by the church, is entirely arbitrary, entirely wicked,
and entirely pointless.

Mark 7:13 nullifying the Word of Elohim through your

tradition which you have handed down. And many such
traditions you do.

Messiah was not inventing a new thing by the breaking of the

bread at the last supper. He was explaining the rules of
Passover which would follow after the offering of himself as
the paschal lamb. The original Passover before the exodus
could be summed up the following way. A lamb was provided
for sacrifice, the blood of which gave His people life and
protection from death. The messianic Passover could be
summed up the following way. A lamb was provided for
sacrifice, the blood of which gave His people life and
protection from death. This is the same event with the same
purpose, but the messianic Passover, the greater event, was
only prophesied by the lesser event, the Egyptian Passover.

It is important to remember, again, that this last supper was

NOT the Passover, but the evening of the thirteenth day of the
first month, the evening before the Passover meal. For more
information, please see Appendix A. If this had been the
Passover meal, they would have been eating lamb. Lamb is
not mentioned, only bread and wine. The reason why lamb is

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no longer mentioned is because it is no longer necessary in
order to keep the Passover. The original Egyptian Passover
required the blood of the lamb to be spread on the door posts,
the memorial did not. The original messianic Passover
required the blood of the lamb for the complete removal of
sin, protecting His people, but once shed, that blood covers
once and for all who accept it. We are told that messiah
would come in the middle of the week to do away with the
animal sacrifices.

Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm a covenant with many

for one week. And in the middle of the week he shall put
an end to slaughtering and meal offering...

Simply put, without the slaughtering of an animal sacrifice,

there is no lamb meat to eat. Messiah told us that in
remembrance of him, in remembrance of the messianic
Passover, we are to eat the bread, which is representative of
the flesh of the lamb (defeating the representation by eating
actual lamb), and to drink the wine, which is representative of
the blood of the atonement, shed for all who accept it
(defeating the representation by the spilling of actual blood).
To slaughter a lamb today would be denying the sacrifice of
messiah. Remember that the lamb being eaten in the Passover
remembrance festival wasn't just any old lamb. It was to be
the perfect, flawless, sequestered lamb which was sacrificed
(korban) in the place where chose to put His name.

If you get lamb from a friend for Passover, can you guarantee
that the animal was without imperfection and was closely
guarded since the tenth day? Are you certain it was male? A
year old? Did your friend sacrifice this animal? Is your
friend a priest, familiar with the process and performing it in
the set-apart place? Do you have any control over who else
partakes of that meal, or that none if it was taken out of the

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house and destroyed with fire before morning? Are you
certain none of its bones were broken? NO. No doubt there
are sects of Christianity and Judaism today which still
perform clandestine offerings. But they are doing it
presumptuously, not in the place where chose to put His
name, and in vain - according to all of the commands
regarding Passover. If it is not done in accordance to each of
the laws regarding its doing, then it is NOT the Passover.
Offering it in the place where He chose to put His name is one
of those laws. That is something we simply cannot do today.
Think about the prophecy of messiah and all of the things
which were fulfilled by him at the end of his life. If any of
those things had been amiss, if any of those rules had been
broken, he would not have been the Passover. He would have
been as any other lamb. Eating lamb at Passover today would
be akin to the children of Israel putting the blood of the
sacrifice on their doorposts in the wilderness or in the land of
Israel. Having been done once and having fulfilled its
purpose, it is no longer necessary. If messiah had wanted us
to eat of lamb meat, he would have included it in his speech
before his taught ones the night before Passover. Which lamb
saves you? The bit of meat on your plate which came from
who-knows-where at Passover? Or the messianic lamb,
whose blood was spilled in the set-apart place and at the
appointed time once and for all who choose to accept it? Do
you accept it?

Hebrews 11:28 By belief, he performed the Passover and

the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the first-
born should touch them.

That is the last mention of Passover in the bible. The

Passover was killed in Egypt to purchase/redeem the first-
born of those who were His people. Those who were not of
His people were purchased/redeemed by the sprinkling of

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their own blood. So will it be in the end. Those who do not
accept the atonement sacrifice will still be atoned from sin,
but by their own blood. For more information, see Chapter 8
on Yom Kippur.

Quick Reference: Keeping the Passover

This section is intended as a quick reference guide for those
who wish to keep the Passover not according to tradition but
according to the Word. Each of the points presented in this
section were discussed at length in the chapter which came
before it, and for the sake of brevity and ease for the casual
reader, the referential verses will not be noted here in the
Quick Reference section. For detailed information including
chapter and verse, please read the preceding chapter. For a
quick reference on each of the remaining moedim and
festivals of , please refer to the Quick Reference section at
the end of those respective chapters. Also contained here will
be advice from the author which follows logically from but is
not necessarily found in Torah. The need for such advice
comes only when questions arise which are not directly
answered by Torah, the writings, the prophets, or by the new
testament commentary. Please take this advice for what it is,
the words of a person living in our day, whose only wisdom
has come from repeated and continual efforts to adhere to the
Word. If I am found to be incorrect on ANY point, according
to specific chapter and verse, I wish very much to hear from
my readers. Contact information is presented in Appendix F
at the back of this book.

The Passover is not a high Sabbath. Normal work may be

done on that day. Pay attention to the points discussed in the
first chapter of this book, regarding the keeping of the
calendar. To get the calendar wrong would mean to keep the

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Passover either a day or two before or after the actual set-
apart day. Do not be as the virgins who were not ready with
their oil. Pay close attention and guard yourself to be clean
and undefiled at the appointed time. If you have become
unclean for any of the reasons mentioned in Torah, DO NOT
eat of the Passover. Remember that the meal does not take
place until after sunset on the fourteenth. If, for example, you
became unclean during the day on the thirteenth, you may
bathe in water and you are clean at sunset and acceptable to
partake of the meal. Remember that some forms of
uncleanness may last for more than a day. Guard yourself and
know these things before you profane the Passover through
ignorance. If you are unclean and are unable to perform the
Passover in the first month, remember to keep it in the second
month according to Torah if you are able according to your
cleanness. Do not eat bread with leavening. This will be
covered in greater detail in the next chapter. If you choose to
eat lamb, that is perfectly fine. Only realize that you are not
doing so because you must. You are choosing to do so. You
are not partaking of the Passover lamb, you are simply eating
a meal. You may eat lamb or beef or chicken or any clean
meat. Do not burn whatever is left over in the morning. That
instruction was ONLY for the Passover lamb, which you do
not eat. Do not perform a sacrifice. It is not necessary to
travel to the land which is currently called Israel. Do not
smear the blood of a 1-year-old lamb or goat on your
doorposts. There is no way to do these things in accordance
to Torah today. To do these things would be to presume that
you know what is best over what Torah instructs you to do.

There is no tabernacle, no temple, there are no earthly high

priests, there is not currently a place on Earth where He has
chosen to put His name. To offer and eat of an actual lamb or
goat, and to call it the Passover would be denying messiah.
Do not presume to appoint a messiah for yourself in

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replacement of the most perfect lamb. It is not necessary to
remain in your house until morning. Connected with the blood
on the doorposts, that was only necessary for the original
Egyptian Passover. The blood on the doorposts didn't do any
good if you weren't under that mark to be protected. We are
protected today by the mark upon our hands and upon our
foreheads, that is, our obedience to the Word. It is written on
our doorposts and flows through our hearts, and under that
mark we have protection. However, do not at any time
venture outside without the mark of obedience, or without
the whole armor of Elohim. (Ephesians 6:11) Do not spend
time in darkness, and only come out in the light of day. Do the
works of righteousness (obedience to Torah!) and let your
light be seen before men. The blood and the remaining inside
until morning are symbolic of our protection under the blood
of the paschal messiah, and of our obedience to the covenant.
Likewise with the command to eat the Passover with your
loins girded and your shoes on your feet. Just as with the
blood on the doorposts, that command is never repeated as
being part of the remembrance festival. In fact, it is never
mentioned again at all. That instruction was given just for
them and just for the original Passover. Do not participate in
a Passover Seder. There is little there but worthless
tradition and evil talmudic apostasy. Take care not to get
dragged into that ditch. It is better to obey Elohim rather than
men. (Acts 5:29) Do not do anything simply because it
sounds right or tickles your ears. Check everything against
Torah, and remember that the things done then were only
prophetic of the better events to come. There were
instructions for then and there are instructions for now. It is
important that we learn the difference according only to the
Word of Elohim.

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144
Chapter 4: Unleavened Bread

Leviticus 23:6 And on the fifteenth day of this month is

the Festival of Unleavened Bread to seven days you
eat unleavened bread.
Leviticus 23:7 On the first day you have a set-apart
gathering, you do no servile work.
Leviticus 23:8 And you shall bring an offering made by
fire to for seven days. On the seventh day is a set-
apart gathering, you do no servile work.

The Festival of Unleavened Bread, or in Hebrew Chag

Matzot [ H2282][H4682], begins the day after the
Passover sacrifice on the fifteenth day of the first month of the
year. (At sunset on the fourteenth). The first day of
Unleavened Bread (the fifteenth of the month), and the
seventh day of Unleavened Bread (the twenty-first of the
month), are High Sabbaths, set-apart appointed times when
you are to do no servile work. The second, third, fourth, fifth
and sixth days of Unleavened Bread are normal working days.
It is important to note that while Leviticus 23 uses the words
no servile work, a verse in Exodus takes it a bit further:

Exodus 12:16 And on the first day is a set-apart

gathering, and on the seventh day you have a set-apart
gathering. No work at all is done on them, only that which

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is eaten by every being, that alone is prepared by you.

No work is to be done on those days except work which is

necessary to feed every person and, of course, animals. It is
best to adhere to the standard Sabbath practice, and to employ
those rules for the first and seventh days of Unleavened
Bread. Consider that Joseph of Aramathea hurried to remove
the body of messiah to the tomb before the setting of the sun
on the fourteenth, in preparation for the first day of
Unleavened Bread.

Luke 23:53 And taking it down, he wrapped it in linen,

and laid it in a tomb hewn out of the rock, where no one
was yet laid.
Luke 23:54 And it was Preparation day, and the Sabbath
was approaching.

Consider that messiah could have lived for hours or even days
on the execution stake. That's why the legs of the two
criminals with him were broken. It is to be remembered that
the classic crucifixion pose, as Christianity has it, is
fictional. Those who were put to death upon the execution
stake were hung in such a way that they were unable to
breathe without pushing up with their feet, which were nailed
to the stake. With broken legs, they would be unable to lift
their weight and would thus suffocate. How else would
breaking their legs hasten their deaths? Breaking the legs of
one hung in the classic crucifixion pose would not alter or
hasten death in one so positioned, and is obviously false. In
what other way then do the following verses make sense?

John 19:31 Therefore, since it was the Preparation Day,

that the bodies should not remain on the stake on the
Sabbath for that Sabbath was a high one the Yehudim
asked Pilate to have their legs broken, and that they be

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taken away.
John 19:32 Therefore the soldiers came and broke the legs
of the first, and of the other who was impaled with Him,
John 19:33 but when they came to and saw that He
was already dead, they did not break His legs.

Since the first day of Unleavened bread was coming quickly,

they asked that the deaths of the men be hastened so their
bodies could be dealt with before the high Sabbath. Messiah
was already dead, and of necessity. It was said that no bone
of the Passover was to be broken:

Exodus 12:46 It is eaten in one house, you are not to take

any of the flesh outside the house, nor are you to break
any bone of it.

If messiah's legs had been broken, he would not have been fit
to be the Passover.

Get the Leavening Out

Exodus 12:15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.

Indeed on the first day you cause leaven to cease from
your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the
first day until the seventh day, that being shall be cut off
from Israel.

It is typical, not only in Judaism but among those being called

out and first discovering the moedim, to gather those things
containing leavening and to remove them from the house
before Passover. Some translate the verse above to mean that
we are not to remove things which are leavened until on the
first day, and other translations say before the first day.
The Hebrew wording of that verse may actually mean either
case. However, consider the following verse.

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Exodus 12:19 For seven days no leaven is to be found in
your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, that same
being shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel,
whether sojourner or native of the land.

No leaven is to be found in your houses for seven days. If you

are removing leavening on the first day, then you are only
fulfilling six of the seven day requirement for leaven not to be
found in your house. It is best to remove it before sunset on
the fourteenth day.

What is leavening? Put quite simply, leavening is yeast.

Yeast is an organism which, at the proper temperature,
consumes sugar and puts out alcohol and carbon dioxide as
waste products. In bread, the carbon dioxide is captured by
pockets in the dough formed by gluten, which causes the
bread to rise. There is yeast floating around in the air, it hasn't
always come in convenient packets and jars. It acts upon
more than bread; it is a fungus which helps to break down
organic matter. It thrives on decay and causes decay. It is
symbolic of man-made doctrine, which causes the decay of
society as it falls away from the Word and into tradition.

Matthew 16:6 And said to them, Mind! And

beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

Matthew 16:12 Then they understood that He did not say

to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the
Pharisees and the Sadducees.

Until it was explained to them, it was misunderstood even by

the messiah's taught-ones, that the symbolism of the leavening
in the bread pointed toward false teachings. They may have
held the erroneous Jewish traditional view that the reason to
remove leaven is because it puffs up and causes pride, as is

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said today, instead of the leaven being symbolic of tradition
and doctrine. Naturally, rabbinic Judaism would not want to
teach the true meaning of a command which reflects the
feelings of toward the traditions of men. The reason that
we remove leavening from our homes in the first month of
every year is two-fold. First, we do it to be obedient to the
Word. We are also to remember to audit our beliefs and to
take care not to fall into the doctrines and traditions of men.
Unfortunately, because of man's tenacity in holding onto
tradition, this has been largely forgotten.

1 Corinthians 5:6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not

know that a little leaven leavens the entire lump?
1 Corinthians 5:7 Therefore cleanse out the old leaven, so
that you are a new lump, as you are unleavened. For also
messiah our Passover was offered for us.
1 Corinthians 5:8 So then let us observe the festival, not
with old leaven, nor with the leaven of evil and
wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity
and truth.

Again, the leaven of the practices and traditions of men causes

corruption. A small amount of leaven is capable of leavening
many loaves of bread because the yeast grows and multiplies.
It is a living organism. So long as there is sugar to consume,
it will continue to multiply. It can live for years. Sourdough
recipes and starters can be shared over generations. So can
false doctrine and tradition. Once a year, we are commanded
to inspect that which we eat (the Word), and remove the old
leaven, as well as the leaven of evil and wickedness in the
form of false doctrines and the traditions of men.

Deuteronomy 8:3 And He humbled you, and let you

suffer hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not
know nor did your fathers know, to make you know that

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man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that
comes from the mouth of .

What is not leavening? Baking soda is not leavening. Baking

soda (sodium bicarbonate) also releases carbon dioxide when
it is combined with water, which gas is also trapped by gluten
pockets and causes expansion of dough. However, this is not a
biological breakdown or decay, this is a chemical reaction.
No alcohol is released, and sugar is not necessary to provide
fuel for the baking soda to feed on, as yeast does. Baking
soda did not always exist. Though it was used long ago, even
by the Egyptians, it does not exist freely in the air as does
yeast, which is necessary for spontaneous leavening. Other
things not to be considered leavening include beans and
pasta, often removed as leavening because of their
propensity to expand when water is added. When we are told
to remove leavening, we are to remove yeast and only yeast.

Yeast in My Soup?

Yeast is used in many things today, and is found as an

ingredient in surprisingly diverse types of foods. Ingredients
such as autolyzed yeast extract are often found in soups and in
other pre-packaged foods. Though considered to be a
natural product, no chemically-extracted ingredient is truly
natural. It so happens that autolyzed yeast extract is
synonymous with MSG (monosodium glutamate), and should
be avoided anyway, not just for this one week a year. As the
product contains yeast, however, it is probably a good idea to
remove it from your home before the first day of unleavened
bread. Other things may contain yeast products besides bread,
and it is a good idea to check every label on every food
product in your home. It is important to keep in mind that in
the sixth year in the Shemitah cycle, while you are laying
back food for the seventh year, not to lay back (or to take care

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to mark) anything with yeast or you will have quite an ordeal
on your hands during Unleavened Bread in the Shemitah year.
This will be discussed in greater detail in Chapter 10.

It should be said that since yeast exists in the air and is blown
around as easily as is dust, it is not possible to remove it
entirely from your home. This is also symbolic. Though
doctrine exists in the world, by your obedience to this
command to remove it from your home you are taking an
active and participatory role in removing it from your life and
focusing instead on the unleavened Word of . That is the
whole point. It is a memorial.

Exodus 12:17 And you shall guard the Festival of

Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I brought your
divisions out of the land of Mitsrayim. And you shall
guard this day throughout your generations, an
everlasting law.

This day is guarded and remembered by the children of Israel

as an everlasting law because of the power wrought by in
removing His people from the oppression of Pharaoh. It is to
be remembered that as this happened in the past, it will
happen again in the future. By the power of the Word and by
the might of the Creator, we are all being taken out of
Babylon and are wandering the wilderness, relearning His
Word on our way toward the promised land. The first day of
Unleavened Bread is the anniversary of all of these things and
is very important. Because we are being removed from
Egypt/Babylon, it is a good idea to remove the false doctrines
of those religions we leave behind, as we pick up the truth of
the Word. We must become well practiced so we do not die in
this wilderness as did our forebears. The children of Israel
were given forty years to get it right. Pray that we have so
much time!

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Exodus 12:18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of
the month, in the evening, you shall eat unleavened bread
until the twenty-first day of the month in the evening.

At sunset on the fourteenth day (in the evening), began the

fifteenth day. That is the time that the Passover is to be eaten,
not before. Remember that unleavened bread is to be eaten
with the Passover. That is because the actual Passover meal is
not consumed until after sunset on the fourteenth. Also,
please remember that it does not say that you must eat ONLY
unleavened bread and nothing else for a week. Aside from
abstaining from leavened bread and other things containing
yeast, you may eat as you normally eat.

Exodus 12:19 For seven days no leaven is to be found in

your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, that same
being shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel,
whether sojourner or native of the land.
Exodus 12:20 Do not eat that which is leavened in all
your dwellings you are to eat unleavened bread.
Exodus 12:39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the
dough which they had brought out of Mitsrayim, for it was
not leavened, since they were driven out of Mitsrayim, and
had not been able to delay, nor had they prepared food for
themselves.

This is made so clear and is said so many times that it must be

important! It is not only important to remember it and to do
it, but to teach it to the next generation so they have the same
drive to guard the moedim. We are not the generation in the
wilderness. We did not see first-hand the miracles provided by
Elohim to remove the children of Israel from bondage. We
were not told these things by the voice of Moshe. But in the
Torah, we have the record of those things having been done,
and we have the record of the laws and days which we are

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supposed to hedge about and teach to our children.

Exodus 13:7 Unleavened bread is to be eaten the seven

days, and whatever is leavened is not to be seen with you,
and leaven is not to be seen with you within all your
border.
Exodus 13:8 And you shall inform your son in that day,
saying, It is because of what did for me when I came
up from Mitsrayim.
Exodus 13:9 And it shall be as a sign to you on your
hand and as a reminder between your eyes, that the Torah
of is to be in your mouth, for with a strong hand
has brought you out of Mitsrayim.
Exodus 13:10 And you shall guard this law at its
appointed time from year to year.

It is because of what did for ME. It is a personal thing.

We have each been delivered from the bondage of leavening,
from the false doctrines of the world and into the wilderness
to be tested. The remembrance, the obedience to this Word is
to be a mark on our hands and between our eyes. We are to be
marked by the Creator with the stamp of obedience. It is in
this way that he knows the children of Israel from the children
of Egypt and Babylon. He will know us when we blow the
shofar. He will know us when we remove the leaven from our
houses. He will know us when we call upon His name.

The Mark of

Let us take a closer look at one of those verses.

Exodus 13:9 And it shall be as a sign to you on your

hand and as a reminder between your eyes, that the Torah
of is to be in your mouth, for with a strong hand
has brought you out of Mitsrayim.

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The obedience to this Word and adherence to the procedures
laid down by are to be a sign (some translations use the
word mark) on your hand and between your eyes. Are we
not familiar with these things in another context?

Revelation 13:16 And he causes all, both small and great,

and rich and poor, and free and slave, to be given a mark
upon their right hand or upon their foreheads,

We are taught to believe today that this mark of the beast is

some sort of bar code or chip or implant or some other such
nonsense. I say to you that the mark of the beast is the
absence of the mark of . Those who are disobedient to the
Word will receive a different mark than those who are
obedient, and in that way His people will be distinguished
from among the wicked. Compare the picture of a man
standing with his arms at his sides, with the mark of
written in the blood of the Covenant on his hands and on his
forehead. Does this not resemble the picture in your mind of
the blood on the doorposts and lintels of all of the marked
homes of the children of Israel in Egypt on the Passover?
These are one in the same. The same mark, the same sign, the
same blood, the same protection. If you are marked in any
other way, by anything other than the sign of obedience which
puts on your hand and on your forehead, then you bear
the mark of the beast. What would have against a credit
card or a chip implant? Show me a verse which says not to do
that. Another swing and a miss for the traditions of men.

Pilgrimage Festivals

Exodus 23:14 Three times in the year you are to observe

a festival to Me:
Exodus 23:15 Guard the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
Seven days you eat unleavened bread, as I commanded

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you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib for in it
you came out of Mitsrayim and do not appear before Me
empty-handed;

During the seven-day period of time of Unleavened Bread

occurs the Festival of First Fruits, which is the first of the
three pilgrimage festivals. It is assumed that Passover is the
first, but it is not. It is easy to get the two mixed up and when
you study this week of time, they can be difficult to separate.
The key is this. The Passover is slaughtered on the fourteenth
day of the first month. That's all there is to Passover. The rest
takes place after sunset, the fifteenth day having begun. In
fact, the Festival of Unleavened Bread is often referred to
(incorrectly) as the multiple days of Passover. You might hear
the expression, On the third day of Passover. We are told
that there is only one day, the fourteenth day of the first
month, for Passover, and that there are seven days set apart for
eating unleavened bread after that day. If there were multiple
days of Passover, we would, by implication, be instructed to
offer a Pasach sacrifice on each of those days. That instruction
is not given.

Luke 2:41 And His parents went to Yerushalayim every

year at the Festival of the Passover.
Luke 2:42 And when He was twelve years old, they went
up to Yerushalayim according to the practice of the
festival.
Luke 2:43 When they had accomplished the days, as they
returned, the Child stayed behind in Yerushalayim.
And His parents did not know it,

Messiah's father, Joseph, was a male Israelite. He fulfilled his

duty in bringing his family to Yerushalayim for the appointed
times:

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Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times a year all your males
appear before your Elohim in the place which He
chooses: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and at the
Festival of Weeks, and at the Festival of Booths. And none
should appear before empty-handed,

Seeing as how the slaughtering of the Passover wasn't to be

done in any place save that which was mandated by Torah, the
males of Israel (the leaders of the household were required,
there was nothing to say that the women and children couldn't
come as well!) would come from wherever they were (unless
they were on a journey) to Yerushalayim. Notice that the
verse above does not say that they are to be there for Passover,
only for the Festival of Unleavened Bread (or rather for First
Fruits, which occurs during the week of Unleavened Bread).
On the day of the fourteenth of the first month, between the
sunsets, the Pasach was slaughtered. The lamb was to be
eaten after sunset on the fourteenth, now the fifteenth, and
with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. The first day of
unleavened bread, including the eating of the lamb, took place
after sunset on the fourteenth. That was the important meal,
the renewing of the covenant that was the required time for all
the males of Israel to be in the place which He chooses. That
was the event for which they were to make themselves clean
and circumcised. (Exodus 12:44-48)

For all three pilgrimage festivals - the Festival of First Fruits,

which takes place during the Feast of Unleavened bread,
Shavuot (Feast of Weeks, Pentecost), and for the Festival of
Booths (Sukkot) - the men of Israel were not to come empty-
handed.

Deuteronomy 16:17 but each one with the gift of his hand,
according to the blessing of your Elohim which He
has given you.

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The reason for this is because has provided many
blessings, and those things should not go unremembered. The
first-fruits (tithe) of all that was provided to Israel were to be
given to the High Priest and his sons for the sustenance of
their households. The first-fruits of the barley harvest were
brought for them when all the men of Israel gathered at
Yerushalayim for Unleavened Bread. Each did not bring a
single sheaf of barley, as some would have us to believe. This
was the first of the barley harvest from every farmer who had
gathered the firsts of his field and had brought it in service of
to be given to His High Priests as a first-fruits offering.
Each did this because he was commanded to do so. They
were not to come empty-handed. They were to bring the firsts
of their crops. See Appendix B for the different crops in Israel
and when they are harvested throughout the year. Consider
that the children of Israel were taken out of Egypt, and they
did not go empty-handed.

Exodus 3:21 And I shall give this people favor in the eyes
of the Mitsrites. And it shall be, that when you go, you
shall not go empty-handed.

Therefore, at the appointed times, the pilgrimage festivals,

we do not return before empty-handed. We remember the
blessings He has given us and we give gifts befitting those
blessings. Before the destruction of the temple, those gifts
were given to the Levites. Where do our gifts go today?

Matthew 25:40 And the Sovereign shall answer and say

to them, Truly, I say to you, in so far as you did it to one
of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.

Who are his brothers?

Matthew 12:50 For whoever does the desire of My

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Father who is in the heavens is My brother and sister and
mother.

We are not to cast our pearls before swine, we are not to give
the children's bread to the little dogs, we are not to bless those,
who, through their disobedience, has cursed. Do not give
gifts to those who do not do according to the desire of the
Father. If you have given a gift to a disobedient one, you have
thrown the gift away. If you have given it to a Torah-observant
child of Israel, you have not appeared before empty-
handed. Tithes are required of us. The first (tenth) of our
increase is due to Him. See Appendix D for more information
on tithe. Beyond the tithes of the first fruits, we can give
more if we choose, in the form of free-will offerings.

Exodus 35:29 The children of Israel brought a voluntary

offering to , all the men and women whose hearts
moved them to bring all kinds of work which , by the
hand of Moshe, had commanded to be done.
Exodus 36:5 and they spoke to Moshe, saying, The
people bring much more than enough for the service of the
work which commanded us to do.
Exodus 36:6 Then Moshe commanded and they sent this
word throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor
woman do any more work for the contribution of the set-
apart place. And the people were withheld from bringing,
Exodus 36:7 for what they had was enough for all the
work to be done, more than enough.

Will it be said of the children of Israel today that we brought

more than enough for the service of ?Will it be said that
we gave freely of the blessings which were granted to us? Of
our gold, of our fabric, of our fine leather and silver and
copper? Of our fine yarn and precious stones and oil and
spices? Will it be said that we gave freely of our time to

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benefit the Word of Elohim, and used the talents with which
we were blessed to the glory of ?

If you journey with friends, family, or your assembly to gather

for Chag Matzot, remember not to leave your home empty-
handed. Give from your heart according to the blessings
which you receive.

Leviticus 2:4 And when you bring as an offering a grain

offering baked in the oven, it is of unleavened cakes of fine
flour mixed with oil, or unleavened thin cakes anointed
with oil.
Leviticus 2:5 But if your offering is a grain offering on
the griddle, it is of fine flour, unleavened, mixed with oil.
Leviticus 2:6 Divide it into bits and pour oil on it, it is a
grain offering.
Leviticus 2:7 And if your offering is a grain offering, in a
stewing-pot, it is made of fine flour with oil.

While we are told that messiah ended both the animal and the
meal or grain offerings, here in Leviticus we have a few
recipes for unleavened bread. V. 4 describes bread which is
baked in the oven and either mixed with or anointed with oil.
The anointing would be representative of the unleavened
Word which was anointed - messiah! V. 5 describes a bread
mixed with oil and cooked in the griddle, then divided into
bits and anointed with oil. V. 6 describes a bread which is
either fried or stewed (dumplings?), depending on your
translation, and which is mixed with oil. At my house we
make a lot of Indian naan bread. This makes an excellent
unleavened bread. See my recipe for naan in the Quick
Reference section at the end of this chapter. However you
choose to do it, the ways listed above have the official Torah
stamp of approval for ingredients and methods for making
unleavened matzot.

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Leviticus 2:13 And season with salt every offering of
your grain offering, and do not allow the salt of the
covenant of your Elohim to be lacking from your grain
offering. With all your offerings you bring salt.

Again, though there are no longer grain offerings, salt should

still be added to your unleavened bread. Do not add honey.

Leviticus 2:11 No grain offering which you bring to

is made with leaven, for you do not burn any leaven or any
honey in an offering to made by fire.

Salt provides preservation while yeast and honey provide

spoilage. Remember that yeast is wild and eats sugar. If you
were to put honey into your unleavened bread, it might rise on
its own!

Unleavened Bread in Israel

Joshua 5:11 And they ate of the stored grain of the land
on the morrow after the Passover, unleavened bread and
roasted grain on this same day.

They entered the land on the same day they came out of
Egypt, and ate unleavened bread on the first day of the
festival. It was also remembered when Hezekiah was king
and again when the book of the Torah was found in the House
of and brought to king Josiah.

2 Chronicles 30:21 And the children of Israel who were in

Yerushalayim performed the Festival of Unleavened Bread
seven days with great joy. And the Levites and the priests
praised day by day, with instruments of praise before
.
2 Chronicles 35:17 And the children of Israel who were

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present performed the Passover at that time, and the
Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days.

Again it was remembered when the two southern tribes

returned from Babylonian exile.

Ezra 6:22 And they performed the Festival of Unleavened

Bread seven days with joy, for caused them to rejoice,
and turned the heart of the sovereign of Assyria toward
them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the House
of Elohim, the Elohim of Israel.

Notice how they are always mentioned as having performed

the Festival with great joy. We should also be joyous! This is
an excellent time! We have been delivered from bondage!

From time to time we see what can only be called a mistake in

the text of the new testament commentary. Either in the
translation from Hebrew to Greek or from Greek to English,
something somewhere has quite clearly been lost.

Matthew 26:17 And on the first day of Unleavened Bread

the taught ones came to , saying to Him, Where do
You wish us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?

If you're at all familiar with the series of events in the first

month of the year, you can tell immediately that there's a
problem with that verse. That is akin to saying, On the
fifteenth day of the month, the taught ones came to him
saying, Where would you like to be on the fourteenth day of
the month? Clearly, the verse above originally said
something along the lines of Leading up to the first day or
on the first day of the week in which the feast was to take
place... Remember that Passover was killed on that
Wednesday. Messiah was killed as the Passover and did not

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live to see the first day of Unleavened Bread. Again, here:

Luke 22:1 And the Festival of Unleavened Bread drew

near, which is called Passover.

Only Pasach is called Passover. Chag Matzot is called the

Festival of Unleavened Bread. This illustrates the point made
earlier about Unleavened Bread sometimes being referred to
as the days of Passover. Likewise,

Luke 22:7 And the Day of Unleavened Bread came when

the Passover had to be slaughtered.

The Passover had to be slaughtered within several hours

before the sun set into the first day of Unleavened Bread. At
any rate, notice how the taught ones of the new testament
commentary are still keeping the Passover, as they were
commanded to do in Torah. Those who understood the
prophecies about messiah, and were there to witness the
things which he did, understood that they were no longer to
offer a lamb or goat as Pasach after his death. Those who did
not understand ate the old leaven for 40 years, being tested,
before the temple was destroyed in 70AD. Since that time, it
has not been possible to offer the Passover according to Torah,
though it has not been accepted of since the death of
messiah.

Quick Reference: Festival of Unleavened

Bread
The Hebrew word chag means festival, a joyous occasion.
A party, if you will. Consider the times referenced in the bible
when the Festival was celebrated. First, when the children of
Israel were freed from Egyptian bondage. Later, when
entering the Promised Land. Again later when the Torah was

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re-discovered and people once again began to call upon on the
name of . Again later when returning from Babylonian
captivity. And in more recent times, when the prophecy of
messiah was fulfilled and all of the House of Israel was freed
from bondage and death. This is a time to be remembered
with joy! Do not be sad during this time, it is a blessing.

The most important things to remember about the Festival of

Unleavened Bread is that it lasts for seven days. The first day
is a day of no servile work, except that everyone must eat. All
yeast should be removed from your house before this day.
Remember to check your cabinets, your pantry, your long-
term food storage, the fridge and freezer, wherever you have
food. Read all labels because things contain yeast which you
would just not believe. It is not necessary to remove things
with baking soda or baking powder. However, if uncertain or
if the label simply says leavening and does not tell you what
item is providing that service, it is best to err on the side of
caution and get it out of your house. What do you do with this
stuff? Give it away to those who are non-observant. Throw it
away. Remember to take out your trash, because it contains
things with leaven! Clean out your toaster and toaster oven
(leavened crumbs). Lots of people forget this one! Bring all
of your leavened things to some other place where it can all be
stored for seven days. Put it outside if the weather and local
wildlife permits. It doesn't really matter, just get it out of your
house. There is no law saying that you may not bring it back
after the Festival is over.

The first day is also called a mikra qodesh, a set-apart

gathering. On this day, gather together with believers,
family, people who are seeking to keep these days set apart.
Read scripture, discuss these things, encourage one another.
Begin eating unleavened bread on the first day. You may eat
things besides unleavened bread, but do not consume anything

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leavened. See page 166 for my unleavened Indian naan bread
recipe. This stuff is great plain, buttered, or dipped in any
lentil or chickpea dish.

Traditionally, a prayer is said over the bread. But this is a

time to get the leavening of tradition out of your home, so you
may choose to go without. There is no commandment saying
that you must say a prayer over your unleavened bread. Only,
remember to give thanks when you have eaten and are
satisfied. (Deuteronomy 8:10) I will not include the
traditional prayer here because I really do not feel that the
tradition of saying it should have any part in this set-apart day.
Days two through six are normal days, though you will have a
weekly Sabbath during that interval, followed by the Feast of
First Fruits. More information will be provided about that in
the next chapter on the Feast of First Fruits. Remember to eat
unleavened bread on these days, and to abstain from anything
leavened.

The seventh day is also a day of no servile work, save that

everyone must eat. It is important to keep these days on the
calendar that the Creator set forth, and not to fix them in
order that no two Sabbaths fall back-to-back, as some have
the tradition of doing. The seventh day is also a set-apart
gathering. Remember that you may travel whatever
reasonable distance is necessary to gather and to keep these
days set apart. Just make sure you have plenty of gas. Don't
cause others to work on a day when all creation should be
abstaining from servile work. If you make any mistakes in the
keeping of these important days, then it is not being done
correctly. Do not alter the Word for your own convenience or
to match the leavening of the scribes and Pharisees which has
been handed down through that brood of vipers (Matthew
3:7) for many thousands of years. It is better to obey Elohim
rather than men. Remember to eat unleavened bread for seven

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days and to abstain from all things leavened during that time
as well. Eating out can be dangerous, because you may be
consuming leavening without your knowledge. Read labels
on all new food products being brought into your house.
Beware of non-believers who may bring leavened food into
your home. Ignore traditional methods of removing leaven
from your home, including a process called kashering. The
following is from a website called Hebrew4christians.com. It
must be that the name TalmudicTradition4Undiscerning.com
was unavailable.

3. Kashering your stove and oven. This involves a thorough

scrubbing of the entire oven, stove top, and racks and then
turning the stove (and stove tops) on for over one hour at the
highest temperature. A microwave oven can be kashered by
boiling a bowl of water inside it for more than 20 minutes.

This is supposed to be a time when the leaven of scribes and

Pharisees is removed from our homes. Those who are stuck
in the ditch of tradition worship in vain because of their
traditions. If the Torah had wanted us to boil water in the
microwave in preparation for Unleavened Bread, those
instructions would have been clear and repeated within Torah.
My bible doesn't include a testament new enough to have
included the proper care of microwave ovens. Such things are
absurd and should be ignored. If it isn't in the Word, don't do
it. Those who do are guilty of adding to the Word and taking
away from its perfection. This is precisely the lesson which
this Festival is supposed to teach. Leaven may be brought
back into the house and eaten again after sunset on the
seventh day.

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 Naan Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 Tbsp oil, separated
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup plain yogurt
up to 1/2 cup warm water

In a mixing bowl, mix together all ingredients, reserving

2Tbsp oil. I have tried different types of oil and find
sunflower oil to give the best taste. Knead together, adding
warm water as necessary to form a well-formed ball of dough.
Add just a little at a time, it doesn't take much. If you've
added too much, add a little flour to get the consistency you
want. As you are kneading, add more oil as necessary to have
an oily or greasy appearance in the finished product. Knead
for 5-7 minutes to mix and prepare the dough. When pressed
with the fingers, it should bounce back slightly. Lightly oil
the dough ball and cover the bowl with a towel, allowing the
dough to set for 2 hours in a warm place. It will expand to as
much as twice its size.

Preheat a flat, ungreased skillet to medium heat. Flour your

hands and form the dough into six equal balls. Roll each ball
in flour, knock off any loose flour, and set it aside. Just before
cooking, roll each ball of dough to about 3/8 thickness. Don't
over-flatten! Sprinkle some water with your fingers on the
dough and turn over on your heated skillet. Allow to cook for
1-2 minutes, checking with a spatula to keep it from sticking
and burning. When done, take dough with tongs and hold it
directly over your flame on the other side, and move it to cook

166
evenly. Bubbles may burn slightly, but that's okay. Lightly
butter finished naan and enjoy!

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168
Chapter 5: Feast of First Fruits

Leviticus 23:10 Speak to the children of Israel, and you

shall say to them, When you come into the land which I
give you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring a
sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest.

The Feast of First Fruits, or Yom HaBikkurim

[H3117][H1061] in the Hebrew, is the first of two moedim
which isn't fixed on the calendar but is discerned by the
instructions given for its observance. It is written that
Passover is held on the fourteenth of the first month and that
the first of Unleavened Bread is on the fifteenth. There is no
set date for the Feast of First Fruits, which takes place on the
day after the weekly Sabbath which falls after Passover. The
day begins at sunset on Saturday. Remember that there is no
Hebrew word for Saturday. The days of Sunday through
Friday were simply numbered 1-6, and the seventh day,
Saturday, was called Shabbat.

Leviticus 23:11 And he shall wave the sheaf before ,

for your acceptance. On the morrow after the Sabbath the
priest waves it.

Let's say that Passover, the fourteenth day of the first month,

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happens to fall on a Monday. The day after the weekly
Sabbath (sometime after sunset on Saturday) would be the
twentieth of the biblical month. If the fourteenth was on a
Tuesday, the day after the weekly Sabbath would be the
nineteenth. If Passover was on Friday, then the Feast of First
Fruits would be the sixteenth day of the first month. Yet we
are not given a date, we are told to observe the calendar and
discern for ourselves the appointed time. This is further proof
against the lunar sabbath theory, which states that the eighth,
fifteenth, twenty-first and twenty-eighth of each lunar month
is a sabbath. If this was true, the day immediately after
Passover would be a Sabbath, and the day immediately after
that would be the Feast of First Fruits. It would fall on the
sixteenth day of the first month, every single year. Fifty days
thence would be Pentecost (Shavuot) or the Feast of Weeks,
which would occur on exactly the same day every year. Yet
for neither Yom HaBikkurim nor for Shavuot, is there a date
set anywhere in the bible. To say that the Feast of First Fruits
falls on the sixteenth of the first month every year would be
adding to the Word. It may fall on that day, but only if
Passover was on a Friday. If we were once tied to a perfect
52-week lunar cycle in which these dates all fell on the same
days of the week, that is not the case now. For more
information about this cycle, see the section called Enoch
Calendar in Chapter 1. The instructions given in the Torah,
the writings and in the prophets, as well as the writings of the
new testament commentary do not match these two events -
First Fruits and Pentecost - to a definite and set date on the
lunar calendar. We must observe and be ready for the
appointed time, which would be thrown off by incorrectly
figuring the day of Passover. If you are unable to discern the
calendar from the celestial signs given by the Creator in the
beginning, each of your feast days will be held in error. You
will not be ready at the appointed times. For more
information, see Chapter 1.

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The first day of the year, when the new moon sliver was just
visible for the first time after the vernal equinox, was two
weeks before Passover. By the time of the Feast of First
Fruits, the barley was well past the abib stage (however man
chooses to define it) and was fully harvested in order to be
brought from quite some distance away to Yerushalayim for
the tithe of the first fruits. The Feast of First Fruits was held
in celebration and praise for a successful barley crop, and the
very first ten percent (tithe) of that which was harvested was
offered as the offering of First Fruits to .

Leviticus 23:12 And on that day when you wave the

sheaf, you shall prepare a male lamb a year old, a perfect
one, as a burnt offering to ,
Leviticus 23:13 and its grain offering: two-tenths of an
ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire
to , a sweet fragrance, and its drink offering: one-
fourth of a hin of wine.
Leviticus 23:14 And you do not eat bread or roasted
grain or fresh grain until the same day that you have
brought an offering to your Elohim a law forever
throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

It should be evident to even the first-time bible reader that the

first day, the first born, and the first fruits are all very
important to . Consider also that many goats and lambs
are born as twins or even triplets. How well a shepherd must
know his flock to know not only which of the newborns came
first, but to know which female is going to give birth, and
when, and whether or not that female has given birth before!
In a flock of hundreds or even thousands of sheep, a shepherd
must really know his work. How much better does know
His own flock?

Genesis 4:4 And Abel also brought of the first-born of his

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flock and of their fat. And looked to Abel and his
offering,

Genesis 27:19 And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau

your first-born, I have done as you said to me. Please rise,
sit and eat of my wild game, so that your being might bless
me.

Genesis 29:26 And Laban said, It is not done this way in

our place, to give the younger before the first-born.

Genesis 38:28 And it came to be, when she was giving

birth, that the one put out his hand. And the midwife took
a scarlet thread and bound it on his hand, saying, This
one came out first.

Genesis 43:33 And they sat before him, the first-born

according to his birthright and the youngest according to
his youth, and the men looked at each other in
astonishment.

Genesis 48:18 And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my

father, for this one is the first-born, put your right hand on
his head.

Genesis 49:3 Reuben, you are my first-born, my power

and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of
exaltation and the excellency of power.

Even the chosen people of , the nation of the children of

Israel, is called His firstborn!

Exodus 4:22 And you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus said

, Israel is My son, My first-born,

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When they are treated poorly, there are consequences.

Exodus 4:23 so I say to you, let My son go to serve Me.

But if you refuse to let him go, see, I am killing your son,
your first-born.

Exodus 11:5 and all the first-born in the land of

Mitsrayim shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh who
sits on his throne, even to the first-born of the female
servant who is behind the handmill, and all the first-born
of cattle.

Exodus 13:2 Set apart to Me all the first-born, the one

opening the womb among the children of Israel, among
man and among beast, it is Mine.
Exodus 13:12 that you shall pass over to every one
opening the womb, and every first-born that comes from
your livestock, the males belong to .
Exodus 13:13 But every first-born of a donkey you are to
ransom with a lamb. And if you do not ransom it, then you
shall break its neck. And every first-born of man among
your sons you are to ransom.
Exodus 13:14 And it shall be, when your son asks you in
time to come, saying, What is this? then you shall say to
him, By strength of hand brought us out of
Mitsrayim, out of the house of bondage.
Exodus 13:15 And it came to be, when Pharaoh was too
hardened to let us go, that killed every first-born in
the land of Mitsrayim, both the first-born of man and the
first-born of beast. Therefore I am slaughtering to
every male that open the womb, but every first-born of my
sons I ransom.
Exodus 13:16 And it shall be as a sign on your hand and
as frontlets between your eyes, for by strength of hand
brought us out of Mitsrayim.

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There again we see the mark of , put on the hands and
foreheads of those who are obedient to His Word. All of these
things are part of the Covenant, and the remembrance and the
keeping of these commands are to be as marks on the hands
and on the foreheads of the Children of Israel (then and now)
as a sign that His people are adhering to His Word.

Exodus 22:29 Do not delay giving your harvest and your

vintage. Give Me the first-born of your sons.
Exodus 22:30 Likewise you are to do with your oxen,
with your sheep. It is to be with its mother seven days. On
the eighth day you give it to Me.

The first-born of Israel were redeemed by the acceptance of

the Levites into the priesthood, and the first-born of the flocks
and of the herds of Israel were redeemed by the flocks and
herds of the Levites.

Numbers 3:41 And you shall take the Levites for Me I

am instead of all the first-born among the children
of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the
first-born among the livestock of the children of Israel.

Numbers 15:21 Of the first of your dough you are to give

to a contribution throughout your generations.

Numbers 18:12 All the best of the oil, and all the best of
the new wine and the grain their first-fruits which they
give to I have given them to you. [the priests]
Numbers 18:13 The first-fruits of all that is in their land,
which they bring to , are yours. [the priests'] Everyone
who is clean in your house eats it.

And on and on; there are many such verses relating the first
fruits to the first born. The first ten percent of your increase is

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for tithe. The firstborn of all clean animals are to be offered
before . The firstborn of unclean animals are to be
purchased/redeemed from at a price. If that price goes
unpaid or if the firstborn animal is unwanted, its neck must be
broken. One way or the other, the first-born and first fruits of
all things belong to . All things which open the womb
belong to . Special rights were conferred upon a first-born
son of Israel, namely a double-portion of inheritance and the
responsibility of the spiritual leadership of the family. The
rights of the first-born were, at times, conferred by to a
more appropriate person than the actual first born. Although
they exercised the right of the first-born, the following men
were not the firstborn of their fathers: Seth, who was a
replacement covenant keeper after Abel's murder; Jacob
(Israel), who purchased Esau's birthright for a bowl of red red;
Abram, instead of Nahor; Isaac, the child of promise, instead
of Ishmael; Ephraim, who was adopted by Israel and given the
right of the first-born over not only his older brother
Manasseh, but over Reuben, who had uncovered his father's
nakedness; the list goes on. However, there is no second-born
right, and it is expressed that the right of the first-born was
given to each of these men NOT through deception or
usurpation but through the blessings of because such
blessings were despised by those to whom they belonged.
(Genesis 25:34) To each of these worthy replacements
(redeemers), it was given the glory to pass on the Words of the
Covenant to each subsequent generation, as Melchizedek, and
to pass along the Aleph-Tav to each of the next first-born in
the line down to messiah. This concept of the Aleph-Tav
inheritance among the first-born of the Covenant is extremely
important, but is outside of the scope of this book.

First Fruits of Barley

So it is with the first of the barley harvest. In the first month

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of the year, in the month of Abib, after the vernal equinox, the
barley is harvested all over Israel and a tenth-part is taken as
first fruits to Yerushalayim for the Festival. The first ripe
barley is to be brought to the priest and the priest waves a
portion of it as a wave offering on the morning after the
weekly Sabbath which falls between the first and seventh days
of Unleavened Bread. Only after this event may the new
grain be eaten. None is to be eaten until the portion of the
first fruits has been waved.

Leviticus 23:14 And you do not eat bread or roasted

grain or fresh grain until the same day that you have
brought an offering to your Elohim a law forever
throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

It is acceptable to eat of the old bread, though unleavened,

because this day falls within the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
The first of the leavened bread eaten after this day would
likely be that of the new harvest. Remember, this is barley,
not wheat. Wheat is not harvested for another seven complete
weeks (barley in late March to early April, wheat in late May
to early June). For more information, see the next chapter
regarding Pentecost, as well as Appendix B. The above verse
very likely means that you are not to eat new [barley] bread,
roasted [barley] grain, or fresh [barley] grain, as the eating of
other produce would not interfere with the first-fruits of the
barley. You are not to eat of the new barley until the first-
fruits of that barley have been waved by the priest. If you eat
of it before the first fruits are given, then you just ate the first
fruits!

A common question at this point, But what about barley

during the Shemitah year, if none is grown? This is from
www.karaite-korner.org:

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Barley grows every year in the Holy Land whether farmers
intentionally cultivate it or not. Unintentionally cultivated
barley, also referred to as "volunteer" barley, is present all
over the Land of Israel in very large quantities. In areas
where barley had been cultivated in previous years, fallen
seeds would have grown "voluntarily" in relatively large
concentrations. However, even in areas where barley has not
been cultivated since at least 1948, it continues to survive in
great quantities. Volunteer barley grows in such large
quantities that Arab shepherds have been known to harvest it
with sickles to feed their sheep. Modern wheat farmers in
Israel complain that they have to actively root out volunteer
barley from their wheat fields and even then they can never
get all of it.

As to whether or not a portion of the first fruits of this

volunteer barley were ever waved on Yom HaBikkurim
during the Shemitah year, that exact information is unknown.
However, it makes little sense to effectively ban the gathering
of produce in the seventh year, only to mandate the gathering
of the barley for the offering of the first fruits of fruit
which wasn't allowed by the children of Israel to be eaten. It
must be remembered that the commands of Torah are to be
followed as closely as possible. The produce of the land in the
seventh year is NOT to be offered to . It is not to be
gathered at all. For example:

Leviticus 19:23 And when you come into the land, and
have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall
reckon their fruit as uncircumcised. For three years it is as
uncircumcised to you, it is not eaten.
Leviticus 19:24 And in the fourth year all its fruit is set-
apart praises to .
Leviticus 19:25 And in the fifth year you eat its fruit, so
that it increases its yield to you. I am your Elohim.

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Here we see very clear instruction. For years one, two and
three, the fruit is not to be eaten. Not at all. It is not to be
offered before , either. If it isn't fit for you, it certainly isn't
fit to be offered. Let us not forget that things which were
offered weren't simply burned up in fire or allowed to rot.
They were given as the sustenance for the High Priest and his
sons. The best of the best went to them. That's what was done
with the fruit in the fourth year. It was set apart for , given
to those in His service. Not until the fifth year could it be
eaten by those to whom it belonged. We have to assume that
in the case of instructions like this, as well as instructions for
keeping the seventh-year land Sabbath, the rules were firm
and were never to be broken for any reason. Especially not in
presuming to give to what you think He wants, contrary
to His Word. If we could remember that, we wouldn't have so
much tradition and apostasy today! The article from Karaite
Korner goes on to say the following:

It is specifically the "volunteer" crops which the Torah gives

the poor and Levites to eat in the sabbatical year, as we read
in Leviticus 25,4-7:

We must here disagree with the article; it has been shown that
while (as messiah gathered to eat on the Sabbath day) we may
eat out of the field during the seventh year, anyone may do so.
The volunteer produce is not to be harvested for storage and
lasting use by anyone at all. The verses which are mentioned
in the article from Leviticus mean something else entirely.
Firstly, these verses show that anything that grows of itself
in the seventh year may be eaten, just as is true on the Sabbath
day. Secondly, these verses say that the land rest itself will
allow the land to provide food for the next cycle. As man
cannot perform without rest, it could be said that the rest
allows man to work. Or Rest will be given for you to keep
working. Just as the land needs rest to keep providing, and

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in that way will be able to maintain in providing food. The
Sabbath of the land shall be to you for food means that
without the rest, there would be no more food! To say that the
volunteer barley is for the poor and the Levite (two groups
specifically not mentioned in Leviticus 25:4-7) to eat in the
Sabbatical year would be adding to the Word. Yes, anyone
may eat of it. But it would have been just as easy for the
Creator to mandate that the seventh year crop must be sown
but could only be reaped for the benefit of the poor and the
priests. Or that one seventh of what was gathered in the sixth
year must be gathered for the poor. But He did not. He said
what the Word says, and we must adhere to it with caution and
prejudice. More information will be provided in Chapter 10
on the Shemitah year.

The last line of the article was, Modern wheat farmers in

Israel complain that they have to actively root out volunteer
barley from their wheat fields and even then they can never
get all of it. That is very significant. What is volunteer
barley but an act of Elohim? Yet we are told not to sow a field
in two types of grains. (Leviticus 19:19) This is the same as
removing the leavening from your home for the Festival of
Unleavened Bread. As hard as you try, this is not a perfect
world and you are not going to be able to remove 100%. It
exists in the open air! You simply cannot remove all of the
leaven, and you cannot remove all of the barley from a wheat
field. This teaches us that we have to WORK to maintain our
knowledge, our wisdom, our obedience. We cannot simply sit
back after our work is done and coast. This is not a perfect
world. We cannot read the bible one time and have all of its
lessons learned. We cannot vow a single time to stay out of
the world and turn our backs to those things which are not of
Him. It requires constant effort, constant changes in the way
we act according to our understanding of the Word. Continual
auditing of our beliefs and doctrines. As it would take many

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years to rid a wheat field of barley, if it were possible, it will
take that many Sabbaths to learn His Word as well as He
would have us know it. We are fighting the good fight (1
Timothy 6:12), not sitting back and relaxing. Learning the
Word takes much reading, prayer, and discernment to
distinguish between lies and Truth.

Numbers 18:8 And spoke to Aharon, And see, I

Myself have also given you the charge of My
contributions, all the set-apart gifts of the children of
Israel. I have given them to you for the anointing, and to
your sons, as a law forever.
Numbers 18:12 All the best of the oil, and all the best of
the new wine and the grain their first-fruits which they
give to I have given them to you.
Numbers 18:13 The first-fruits of all that is in their land,
which they bring to , are yours. Everyone who is clean
in your house eats it.

The best of the best, whether of oil, grapes, wine, barley,

wheat, etc, was to go to Aharon and his sons and their
households. It is interesting to note that all of these things
become available during different times of the year. The
people of Israel would have constantly been bringing the first
of their crops to Yerushalayim. In fact, this was done at least
three times a year. The tithes and offerings of the first fruits
were to be brought by the men to the priests during
Unleavened Bread (barley), during Shavuot or Pentecost
(wheat), and during Sukkot (wine/olive oil).

2 Chronicles 31:5 And as the word spread, the children of

Israel brought large quantities of the first-fruits of grain
and wine, and oil and honey, and of all the increase of the
field. And they brought in the tithe of all, a large amount.

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We can see here that the tithe of the people was just that, the
first (tenth) of their increase, whether it be of grain, wine, oil,
honey, or whatever had been grown. It is unreasonable to
think that all plantations grew everything. Those in the wettest
areas may have had excellent grain but grapes unsuited to
wine making. Not every household took in honey, or oil. Yet
every household was to be represented three times a year in
Yerushalayim by the men who were to bring the first-fruits of
those things which their households did take in.

Some people today teach against tithing money. They say that
money was not part of the land and was never said to be given
as tithe. Further, many say that we are not to be tithing at all
because there are no more Levitical priests. It is true, there is
no more Levitical priesthood. Yet our High Priest,
Melchizedek, messiah, is still due these things. The first tenth
of whatever was given to the children of Israel was due, upon
receipt, to . However you chose to make your living, that
living was because of the Creator, who bestowed upon you
your strength, talents, land, and capability to provide for
yourself. How can we give to messiah? That which you do
for the least of these, my brethren... (Matthew 25:40) There
are many suitable places for tithe. We are given express
instructions for how to bring our tithes. We are no longer to
assembly thrice yearly in Yerushalayim, because He has taken
His name from that place. Since the death/burial/resurrection
of messiah, He no longer accepts offerings of animals or
grains. But we are not to come empty handed at His moedim.
Yet how many of us today are farmers? I'm personally not a
farmer. I cannot bring in honey or wine, oil or grains, figs or
pomegranates. Unfortunately, the only thing my household
brings in is American fiat currency. Am I then immune from
the injunction to bring the first (tenth) of my increase? Of
course not! I can't bring what I don't have, but I'm not immune
from giving. I shall do as the children of Israel did. I will

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bring what I do have, and what I bring will be added to your
tithe, and to yours, and yours, and we will maintain the
teaching of the Word. Remember that you're not giving of
something that's yours. The first fruits are not yours; the first-
fruits have been set apart to since the beginning. You
may give above and beyond that, but that is a free-will
offering of what belongs to you. The first tenth of what your
land provides, of what your household takes in, that belongs
to . This is repeated again and again in scripture.

Nehemiah 10:35 and to bring the first-fruits of our soil

and the first-fruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, to
the House of ,
Nehemiah 10:36 also to bring the first-born of our sons
and our livestock, as it is written in the Torah, and the
firstlings of our herds and our flocks, to the House of our
Elohim, to the priests attending in the House of our
Elohim.
Nehemiah 10:37 And that we should bring the first-fruits
of our dough, and our contributions, and the fruit from all
kinds of trees, of new wine and of oil, to the priests, to the
storerooms of the House of our Elohim;

After the return of the southern two tribes from Babylon, they
maintained the tithe system and continued to bring in the first-
fruits of their lands, of their trees, of all that they had.

Proverbs 3:9 Esteem with your goods, And with the

first-fruits of all your increase;
Proverbs 3:10 Then your storehouses shall be filled with
plenty, And your vats overflow with new wine.

The Hebrew words in v.9 say to esteem with your

wealth and with the first-fruits of all of your fruit, grain,
increase, revenue. Five verses later in 3:14, the word

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increase is used in reference to fine gold. That is
certainly not a crop or fruit of the field, but of currency. 8:19
uses the term regarding an increase of choice silver. At least
three other times (Proverbs 15:6, 16:8, Jeremiah 12:13), is the
Hebrew word translated in Proverbs 3:9 as goods used
regarding revenue or money. It simply cannot be said that
your income or increase of money is not to be tithed.

Psalms 78:51 And He smote all the first-born in

Mitsrayim, The first-fruits of strength in the tents of Ham

It is very interesting how the first-born of Mitsrayim are

compared to the first-fruits. Not only here. Messiah was put
on the execution stake on a Wednesday, Passover. He died
before sunset and was placed in his tomb before the new day
began, the Feast of Unleavened Bread. He was in the tomb
Wednesday night, Thursday, Thursday night, Friday, Friday
night, and Saturday. We have there three nights and three
days, just as Jonah in the belly of the fish. (Jonah 1:17,
Matthew 12:40) We are told that First Fruits is on the day
after the weekly Sabbath, which is a Sunday, and it happens to
be that just at sunset on Saturday, messiah was the first-fruit
harvested (by the Father) of those resurrected and
incorruptible. If he had risen before sunset, it wouldn't have
been three full days. If he had risen after sunset, it would have
been part of a fourth night. Therefore, he rose exactly at
sunset.

The Hebrew word ray-sheeth , [H7225] means first,

ordinally (in time, place or rank), the chiefest, especially first-
fruits or the principal thing. It is the first word in the bible,
Genesis 1:1. It is translated into the words: beginning, first,
first-fruits, first-born, first part, chief, first time, etc. If we
were to liken all of the similar concepts, we'd get: in the
beginning, the first born son, the first born animal, the

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first-fruits, the chiefest, most important, tithe - the first
10% given, etc. If there was a central theme regarding the
feast days, festivals and moedim of , the word ray-
sheeth would define it. Messiah is the first-born son of
Joseph. As the first-born, he was set-apart to . He was
called the son of Adam (usually translated son of man,
but the Hebrew word there is Adam) because he was wholly
man (not a pagan half-god like Achilles). He was called the
son of Elohim because he was made to be perfect, and was
the first-fruits of those risen, the chief cornerstone upon which
the kingdom of Elohim will be built. Also, messiah's lineage
can be traced all the way back to Adam.

The Cream of the Crop

Look at the way that the chapter of Exodus 13 goes right from
talking about the feast days - first Passover and then
Unleavened Bread - to discussing the rules for the first-born
of men and beasts. That is because such a thing belongs in a
discussion about the feast of First Fruits! The concepts of the
first-born and first-fruits are tied together in ways we have yet
to discover. At least we're able to see some connection, and
not wonder like fools how the two things are related or why
they're mentioned in the same chapter.

Hosea 9:10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I

saw your fathers as the first-fruits on the fig tree in its
beginning. They themselves have gone to Baal Peor, and
separated themselves to shame, and became as abominable
as that which they loved.

As messiah is the first-fruit of those resurrected from this life

and into perfection, the children of Israel were the first-fruits
of the called-out ones. Though they themselves failed in the
task to be a light to the nations and were divorced of their

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bridegroom, having whored after other elohim, a remnant has
always existed to carry on the Covenant. Even if it was just a
single man, as has been the case, there has always been a
remnant. To that remnant falls the responsibility of teaching
others, of being priests and the keepers of the Covenant and to
show others how to guard its keeping. We are the first-fruits.
We are set apart to , and we have been redeemed by the
blood of the lamb. As such, we are to present ourselves a
spotless bride. See Chapter 12 regarding the spotless bride of
messiah.

1 Corinthians 15:23 And each in his own order: Messiah

the first-fruits, then those who are of messiah at His
coming,

Rav Sha'ul (the apostle Paul) speaks of messiah as the first-

fruits in his first letter to the Corinthians. Well did he
understand the concepts of the first-fruits and first-born,
having related them to the first-born lamb who was
resurrected into life. Contrary to what proponents of the
Greek new testament commentary would have you to believe,
Rav Sha'ul was a Hebrew. He spoke, wrote and thought in
Hebrew and would have used the word ray-sheeth here in
his letter to those in Corinth, who also spoke, wrote and
thought in the Hebrew language.

Revelation 14:4 They are those who were not defiled with
women, for they are maidens. They are those following the
Lamb wherever He leads them on. They were redeemed
from among men, being first-fruits to Elohim and to the
Lamb.

This was said regarding the hundred and forty-four thousand

who are to be redeemed from the Earth, know the song of
Moshe (Deuteronomy 32:1-44), and who follow the lamb

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wherever he leads them.

Quick Reference: Feast of First Fruits

The Feast of First Fruits always begins at sunset on the
Saturday which occurs between the fifteenth and twenty-first
days of the first month of Abib, during the Festival of
Unleavened Bread. It is not a Sabbath, and normal work may
be done. There is no fixed date on any calendar for the Feast
of First Fruits, because it takes place on a fixed day of the
week (the day after the Sabbath, or Sunday), which is free
to rotate on the lunar calendar on any given year. It is better
to observe the times for yourself according to the Word, as is
explained in Chapter 1 regarding the calendar, because man
has done a fine job of altering the calendar and fixing the
spring moedim to make them more comfortable toward their
traditions. Do not travel to Israel for First Fruits because we
are not to assemble for the moedim in a place where has
no longer chosen to put His name. Israel exists wherever we
are scattered among the nations. The Creator is no respecter
of persons, nor of United Nations-sanctioned land grabbing,
nor of the usurpation of power among the synagogue of
hasatan.

Since messiah, there is much less to do on First Fruits than

there was before his coming. It used to be that all the men of
Israel would gather in Yerushalayim at this time, to bring the
first of their barley harvest for the priests. Today, we no
longer assemble in Yerushalayim because that is not the place
where has put His name since the death, burial and
resurrection of messiah. The priest would wave a portion of
each offerer's first-fruit barley before for the offerer's
acceptance. We are not told exactly when the offering was to
be given, only when the priest was to wave it. Only after the
priest waved it was the offerer allowed to eat of his new grain

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because the first-fruits had to go to before the one doing
the offering could benefit from the crop. A burnt offering of a
lamb and a grain offering were prepared, but such things were
done away with by messiah who was the perfect offering.

Today on the Feast of First Fruits, we are to remember that it

was on this day that messiah rose from the tomb and preceded
us as our brother in perfection, the first-fruits of those who are
raised from the first death (Revelation 2:11). Unfortunately
for those who believe that each person goes to heaven upon
his death, the bible states that messiah was the first to be
resurrected. As many people lived and died before messiah
was born, it is not logical that their beings could have gone
directly to a place which messiah is only now preparing for his
Father's set-apart people. Unless we are to believe that they
will get pulled out of heaven and put back into their bodies for
the awakening at the day of judgment. The whole thing
sounds a little silly; it is better to believe rather than men.

In any case, we are not to come empty-handed before on

that day. We are to give of our tithes, which are the first-fruits
of our increase, whatever our increase may be. Three times a
year, we are given the opportunity to use our tithe toward
good and toward carrying on the Covenant of . That is not
to say that we can only use, spend or give tithe three times a
year, but we must be careful to obey the Word and not to
come empty-handed on those set-apart days.

In Real Life

Think for a moment about the logistics of the first-month tithe

of barley in biblical times. Let us put ourselves in that time
and place. Obviously, we harvest the barley as soon as it is
able to be harvested, and do not wait for an equinox or new
moon to tell us when to harvest. If you wait too long, your

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over-ripe barley will drop to the ground. It may be that the
barley is able to be harvested some days before the new
month (and new year) begins. That would be very
convenient, because we have a lot of barley to harvest, store
and transport to Yerushalayim by the third week of the first
month.

Let us say that we grew ten acres of barley. That's a

reasonable amount for a household to sow and reap by hand.
According to Michigan State University, the average barley
yield is somewhere around fifty bushels per acre. So a ten-
acre parcel devoted to barley would yield about 500 bushels.
A bushel of barley weighs about fifty pounds. So ten acres of
sown barley would yield about twenty-five thousand pounds
of barley. The tithe first-fruits of that yield would be
2,500lbs, the weight of a small car. If you lived far from
Yerushalayim, that is nearly an impossible load to manage on
an oxcart. It would be the same difficulty for wheat, and
especially liquid yields of wine and oil which would quickly
exceed 2,500lbs even for a small-production farm. For that
reason, we were given the following instruction.

Deuteronomy 14:24 But when the way is too long for

you, so that you are not able to bring the tithe, or when the
place where your Elohim chooses to put His Name is
too far from you, when your Elohim is blessing you,
Deuteronomy 14:25 then you shall give it in silver, and
shall take the silver in your hand and go to the place which
your Elohim chooses.
Deuteronomy 14:26 And you shall use the silver for
whatever your being desires: for cattle or sheep, for wine
or strong drink, for whatever your being desires. And you
shall eat there before your Elohim, and you shall
rejoice, you and your household.

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Leviticus 27:31 If a man indeed redeems any of his tithes,
he adds the fifth part to it.

The first-fruits of grains, wine, oil, fruit, etc, may be sold

(redeemed) for money, and that money may be used in
whatever way you see fit (according to the Word) to keep the
moedim of . This isn't a second tithe, as some teach. This
is the 10% tithe of your increase, which, along with the
upkeep of the temple (when the temple existed), and for the
sustenance of the Levites and priests, may be used in order to
properly keep the feast days. This is true for First Fruits, for
Shavuot, and for Sukkot. For more information on Tithe, see
Appendix D.

Since we are no longer required to gather in Yerushalayim,

and since the destruction of the temple, we cannot bring our
tithes to the priests and have fewer commanded activities on
the days of First Fruits and Shavuot, tithe is usually spent
preparing for and observing Sukkot. The main purpose is to
rejoice in these days which have been given to us by . Just
as the Sabbath was made for man, so also is tithe to be used
for man. What does need with sacrifices of beasts or of
grain, wine, oil, or gold? Only remember to make sure you are
getting your days correct according to the calendar, or you
will be found guilty of spending tithe to keep the wrong days.

It is also very important to know the exact day for First Fruits,
because it is on this day that we begin the count of seven
complete weeks to the day of Shavuot (Feast of Weeks, or
Pentecost.)

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190
Chapter 6: Shavuot

Leviticus 23:15 And from the morrow after the Sabbath,

from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave
offering, you shall count for yourselves: seven completed
Sabbaths.
Leviticus 23:16 Until the morrow after the seventh
Sabbath you count fifty days, then you shall bring a
new grain offering to .

The Hebrew word for week is shabua , [H7620] and

means literally seven, as in seven days. Shavuot is the
feminine plural and means weeks. Hence, The Feast of
Weeks.

The Greek word , or Pentecost means

literally the fiftieth day, and today, the day of Shavuot is
largely known by its Greek name. However, as this day was
made known first by to his people as the day of Shavuot,
that is the word which we shall use in this chapter in
discussing this day.

Because it is to be counted from the day of First Fruits, the

day after the Sabbath that falls during the seven days of
Unleavened Bread, the day of Shavuot floats on the
calendar as First Fruits does. The only logical rule is that both

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First Fruits and Shavuot both fall on a Sunday. Let us follow
the example we gave for First Fruits:

Let's say that Passover, the fourteenth day of the first month,
happens to fall on a Monday. The day after the weekly
Sabbath (which starts at sunset on Saturday) would be the
twentieth day of the month. Counting fifty days from then,
Shavuot would be on Sunday (which starts at sunset on
Saturday), the eleventh day of the third month. If the
fourteenth was on a Tuesday, the day after the weekly Sabbath
would be the nineteenth. Counting fifty days from then,
Shavuot would be on Sunday, the tenth day of the third
month. If Passover was on Friday, then the Feast of First
Fruits would be the sixteenth day of the first month. Counting
fifty days from then, Shavuot would be on Sunday, the
seventh day of the third month.

The command is to count the days and weeks, (Leviticus

23:15) because there is no fixed date as there is for Passover,
the days of Unleavened Bread, Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur and
Sukkot. For both First Fruits and for Shavuot, we must pay
attention and count the days. (Just as we must count the years
for the Shemitah and Jubilee cycles). This presents
unanswerable questions for those of the lunar sabbath theory.
According to that theory, the fifteenth day of the first month,
the first day of Unleavened Bread, is always the date of the
Sabbath. Therefore, fifty days from the day after would
always fall on the same calendar date, though it would still
rotate on the weekly calendar and could fall on any day of the
week, from Sunday to Saturday. If their theory was true, we
would have simply been told the date on the lunar calendar for
the days of First Fruits and of Shavuot. First Fruits would
ALWAYS fall on the sixteenth day of the first month, and
Shavuot would ALWAYS fall on the seventh day of the third
month. Instead of telling us to count the days, Leviticus 23

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simply would say, On the seventh day of the third month...
Another problem is this. The Hebrew word shabua, for a
week of seven is destroyed by the possibility of an eighth or
even a ninth day in the last week of the month, waiting for the
new moon to appear, which is necessary according to the
lunar sabbath theory. Because of that, there is never a perfect
match of that theory to the Word regarding the spring feast
days. If you were to count seven complete weeks, according
to the lunar sabbath theory, you would always end up with
more than 50 days because at least two of those weeks contain
more than seven days! If you were to count fifty days, instead
of counting seven complete Sabbaths, only six (or in some
cases five) sabbaths would have passed instead of the
biblically-required seven Sabbaths. It is chaos! There are too
many paths to confusion and too many ways for the theory to
fall apart. Instead, we must stick to the calendar that the bible
teaches us, as I explained in Chapter 1.

Not only because it is easy to get confused by the doctrines of

men, but because we are expressly told to in Leviticus 23, it is
always necessary to count the days. Again, remember that
there are those who attempt to fix these dates on the
calendar to make them agree with halachic (rabbinic) law.
There are many printed and online calendars available, but
none of them should be trusted. You should not trust a printed
or online calendar even if you trust the source, simply because
tradition and misunderstanding cause more people to err in
keeping the moedim than any other problem. The Hillel
calendar has incorrectly calculated dates many years in
advance, but because of a major foundational flaw in its
calculation, it is wrong almost 100% of the time. It is known
to be wrong, but is kept anyway for the sake of unity, tradition
and convenience. We are to work out our own salvation with
fear and trembling (Philippeans 2:12), not to maintain unity
and tradition when it trumps Torah. For more information,

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please see Appendix C on the Hillel calendar flaw. Here's a
little teaser: the Hillel calendar was modeled almost verbatim
upon the Babylonian calendar!

In any case, printed and online materials are not to be trusted

because it is not worth being wrong. It is such a simple thing
to look into the sky and judge the days for yourself, according
to the Creator's calendar. No matter the source of your online
or printed calendar, whether it be from a Jewish, Christian or
Messianic organization, it is simply not worth putting your
trust in the possibility that somebody got it wrong.

Deuteronomy 30:11 For this command which I am

commanding you today, it is not too hard for you, nor is it
far off.

It is easy! But we have to pay attention. We have to make it a

priority to get the dates right and to keep and to guard the
moedim of . You cannot depend on another when it comes
to your own obedience. You will be presented naked and
alone before your Creator without a litigator or defender to
explain why it was more convenient for you to follow the
Hillel calendar than to simply look up at the moon. If you
care at all about these days, and you must (to have gotten this
far in this book), know that any time other than the appointed
time is the incorrect time. While those who err in their
tradition may hit on the correct dates once in a while, it is a
rare event indeed. It is recommended that you don't even
make your own calendar. If you do, check the dates often and
with fresh eyes to make sure that you have written things
down correctly. It would be a shame to find a flaw only after
you've kept an appointed time on the wrong day because of a
simple miscount earlier in the year.

There are no flashing billboards and sirens and buzzers to let

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you know the appointed time. If there were, it wouldn't be a
narrow road and everyone would find it. You must search the
Word and be spiritually discerning to keep the appointed time.
We must wait to see these signs before we begin to count our
days. To spend time on calendars before we have seen them is
folly. Is the bridegroom announced before his arrival?

Job 38:32 Do you bring out the constellations in its

season? Or do you lead the Bear with its sons?

We are given very clear instructions for keeping the moedim

of . Let us learn them and keep them and be zealous in our
search for wisdom above all other things.

Sevens and Eights

Just as with the Sabbath and with the number of days of

Unleavened Bread, Shavuot presents us with another cycle of
7s. There are sevens everywhere, cycles of seven that are part
of other cycles of seven, always perfect and always
regenerating. Every cycle of seven is started with the first
unit of the new cycle, or number eight in the old cycle. Let's
talk about the number eight.

In the bible, 8 is significant of new beginnings, of renewal, of

rebirth, of revitalization, and of entering into covenant. We
have many eights that represent these things, and here are a
few.

A clean animal is acceptable to be offered as an

offering/sacrifice to on or after the eighth day.

Leviticus 22:27 When a bull or a sheep or a goat is born,

it shall be seven days with its mother. And from the eighth
day and thereafter it is acceptable as an offering made by

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fire to .

The firstborn of a clean animal, however, which belongs to

, must be offered on the eighth day.

Exodus 22:30 Likewise you are to do with your

[firstborn] oxen, with your sheep. It is to be with its
mother seven days. On the eighth day you give it to Me.

The sign of the covenant given to Abraham, circumcision, is

to be performed on a male child on the eighth day.

Leviticus 12:3 And on the eighth day the flesh of his

foreskin is circumcised.
Aharon and his sons were consecrated within the Tent of
Meeting for seven days and were only fit to provide for the
spiritual welfare of the camp on the eighth day.

Leviticus 9:1 And on the eighth day it came to be that

Moshe called Aharon and his sons and the elders of Israel.

The leper is to bring a sin offering and a burnt offering on the

eighth day after his seven-day cleansing.

Leviticus 14:23 And he shall bring them to the priest on

the eighth day for his cleansing, to the door of the Tent of
Meeting, before .

A woman cleansed of her monthly issue after seven days is to

bring a sin offering and a burnt offering for her cleansing to
the priest.

Leviticus 15:29 And on the eighth day she takes for

herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and shall
bring them to the priest, to the door of the Tent of

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Meeting.

Shemini Atzeret (Eighth [Day of] Assembly), the day after the
seven days of Sukkot, a mikra qodesh.

Leviticus 23:36 For seven days you bring an offering

made by fire to . On the eighth day there shall be a set-
apart gathering for you, and you shall bring an offering
made by fire to . It is a closing festival, you do no
servile work.

The world was renewed by an ark containing eight people:

Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives.

Genesis 7:7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his
sons wives went into the ark because of the waters of the
flood.

There are many other eights in the bible. They are always
significant and represent new beginnings, new growth,
regeneration, at once completion and renewal. The eighth
day of the week, the first day of the new week, is your first
opportunity to live according to the Word which you learned
on Sabbath. You can have a renewed and regenerated life if
you live according to that Word.

Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, is special because it is the eighth

eighth. Seven complete weeks (of seven days) have passed
since First Fruits, and the 50th day is a day of renewal and
regeneration not only of days but of weeks. Shavuot is
representative and symbolic of the larger cycle of seven
sevens, namely seven Shemitah year land Sabbaths between
Jubilee years, which take place on the 50th year of each cycle.
Which is symbolic of an even larger cycle of sevens, the
seven-thousand-year plan, culminating in the seventh

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millennial all-Shabbat, after which comes the marriage
supper of the lamb and the renewal of the Earth without sin in
the eighth millennium. All bible prophecy is about sevens and
the renewal of the cycle on the eights. It is a pity that there
are many who will never see the beauty and perfection of
these cycles because they are blinded behind the veil of their
tradition and, often, these perfect cycles are destroyed because
of improper calendars. This is a closely-guarded secret
among His chosen people. While all are invited to partake,
only a select few are deemed entirely deserving. (Matthew
22:14)
The Wheat Harvest

Numbers 28:26 And on the day of the first-fruits, when

you bring a new grain offering to at your Festival of
Weeks, you have a set-apart gathering, you do no servile
work.
This is a little confusing, seeing the terms first-fruits and
Festival of Weeks being regarded as the same time of year,
considering the Feast of First Fruits was seven weeks prior. A
quick visit to Appendix B to see which crops are harvested at
which times will settle the matter. The first month of the year
is the time of the barley harvest, which crop is brought and
waved by the priest on the day of First Fruits. Shavuot is the
time of year for the wheat harvest, and is also a time for the
men of Israel to gather together in Yerushalayim.

Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times a year all your males

appear before your Elohim in the place which He
chooses: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and at the
Festival of Weeks, and at the Festival of Booths. And none
should appear before empty-handed,

The reason they were not to come empty-handed is because

they were to bring with them to Yerushalayim their tithes, the

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first-fruits of barley for Unleavened Bread, wheat for Shavuot,
and wine and oil for Sukkot. Therefore, the first-fruits
mentioned in regards to Shavuot is the first harvested wheat.
It is a mikra qodesh, a set-apart gathering, and no servile work
is to be done.

Leviticus 23:21 And on this same day you shall proclaim

a set-apart gathering for yourselves, you do no servile
work on it a law forever in all your dwellings throughout
your generations.

This Day in Tradition

It is often suggested that the Torah was given to the children

of Israel at the base of Mt. Sinai on Shavuot. Although it
sounds nice, especially when compared with the new
testament commentary verses which speak about the giving of
the Ruach HaQodesh to the taught ones in the upper room on
the day of Shavuot, there is no biblical proof that this is the
case. We know that the children of Israel arrived at the
wilderness of Sinai in the third month:

Exodus 19:1 In the third month after the children of

Israel had come out of the land of Mitsrayim, on this day
they came to the Wilderness of Sinai.

We also know that there was a two day period of cleansing

(not three - the event was to take place on the third day), as
we see here:

Exodus 19:15 And he said to the people, Be prepared by

the third day. Do not come near a wife.

If there had been three days of cleansing, they would have

been warned to be prepared against the fourth day.

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In any case, while it is possible that the children of Israel were
given the Torah on that day, it cannot be substantiated by the
bible beyond the two verses given above. According to the
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia:

The Old Testament does not give it [Shavuot] the historical

significance which later Jewish writers have ascribed to it.
The Israelites were admonished to remember their bondage
on that day and to reconsecrate themselves to [ ]
(Deuteronomy 16:12), but it does not yet commemorate the
giving of the Law at Sinai or the birth of the national
existence, in the Old Testament conception (Ex 19). Philo,
Josephus, and the earlier talmud are all ignorant of this new
meaning which was given to the day in later Jewish history. It
originated with the ... Jewish rabbi Maimonides and has been
copied by Christian writers. And thus a view of the Jewish
Pentecost has been originated, which is wholly foreign to the
scope of the ancient institution. (1)

It seems that the romantic notion of Shavuot having been the

day on which the Torah was given originated not in the
wilderness, but in the twelfth century, some 2600 years later.
Many would fight against this, attempting to hold to tradition,
but the giving of the Torah at the base of Mt. Sinai, a notion
upheld by the Babylonian talmud, was not in the early Jewish
histories at all and did not exist in the writings of the early
historians, Jewish, Christian or otherwise. While this is not
proof that it is not true, no proof exists which shows that it is,
and any tradition taught in the same breath with the bible,
which would add to or take away from it, must be destroyed.
The danger of the tradition becomes apparent when one
considers that, to those who hold the tradition, Shavuot itself
is commemorative of the day on which the Torah was given at
the base of Mt. Sinai. If the tradition is not true, then those
who hold it are looking at something false, and more

200
importantly, have stopped looking for Truth, comforted in
what they already believe. It is entirely possible that
Maimonides made the connection between the giving of the
Torah and the giving of the Ruach HaQodesh at Shavuot after
having read the new testament canon. Though Jewish, it is
unlikely that the taboo of the new testament so-called
scriptures would have kept a student of Torah from studying
all available material relevant to his faith. Who among us
hasn't looked to what we consider to be extra-biblical or
apocryphal books to add to our own knowledge and
understanding? It is not only possible but likely that
Maimonides did the same.

The third month, as mentioned in Exodus 19:1 above, would

indeed have been the approximate time of year for Shavuot,
but unlike the days of Passover, Unleavened Bread and First
Fruits, the need to keep Shavuot had not yet been made
known to the children of Israel. Upon close examination, up
until this time in the narrative, Shavuot was as yet
unmentioned. It was first made to be known:

Exodus 23:16 and the Festival of the Harvest, the first-

fruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and
the Festival of the Ingathering at the outgoing of the year,
when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from
the field.

Another tradition associated with Shavuot is counting the

omer. While we are instructed in Leviticus 23:15-16 to
count seven sabbaths and 50 days, we are never instructed to
count omers of anything. Though likely instituted to aid in
the counting of days leading up to Shavuot (an omer a day),
this is yet more tradition which detracts from the truth of the
Word. We should be instructed in the words of Torah, to count
seven complete Sabbaths and to count 50 days, not to count

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something that was not mentioned in the keeping of the day.
This is how we get into trouble and descend into vanity, the
keeping of one thing in place of another, and the observance
of tradition at the same level with the Word. If you want to
count omers or toothpicks or Ford F-150s, or whatever you
need to count in order to get the correct day, by all means do
it! But do not teach your children that the Word is kept by
your traditions; do not keep your traditions when they are
contrary to the Word, and do not lose sight of the meanings of
the days, studying tradition alongside Truth.

The Ruach HaQodesh

As the last king over a unified Israel, Solomon built the

temple and maintained observance of the moedim which had
been instructed to Moshe in the wilderness.

2 Chronicles 8:13 even as the duty of every day required,

offering according to the command of Moshe, for the
Sabbaths, and for the New Moons, and for the appointed
times three times a year: the Festival of Unleavened
Bread, and the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of
Booths.

After the tabernacle, the Temple was known as the House of

", or His dwelling place, because that is the place where
He chose to put His name and appeared before the High Priest
once a year in the smoke over the ark of the testimony. Day
after day, Sabbath after Sabbath, new moon after new moon,
and year after year, the offerings and tithes of the people were
to be given only at the temple, at the place where He chose to
put His name. That place no longer exists today. The last
temple, the last acceptable structure called the House of
", was destroyed in 70CE after forty years of testing the
people in Israel in recognizing the messiah. Because of the

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offering of the perfect Passover, the temple became no longer
necessary. The needs of the temple were these; to be the place
where manifested to the High Priest, where the animal
sacrifices and meal offerings were given, and to house a
priesthood which was, after the death of messiah, no longer
required because it had only been a temporary image of the
messiah who was to come. Messiah fulfilled the prophecy
which said that he would destroy the temple in a day. That
day was not in 70CE, but on Passover, a Wednesday (see
Appendix A) when his offering was given as the complete
cessation of the temple's practical purpose. The reason we do
not travel to Israel for the pilgrimage festivals, as they are so
called, is because there is no temple around which to gather
where He puts His name. Even that piece of wall called today
the western wall of the temple is nothing but a wall that
existed around the Roman Antonia Fortress. The prophecy
said that no stone would stand upon another and that the
mountain would be shaved down. (Micah 3:12, Jeremiah
26:18) The existence of a western wall is not fulfillment of
prophecy, and in fact speaks against it if no stone was to stand
upon another.

It was shown in the last chapter how messiah was the First
Fruits, or the ray-sheeth of those raised from death and into
the promise of everlasting life. He rose at sunset on Saturday,
just as the Sabbath was ending and just as First Fruits was
beginning, having fulfilled three nights and three days in the
earth, and rising at the appointed time. Let us explore what
happened after that.

Messiah told his taught-ones that he must go, in order that the
Father send the Ruach HaQodesh to stay with us forever.

Luke 24:49 And see, I am sending the Promise of My

Father upon you, but you are to remain in the city of

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Yerushalayim until you are clothed with power from on
high.

John 16:7 But I say the truth to you. It is better for you
that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not
come to you at all, but if I go, I shall send Him to you.

John 14:16 And I shall ask the Father, and He shall give
you another Helper, to stay with you forever

So he went away (was murdered) and rose again after the

Sabbath as the first fruits three days later. When Miriam from
Magdala and Miriam his mother went to see him after the
Sabbath, which was the day that the sheaf of first fruits was
being waved by the priest, he was already gone, but appeared
to them as they were leaving.

Matthew 28:9 And as they were going to report to His

taught ones, see, met them, saying, Greetings! And
they came and held Him by the feet and did bow to Him.

This was on the day of first fruits. We are told in Acts that he
remained with them and was seen by them for forty days.

Acts 1:3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after

His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by
them for forty days, speaking concerning the reign of
Elohim.
Acts 1:4 And meeting with them, He commanded them
not to leave Yerushalayim, but to wait for the Promise of
the Father, which you have heard from Me
Acts 1:5 because John [the Immerser] truly immersed in
water, but you shall be immersed in the Set-apart Spirit
not many days from now.

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Before he left them, forty days after First Fruits and ten days
before Shavuot, he told them that not many days from then,
they would be immersed in the set-apart spirit (Ruach
HaQodesh). Ten days later:

Acts 2:1 And when the Day of the Festival of Weeks had
come, they were all with one mind in one place.
Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Set-apart Spirit
and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave
them to speak.

While the bible is not explicitly clear that the Torah was given
on Shavuot, it is quite clear that the helper, as promised by
messiah to his taught-ones, was sent by the Father on that day.
The first indication that the helper had arrived was the
speaking of foreign tongues by the taught-ones. This was
done in order to bring the message of Torah and of the
messiah to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, who had been
scattered among the nations. We are told that there is not a
nation among which the lost sheep have not been scattered,
(Zechariah 7:14) and therefore the message of obedience to
Torah and following the example of messiah had to be sent
out in all tongues. Sadly, though the Word exists in all
tongues, many of His people are behind the veil and miss the
truth, destroyed for lack of knowledge. (Hosea 4:6)

Even after the death, burial and resurrection of messiah, his

taught-ones continued to keep the moedim of .

Acts 20:16 For Sha'ul had decided to sail past Ephesos, so

that he might lose no time in Asia, for he was hurrying to
be at Yerushalayim, if possible, on the Day of the Festival
of Weeks.

It is almost as if they knew that in the Torah it was written that

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the moedim of were to be an everlasting law for the
children of Israel and their generations forever, and that the
keeping and guarding of the appointed times would be for a
sign on their hands and on their foreheads. A sign by which
they would be recognized as His chosen people, His special
treasure. In keeping those days and by explaining not
tradition but the pure and unleavened Word to our children,
we too are marked as His special treasure.

Quick Reference: Shavuot, Pentecost, the

Festival of Weeks
Shavuot is fifty days (the day after seven complete Sabbaths)
after the Feast of First Fruits, which begins at sunset on the
Saturday which falls during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It
is a mikra qodesh, a set-apart gathering. Gather with
believers on this day, discuss scripture, and encourage one
another. Remember that the purpose of these gatherings is not
for socialization. You may do that at any other gathering.
These days are for gatherings set apart to . It is a day of
no servile work, as opposed to the Sabbath day, in which no
work of any kind may be done. Contrary to tradition, the
Torah has no rule against back-to-back Sabbaths, which is
good in this case. Like First Fruits, but unlike all other
moedim, Shavuot does not have a fixed date, but always falls
on the Sunday after the seventh Sabbath after Passover, and
always in the third month. Leviticus 23:15-16 instructs us
not to count the omer, but instead to count seven complete
Sabbaths, 50 days, from First Fruits (inclusive - we begin
counting at 1 day ON the day of First Fruits, just as we start to
count the Jubilee cycle ON the Jubilee year). It may be a
good idea to count backwards from that day to First Fruits, to
make sure your count is correct. Remember that First Fruits
begins at sunset on the Sabbath, and that fifty days later

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begins at the end of the Sabbath. If you EVER have more
than 50 days or fewer than 7 Sabbaths in your count, then
something is wrong. Please study the Creator's calendar, as is
outlined in Chapter 1.
Though not proven by the bible to be the day on which Torah
was given at the base of Mt. Sinai, it was the day when the
tithe of the first-fruits of the wheat harvest were brought from
all over Israel by the men of each household to be given to the
priests in the temple. It was also the day when the set-apart
spirit, the Ruach HaQodesh, was sent by the Father as
promised by messiah, after his departure from his taught-ones.

Since the death of messiah and the subsequent destruction of

the temple, there isn't a whole lot to be done on Shavuot
today, other than to observe it as a Sabbath day, and to study
about its history and meaning in the bible.

This is the last of the moedim which occurs at the beginning

of the year. Similarly to the narrative and prophecy of the
bible itself, much happens in the beginning, little happens in
the middle, and much happens at the end. It is said that
messiah fulfilled the spring feasts of Passover, Unleavened
Bread, First Fruits, and Shavuot with his first coming and will
fulfill the fall feasts of Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot
at the end of days.

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Chapter 7: Yom Teruah

Leviticus 23:24 Speak to the children of Israel, saying,

In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you
have a rest, a remembrance of blowing of trumpets, a set-
apart gathering.

In this and in the following two chapters, we will discuss the

Fall feasts and how they prophecy of the return of messiah.
Just as from the beginning, the Spring feasts spoke of his first
coming, and reflect with minute detail the events that took
place at the end of his life, so also the Fall feasts prophesy of
those things which are to take place at the end of days, when
messiah comes back.

Before we continue discussing the first day of the seventh

month, let us have a brief recap of the Spring feasts and how
messiah fulfilled these days. Messiah was the Passover
offering, whose blood protects those under it from [eternal]
death. His body, the Word, the pure doctrine of Torah, is
represented by the Unleavened Bread, eaten for seven days to
cleanse us of the leavening of false doctrine. Messiah rose as
the First Fruits from the dead, after having rested for three
nights and three days in the tomb. Fifty days after his
resurrection, on Shavuot, the Ruach HaQodesh, the set-apart

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spirit, was given to those who were waiting at the appointed
time to receive it.

In this manner, it will continue to be shown how the fall

festivals are a picture of messiah and speak of what he will
come to do at the appointed time.

Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets, is called the day which no

man knows. This is because it takes place on the day of the
new moon, the first day of the biblical seventh month. As
discussed in Chapter 1, the first day of the month is not
known until the new moon is seen. But it is expected, as we
expect Yom Teruah.

Mark 13:32 But concerning that day and the hour no

one knows, not even the messengers in heaven, nor the
Son, but only the Father.

Though the exact day is unknown, as is the year, we prepare

for the possibility that every year is the appointed time, and in
this way we are ready at the dress rehearsal for the
possibility of the actual event. One of these years, it will be
the real event and not just a rehearsal, but we will not know
until the appointed time.

Rabbinic Judaism incorrectly calls the first day of the seventh

month Rosh HaShana, or head of the year, declaring it to
be the first day of the first month of the year. As the first
month of the year, they begin the Jewish year at that time,
and end the previous year on the last day of the sixth month.
Because of this, they begin and end Shemitah and Jubilee at
this time, and yet maintain the proper scheduling of the feast
days (as proper as the Hillel calendar will allow), calling this
day simply the civil new year. Never in scripture are we
told that the new year, religious or civil, was to begin on the

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first day of the seventh month. In fact, we are expressly
directed to the contrary:

Exodus 12:2 This month is the beginning of months for

you, it is the first month of the year for you.

This was (and is) the biblical beginning of the year, the first
day of the first month, in which the barley is abib in the
spring. As the sun and the moon must agree and be witness of
the first of the year, the first day of the seventh month has
only one witness - the moon. There is no biblical or even
traditional solar or agricultural event which declares the
beginning of the seventh month. Without two or three
witnesses, a matter cannot be settled. (Deuteronomy 19:15, 2
Corinthians 13:1) The beginning of the year has two, and they
declare the year's true Rosh HaShana to be Abib 1. It seems
that the hearts of men have been lifted up even in this, and
have rebelled against the creator even in this simple way.
Other than for vain tradition, and to be the adversary's direct
counterfeit to the truth, as was discussed in Chapter 1, there is
no reason to begin the year in the seventh month. This is in
the middle of the year, and nothing begins or ends here
according to the prescribed methods of determining the yearly
cycle. Rabbinic Judaism has no more right to change the
beginning of the year than the Catholic church has to change
the Sabbath. These are not Jewish things which they presume
to change, but the things of .

The Shofar

The true name of the first day of the seventh month is not
Rosh HaShana, but Yom Teruah, or day of blasts, or day of
loud jubilation. The Hebrew word Teruah, [ H8643],
means clamor, acclamation of joy, a battle cry, a clangor of
trumpets, an alarm, a blowing of joy, jubilee, rejoicing,

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shouting, sound making.

In the bible, there are several appropriate times for the shofar
to be blown. It was used in battle, a sound to frighten
enemies, in conjunction with a war cry or shout. The sound of
the shofar is used to gather those who hear it for a common
purpose. Be it for war, for worship, or for general assembly,
the shofar is blown to call those within the range of the blast
for congregation. It is used to spread news, to declare an
event as having taken place, and in the event of a prosperous
mission. It is the sound of judgment and hostility. It was
blown by those who wished to be remembered of in their
time of need. It is blown in times of immense celebration,
success, in times of great occasion, on the new moons, and at
the appointed times, the moedim of . The most important
role of the shofar is to announce the coronation of a king. (For
more information, see Chapter 12, A Hebrew Wedding.)

Verses which signify the purpose and importance of the shofar

(the ram's horn) are peppered throughout the bible.

Psalms 47:5 Elohim shall go up with a shout, with the

sound of a rams horn.
Psalms 47:8 Elohim shall reign over the nations; Elohim
shall sit on His set-apart throne.

1 Kings 1:34 And there Tsadoq the priest and Nathan the
prophet shall anoint him sovereign over Israel. And blow
the horn, and say, Let Sovereign Solomon live!

2 Kings 9:13 And they hurried, and each one took his
garment and put it under him on the top of the steps. And
they blew a rams horn, saying, Yehu reigns!

2 Samuel 15:10 But Absalom sent spies throughout all the

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tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as you hear the sound of
the rams horn, then you shall say, Absalom is sovereign
in Hebron!

The Great and Terrible Day of

Yom Teruah, the first day of the seventh month, in some

unknown and future year, is the day in which the messiah will
return and be coronated as sovereign over all the Earth. It is
called the great and terrible day of , because it is on that
day that messiah will be crowned king and will take up his
staff of iron to make war against those who are not his people.
And on that day, there will be cause to blow the shofar, and
for all of the reasons listed above. It is a call for the people of
to assemble under one banner, and to set themselves apart
from all wickedness. Those who are of Israel will recognize
the call to assemble. Those who do not recognize the call will
tremble at its power and might. It will be both a time of great
happiness for those who wait for him, and a time of weeping
and gnashing of teeth for those who did not believe and are
ashamed. It will awaken those sleeping in their graves. Most
importantly, it will be the signal of the coronation of the
conquering king, who has come to separate the clean from the
unclean and the righteous from the wicked.

Ezekiel 33:5 He heard the sound of the rams horn, but

he did not take warning, his blood is on himself. But he
who takes warning shall deliver his being.

Isaiah 18:3 All inhabitants of the world, and you that

dwell on the Earth: When a banner is lifted up on the
mountains, look! And when a rams horn is blown, hear!

Isaiah 27:13 And in that day it shall be that a great horn is

blown, and those who were perishing in the land of

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Assyria and the outcasts in the land of Mitsrayim shall
come, and shall worship on the set-apart mountain, in
Yerushalayim.

Joel 2:1 Blow a rams horn in Tsiyon, and sound an alarm

in My set-apart mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the
Earth tremble, for the day of is coming, for it is near:

Zephaniah 1:15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of

distress and trouble, a day of waste and ruin, a day of
darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick
darkness,
Zephaniah 1:16 a day of rams horn and alarm against
the walled cities and against the corner towers.
Zephaniah 1:17 And I shall bring distress on men, and
they shall walk like blind men because they have sinned
against , and their blood shall be poured out like dust
and their flesh like dung.

There are many such verses which foretell of this great and
terrible day, the day which no man knows. Just as the
wedding between and his people at the base of Mt. Sinai
was preceded by the blast of a ram's horn, which sounded long
and became louder and louder, so will the shofar on Yom
Teruah be heard. In my mind, it will be a collaborative blast,
beginning as the sun sets over the land of Yerushalayim. As
the sun gets lower in the sky, setting further and further west,
those who are waiting for the appointed time will take up their
shofarot and will give a blast, joining those who blew before
them. The blast will be joined by the trumpets of the
messengers of the heavens, and will sound louder and louder,
announcing the return of messiah. He was a lamb, having
shed his blood, but now he is a lion, a king, and he has come
to shed the blood of those who would not accept him, the
leader of a far bloodier battle than has been conceived by the

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minds of men. The righteous among us, those who keep the
commandments and the testimony of , which are the
appointed times, (Revelation 14:12) will be the ones who
sound the shofar announcing his return. It may be that we are
preparing to blow the shofar before we know of his return, but
we are all united in purpose and in understanding as we await
the appointed time, a time which no man knows, not even the
messengers, but only the Father.

Nehemiah 8:1 And when the seventh month came, the

children of Israel were in their cities. And all the people
gathered together as one man in the open space that was in
front of the Water Gate. And they spoke to Ezra the scribe
to bring the Book of the Torah of Moshe, which had
commanded Israel.

Those who know the appointed times will recognize what is

happening. They will have heard the shofar, and they will
have heard with understanding. We have waited for this day.
We have read about it, prayed about it, read books about it.
When it comes, we will be ready.

Nehemiah 8:2 And Ezra the priest brought the Torah

before the assembly of both men and women and all who
could hear with understanding, on the first day of the
seventh month.

They gathered together as one man, united in righteousness

for one purpose, to hear the Word. They were there at the
appointed place at the appointed time, on the first day of the
seventh month. This is the definition of a mikra qodesh, a set-
apart gathering of people who have come together for no
purpose other than to hear the Word and to prostrate
themselves before the Creator.
Nehemiah 8:9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and

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Ezra the priest, the scribe, and the Levites who taught the
people said to all the people, This day is set-apart to
your Elohim. Do not mourn or weep. For all the people
wept when they heard the words of the Torah.

This was to be a day of rejoicing, an immense party, a

gathering of people together to hear the Word. This is a happy
time, the king has been crowned and has come to take those
who call upon the Father's name into His kingdom. The time
for mourning and weeping, however, is very soon to come.

Quick Reference: Yom Teruah

The first day of the seventh month will be the time for the
return of messiah, who comes as a thief in the night. (1
Thessalonians 5:2) It will catch you unaware if you are not
prepared for it, the only feast day in the darkness and
uncertainty of the new moon. There hasn't been a feast or
festival in months, and this one comes with the newness of the
seventh moon of the year. It begins at sundown, immediately
as the new moon is able to be seen. The fact that there have
been so many days since the last festival is symbolic of the
fact that messiah is not with us now, and has not been for
some time. Just as with the parable of the ten virgins, all of
the tribes of Israel have fallen asleep waiting for him to return,
but we have been awakened at the end, in time to gather our
oil and stand ready at the door. Those who are found still
sleeping and those who are found to have no oil will not enter
in with the bridegroom. If we are not present, prepared, and
waiting for him at the proper time, then we will miss him. We
must be ready and waiting. No other thing weighs of such
importance in this life.

Yom Teruah is a day of no servile work. It is a set-apart

gathering, a time to meet with fellow Torah-keepers and to

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collectively blow the shofarot to the glory of Elohim.
Remember that the shofar is to be blown on the new moon,
and here is a second reason, a second witness, if you will,
which declares the appointed time for the shofar. It is a time
of happiness and joy; the king has returned, welcome him! If
you do not have a shofar yet, you should get one before Yom
Teruah so you are able to obey the command to blow the
shofar. Don't be persuaded into getting the biggest, darkest,
lightest, longest, or holiest shofar on the market. Don't
think that the horn of one animal is better than the horn of
another; only the traditions of men teach such things. I got my
own shofar on eBay. They range from $20 to several hundred.
My own feelings on the subject are these. This shofar is to be
blown to the glory of . Get a good one, one that will be
loud and will carry. Everybody in your house should practice,
even the children! If you are unable to blow the shofar or to
gather, you should still take measures to hear the shofar on
that day, or to at least shout and make noise, heeding the other
definitions of teruah, which include clamor, acclamation of
joy, a battle cry, an alarm, joy, jubilation, rejoicing, shouting,
sound making fit to welcome your king.
For more information about the shofar, please see the What
is the Shofar? section of Chapter 12.

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Chapter 8: Yom Kippur

Leviticus 23:27 On the tenth day of this seventh month is

the Day of Atonement. It shall be a set-apart gathering for
you. And you shall afflict your beings, and shall bring an
offering made by fire to .

While Yom Teruah is a joyful day, a day for joyousness and

merry-making, Yom Kippur is anything but. Yom Kippur, the
day of atonement, is deadly serious. Because of this, we are
commanded to afflict our beings. Traditionally, this has
meant to fast. While fasting is an example of afflicting one's
soul, it is only that, an example. There is no command to fast
on Yom Kippur, as will be shown.

Afflict Our Beings?

The Hebrew word for afflict is [ H6031], ah-nah. Its

many definitions include: looking down, browbeating, to
depress, chasten, deal harshly with, humble, submit, weaken.
While fasting accomplishes these things, it is to be stressed
that the word fast does not appear in the definition. Fasting
is a way of doing any number of these things, but the direct
command is not to fast. Let's look at other examples where
this word is used in scripture and see how it relates to the

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practice of fasting.

Genesis 15:13 And He said to Abram, Know for certain

that your seed are to be sojourners in a land that is not
theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them
four hundred years.

In Egypt, the children of Israel were to be humbled, weakened

[H6031] before a kingdom greater in power. They were to be
held under its authority, serving, slaving, making bricks and
building. It was not prophesied that the children of Israel
would fast for four hundred years! This was external
affliction coming from the Mitzrites and aimed at the children
of Israel.

Genesis 16:6 And Abram said to Sarai, See, your female

servant is in your hand, do to her what is good in your
eyes. And Sarai treated her harshly, and she fled from
her presence.

Because of her jealousy of Hagar, Sarai treated her harshly

[H6031]. Again, this does not mean that she forced Hagar to
fast, but rather that she humbled her. Maybe she spoke harshly
to her, maybe she beat her. Whatever she was doing, she
caused her female servant to flee from her presence. This was
external affliction, aimed at Hagar.

Genesis 16:9 And the Messenger of said to her,

Return to your mistress, and humble yourself under her
hand.

After having flown from Sarai, Hagar was told by the

messenger of to return, and to submit herself, to humble
herself, to afflict herself [H6031], under Sarai's hand. This
was to be done willingly, according to the word of . Hagar

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was to submit herself before her harsh mistress. Again, we do
not see any word about fasting.

Genesis 31:50 If you afflict my daughters, or if you take

other wives besides my daughters, although no man is with
us; see, Elohim is witness between you and me!

Laban was warning his son-in-law Jacob that if he afflicts

[H6031] his daughters, Rachel and Leah, that Elohim would
be a witness between them. He is not to treat them harshly,
beat them, speak ill of them, or to deal unjustly with them.

Genesis 34:2 And Shekem, son of Hamor the Hivite,

prince of the land, saw her and took her and lay with her,
and humbled her.

In raping Dinah, the sister of the twelve sons of Israel,

Shekem humbled [H6031] her. This word is not used of
typical sexual contact, but only in cases where one party is
taken harshly, by force, or in any way other than in a
fully-consenting manner. She was brought low by Shekem,
and weakened by him.

Exodus 1:11 So they set slave-masters over them to afflict

them with their burdens, and they built for Pharaoh
supply cities, Pithom and Ramses.

This is the fulfillment of the word given to Abram in Genesis

15:13. According to that word, his seed would be sojourners
in a land not theirs and would be in servitude and afflicted
[H6031] for four hundred years. It is to be remembered that
the total sojourn of the children of Israel in Mitsrayim was
430 years, but for the first thirty years, Joseph was second
only to Pharaoh, and the children of Israel were treated well.
They were afflicted for four hundred years according to the

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word of Elohim.

Exodus 10:3 And Moshe and Aharon came in to Pharaoh

and said to him, Thus said Elohim of the Hebrews,
Till when shall you refuse to humble yourself before Me?
Let My people go, so that they serve Me.

Pharaoh, in his disobedience, refused to humble [H6031]

himself before , and acted against the children of Israel.
He was not instructed to fast before , only to obey His
word to let His people go.

Exodus 22:22 Do not afflict any widow or fatherless

child.
Do not bring low, humble, weaken, deal harshly with a widow
or fatherless child. No mention of fasting.

Numbers 30:13 Every vow and every binding oath to

afflict her being, let her husband confirm it, or let her
husband nullify it.

This affliction [H6031] of her being could indeed be fasting,

because the affliction is meant to weaken, bring low, submit,
or to humble.

There are dozens of other examples in scripture where the

Hebrew word ah'nah [H6031] is used in description of one
way or another in which a person or a group is humbled or
submitted before a greater force. Other translations of that
word, as they exist throughout the scriptures, include: hurt,
forced, exercised, sing (as in lamentation), abase,
ravish, chasten, trouble.

I would like to suggest to you the extreme likelihood that the

verse in question, regarding our actions on Yom Kippur, the

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Hebrew word ah'nah [H6031] does NOT mean to fast. Not
expressly. But rather to humble ourselves, to bring ourselves
low before, to submit to the authority of . To sing songs
not of joy, as on Yom Teruah, but rather of lamentation. This
is a sad and mirthless day, which will be shown throughout
the duration of this chapter. This is not a time for happiness,
nor even for happy submission and obedience, but of fearful
and cautious obeisance to the power of the Creator, the power
to grant life or to mete out death. As the reasons for this fear
and joylessness are shown to you in the remainder of this
chapter, think to yourself as to whether or not the act of
fasting seems to fit with the theme of this day.

There is only one verse in Torah which expressly ties this

concept of affliction to hunger:

Deuteronomy 8:3 And He humbled you, and let you

suffer hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not
know nor did your fathers know, to make you know that
man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that
comes from the mouth of .

Yet in that same sentence, food is provided by the one who

humbled [H6031] them.

A single other verse in the prophets relates fasting to

affliction, yet does not actually define affliction as fasting,
merely relates one to the other.

Isa 58:3 They say, Why have we fasted, and You have not
seen? Why have we afflicted our beings, and You took no
note? Look, in the day of your fasting you find pleasure,
and drive on all your laborers.

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 A Day of Rest

Leviticus 23:28 And you do no work on that same day,

for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you
before your Elohim.

This differs from the other feast days, in that the Day of
Atonement is a day of complete rest, a day of no work
whatsoever. This is not only talking about servile work, but
work of any kind. This is a day like the Sabbath. No work.

Leviticus 23:32 It is a Sabbath of rest to you, and you

shall afflict your beings. On the ninth day of the month at
evening, from evening to evening, you observe your
Sabbath.

This is one of the best verses for showing that the beginning
of the biblical day really does start at sundown on the
previous day. We are told in the verses above that we are to
observe it on the tenth day, and here we are given a definition
for the tenth day - the day which begins at evening, or when
the sun sets, on the ninth day.

Leviticus 23:29 For any being who is not afflicted on that

same day, he shall be cut off from his people.

We have talked about what the word afflicted [H6031] does

not mean. Let us explore what it does mean.

This is the first chapter of this book that I wrote. I typed it up

to give to a friend who was curious about Yom Kippur. I
wanted to stress that the end was known from the beginning
(Isaiah 46:10), and that all things prophesy of messiah, in
whose blood we are saved. This was largely done upon a
study of the word "blood". It is definitive of the topic of Yom

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Kippur (The Day of Atonement), but is hardly all-inclusive.
Redundant verses were left out, a single source being
necessary to illustrate the idea being expressed. The
following verses and explanations should suffice to illustrate
the need to afflict our souls, to bring ourselves low (opposite
of proud), on this day.

All About Atonement

The idea of atonement is very basic. Man is at one with

Elohim until sin is performed. At that point, man and his
Creator are no longer at one, having been separated by that
sin. Let us define sin.

1 John 3:4 Everyone doing sin also does lawlessness, and

sin is lawlessness.
1 John 3:7 Little children, let no one lead you astray. The
one doing righteousness is righteous, even as He is
righteous.

Righteousness is defined as the opposite of lawlessness. Sin,

according even to the new testament commentary, is defined
as lawlessness. What law is being discussed in this verse?

Deuteronomy 6:24 And commanded us to do all

these laws, to fear our Elohim, for our good always, to
keep us alive, as it is today.
Deuteronomy 6:25 And it is righteousness for us when we
guard to do all this command before our Elohim, as
He has commanded us.

The laws of Torah. Lawlessness = Torahlessness =

unrighteousness. Righteousness is defined as sinlessness,
which is defined as keeping the law. Those who say that we
try to earn our salvation by keeping the laws of Torah are

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simply ignorant of the definition of righteousness. We are told
to be righteous as he also is righteous, and yet how can we do
that in lawlessness?

Sin is breaking the Torah - the rules for having life. The
wages of sin is death, but the merciful Elohim who created the
Torah gives us the opportunity to repent of our sin, and return
in obedience to the Torah, which gives life. If the sin
performed was against the covenant (not against man), blood
is required to re-enter the covenant. This is called atonement,
closing the separation between man and , which was
caused by lawlessness. Blood is always required for an
atonement, and it is the subject of blood that leads us into the
study of Yom Kippur.

Genesis 3:21 And Elohim made coats of skin for the

man and his wife and dressed them.

This was after the first sin, when Adam and Eve were kicked
out of the garden for having broken the Torah of Elohim. The
"coats of skin" which covered their nakedness were from the
animal which was killed to atone for their sin. The blood of
that animal was spilled to provide atonement for their sin. We
know that according to the rules for sacrifice, as well as the
fact that Adam and his wife were alone in the garden, that
they were each to confess their sin over the head of the animal
and that they themselves were to kill it in the appointed place.
The blood of the atonement was literally upon their hands.
Not only had they committed the sin which required
atonement, they had to perform the atoning sacrifice
themselves. This was the first sin, and their action here is
indicative of the action required even from the beginning, in
dealing with lawlessness, sin, and atonement.

Sin is ugly. It requires (still, to this day!) blood to be shed for

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atonement and forgiveness of that sin. Remember that sin is
defined as breaking covenant law. Blood is required to re-join
the covenant. Blood is NOT required for the sins of men
against men, with the exception of murder (which is more a
sin against , having destroyed a living person who He
created. After all, how can you repay a man for having killed
him?) The judgments for the sins of men against men are not
covered under the covenant, but under the mishpatim, the
regulations and precedents which regulate such acts. Theft,
for example, cannot be atoned for with blood. It is not
required and is not acceptable. Repayment of the principal and
the fifth part thereof are required to atone for theft. Blood is
only required when the covenant between the Creator and the
sinner has been broken. Blood is the price of re-entry into
that covenant.

Genesis 9:4 But do not eat flesh with its life, its blood.

The blood is the life, and we are commanded not to eat it. This
command is repeated MANY times throughout scripture.
Blood is like a liquid gateway back into covenant. It is the
only scriptural method, the only way, to return to the covenant
of , and to be granted salvation from sin. We are not to
think that we can benefit from the effects of this liquid
salvation in any way other than the prescribed method. To
consume it, even in ignorance, is evil.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the

favorable gift of Elohim is everlasting life in messiah
our Master.

The wages of sin is death, but the price of life is blood. The
blood of animals to temporarily cover it and the blood of
messiah to permanently remove it. It is often said, and yet
little understood, that messiah shed his blood for our sins.

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It should be understood that messiah provided the atoning
sacrifice for the complete removal of sin, thus doing away
with the miniscule type and ineffective offering of animals'
blood as the temporary covering. This was why messiah had
to die. Without his blood, without the perfect blood of the
perfect lamb, there would be no complete removal of sin. It
should also be understood that this removal has not yet
taken place. We are free to accept his blood as our atonement
at any time up until the Day of Atonement, when we have
either accepted it or not. The removal of sin, the coming
full-circle of this atoning sacrifice, will not take place until the
end, upon not the dress-rehearsal, but upon the actual day of
Yom Kippur.

Exodus 12:13 And the blood shall be a sign for you on the
houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I shall
pass over you, and let the plague not come on you to
destroy you when I smite the land of Mitsrayim.

The blood of the Passover lamb, both in Mitsrayim and at

Golgotha, was to protect His people from death. Those who
did not believe, those who did not have the protection of the
blood on their doorposts, died. Their blood covered their sin.
The blood of the Passover lamb gave life to His people. It is
only when we understand the sacrifice of the Lamb that the
atoning blood which stains our hands (our symbolic
doorposts) has effect. Remember that an offering is given, is
killed, by the one giving the offering, the one performing the
sacrifice. Unless you take responsibility for the death of the
Lamb, unless you put your hand on its head and confess over
it your sin, it does not effect your atonement. There is nothing
more important, so let me say that again. Unless you
understand that messiah, the Passover Lamb, died at your own
hand to provide the atoning blood for your re-entry into the
covenant of , then his blood has no effect for you and you

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will die in your sin. That is the purpose of the lamb. Messiah
was killed at Passover. His blood provides protection for the
Father's people. Messiah is our kinsman redeemer. Who are
his mother? Who are his brothers? Those who keep the
commandments of his Father in heaven. (Matthew 12:48-50)
He is kin to no other.

Exodus 24:8 And Moshe took the blood and sprinkled it

on the people, and said, See, the blood of the covenant
which has made with you concerning all these
Words.

The promise of the covenant is sealed with the blood. The

covenant promises life, among other things, for those who
choose to be part of the covenant. Obedience to the Word of
Elohim is our part of the covenant. When we sin, we break the
covenant and blood must be shed to re-enter it. Before
messiah, it was the blood of animals that brought His people
back into covenant. Since messiah, it is his perfect blood that
brings us back into covenant. Either we are in covenant or we
are not. Either we are covered (atoned) by his blood or we
will be covered (atoned) by our own. Remember that all sin
MUST be atoned for - there will be no sin which goes
unbalanced by atonement at the end. Those who do not
accept the blood of the kinsman redeemer, the blood of the
perfect Passover, must still have their sins covered by blood.
Their own blood will provide the atonement for their sin.

A Very Bloody Day

Ezekiel 33:4 then whoever shall hear the sound of the

rams horn and shall not take warning, if the sword comes
and takes him away, his blood is on his own head.

Yom Teruah, or the day of the awakening blast of the ram's

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horn, is 10 days before the Day of Atonement. Whoever hears
the sound of the shofar and does not bring himself into
obedience will be at the bloody end of the sword and his
blood shall atone for his own sin in that day. There are many
who will hear. But the Hebrew word shema means not only
to hear, but to hear and obey; to hear with understanding; to
hear and to DO. What are we to do when we hear the sound
of the ram's horn? First, to rejoice at the coming of our king.
Then, to bring ourselves low before him, and to accept his
blood, to declare ourselves to be part of his redeemed. He
will know us because we know him. We have kept the days
that speak of him. He will declare us before the Father as his
kinsmen and kinswomen, and will redeem us from our
uncleanness.

Zephaniah 1:15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of

distress and trouble, a day of waste and ruin, a day of
darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick
darkness,
Zephaniah 1:16 a day of rams horn and alarm against
the walled cities and against the corner towers.
Zephaniah 1:17 And I shall bring distress on men, and
they shall walk like blind men because they have sinned
against , and their blood shall be poured out like dust
and their flesh like dung.
Zephaniah 1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be
able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of . And by
the fire of His jealousy all the Earth shall be consumed, for
He makes a sudden end of all those who dwell in the
Earth.

Again, more prophecy of the blood of the proud and

disobedient being poured out. Only their blood can atone for
their sin. They could have accepted the blood of messiah, but
it is too late now. They had their chance. We have all had our

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chance by this time to return in obedience. The Word is there,
the signs of the heavens are there. Many have chosen things
which are, to them, more important, to be their gods. Gods
who their fathers have not known, wooden and stone.
(Deuteronomy 28:36) Gods made of silver and gold. Such
things will not save them against the jealousy and wrath of He
who comes to tread the wine-press.

Matthew 26:28 For this is My blood, that of the renewed

covenant, which is shed for many for the forgiveness of
sins.

And now, messiah has come. His blood renews the covenant
which was broken only for those who reach out and take it by
their obedience and their knowledge of Him, waiting for him
as the virgins with their oil at the appointed time, acceptable
to atone for the sin of all who will claim it.

New Covenant

What is this new covenant, anyway? Does that mean the old
law is done away with? Absolutely not. The first covenant,
given with blood at Mt. Sinai, (Exodus 24:8, Hebrews 9:18),
was a marriage covenant. The people were to be at one with
(atoned) , and to join with Him. They broke that first
covenant and the bridegroom divorced them. (Jeremiah 3:8,
31:32) The new covenant is redemption, a second chance at
marriage, at unification with the Creator, becoming echad,
, [H259]. In more understandable terms, consider the
blood present on a man and woman's wedding night, if the
woman has kept herself pure as we are to keep ourselves pure
for our bridegroom. This is the blood of the marriage
covenant! The first marriage, the first covenant, and the
second marriage, the new covenant, have the same rules. The
bridegroom still demands that His bride be pure. Without the

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blood, there is no covenant. New covenant does not mean
new rules. For more information about the bridegroom and
his spotless pride, see Chapter 12.

John 6:53 therefore said to them, Truly, truly, I say

to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Adam and
drink His blood, you possess no life in yourselves.
John 6:54 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood
possesses everlasting life, and I shall raise him up in the
last day.

Only the blood of messiah completely removes sin. Those

who receive it will gain life and will not be "brought low
before the authority if Elohim" (afflicted), but will be "raised
up" in the last day (John 6:40 - Day of Atonement). We do not
live by bread alone, but by the unleavened bread of the Word
of . (Deuteronomy 8:3, Matthew 4:4) Messiah's flesh is
the Word. We must eat the Word, and live by it. Torah is the
instructions for having life, and there is no other way to
have life than to be obedient to that Word. When we sin, we
are to repent, to get the leaven (false doctrine) out of our lives,
and to turn back in obedience to the Word, eating of the
unleavened bread of the pure doctrine of Torah. (1 Corinthians
5:8)

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the
esteem of Elohim,
Romans 3:24 being declared right, without paying, by His
favor through the redemption which is in messiah ,
Romans 3:25 whom Elohim set forth as an atonement,
through belief in His blood, to demonstrate His
righteousness, because in His tolerance Elohim had passed
over the sins that had taken place before,
Romans 3:26 to demonstrate at the present time His
righteousness, that He is righteous and declares righteous

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the one who has belief in .

All have sinned (been separated by disobedience from the

Creator), and all sin must be atoned for. Through a belief
(better, "acceptance") in the blood of messiah, we have
atonement. There we are again. Himself set forth
as an atonement, through belief [faith] in his blood, that
through it, through faith and obedience to the Word, we might
receive life. Not just in this world, but partake of the
covenant promise of eternal life, in a place without sin. Belief
alone is not enough to save you in the end. Even the demons
believe, and shudder. (James 2:19) Your belief will not save
you any more than it will save the demons, without
understanding. Without discernment of these things, you are
lost. If belief alone qualified you for atonement, then the
demons too have earned their salvation. Do you understand
what this means? Do you realize that even the demons know
and understand the appointed times of ?

Matthew 8:29 And see, they cried out, saying, What have
we to do with You, , Son of Elohim? Have You come
here to torture us, before the appointed time?

It was the very day of Yom Kippur which these beasts spoke
of. They knew then that it was not the appointed time. Would
you recognize the appointed times as they do? Belief is not
enough for atonement. Knowledge is not enough for
atonement, or the demons would be saved. Simply knowing
about the appointed times and feasts of is not enough, and
many don't know anything about them at all! Belief and
knowledge is worthless unless you claim the blood of the
lamb and understand why it is necessary. Think about this. If
the time comes and the Creator of the universe asks you, Do
you accept the blood of the lamb? Why? What will you say?
Do you know why?

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Romans 5:8 But Elohim proves His own love for us, in that
while we were still sinners, messiah died for us.
Romans 5:9 Much more then, having now been declared
right by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through
Him.

This is the purpose of the death of messiah. To shed the

atoning blood for us, that we might be saved from the wrath
which will come at the end on the Day of Atonement.
Without sin, without the need of an atoning sacrifice to
completely remove this sin from us and make us clean,
messiah would not have had to die.

Hebrews 9:11 But messiah, having become a High Priest of

the coming good matters, through the greater and more
perfect Tent not made with hands, that is, not of this
creation,
Hebrews 9:12 entered into the Most Set-apart Place once
for all, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His
own blood, having obtained everlasting redemption.
Hebrews 9:13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the
ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the defiled, sets apart for the
cleansing of the flesh,
Hebrews 9:14 how much more shall the blood of the
messiah, who through the everlasting Spirit offered
Himself unblemished to Elohim, cleanse your conscience
from dead works to serve the living Elohim?
Hebrews 9:15 And because of this He is the Mediator of a
renewed covenant, so that, death having taken place for
redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant,
those who are called might receive the promise of the
everlasting inheritance.

This is the condensed message of the New Testament. Having

become the High Priest, messiah took his own blood and

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offered it upon the horns of the altar before the presence of
to cleanse us and return us to the covenant. This blood
will either be accepted or denied by each of us in the Day of
Atonement to cover our sins. It is not enough to be offered. It
must be received. We are told that will accept it, that is
His grace. But it is not enough for Him to accept it. We must
accept it ourselves, and offer it willingly and knowingly, with
purpose and understanding, as the sinners and offerers before
. Why would messiah give his blood for your atonement
if you refuse him? He does not know you, if you have not
kept the testimony of his coming. He is not your kinsman
redeemer if you do not do the Word of the Father (Torah).
This is terrifying. We must know him, we must keep the
testimony of him, and only then will he know us and give his
effective blood for our atonement.

Hebrews 9:18 Therefore not even the first covenant was

instituted without blood.
Hebrews 9:19 For when, according to Torah, every
command had been spoken by Moshe to all the people, he
took the blood of calves and goats, with water, and scarlet
wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and
all the people,
Hebrews 9:20 saying, This is the blood of the covenant
which Elohim commanded you.
Hebrews 9:21 And in the same way he sprinkled with
blood both the Tent and all the vessels of the service.
Hebrews 9:22 And, according to the Torah, almost all is
cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there
is no forgiveness.

Without the shedding of blood there is no covenant. Without

covenant, there is no promise. There is no promise without
righteousness. There is no righteousness without keeping the
law. Even when we have turned back in obedience to the law

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of , we must still be repentant and receive forgiveness.
Forgiveness can come without messiah, purchased by the
blood of the sinner, but only through the atonement of the
blood of the Lamb do we partake of the covenant and receive
the promise of eternal life. We do not want atonement unless
it comes with life. Atonement that comes any other way is
purchased by death and by the blood of the unrepentant.

I have a friend who feels that he has done all that is necessary
according to the rules of repentance and forgiveness by simply
returning to the Word. His pride keeps him from confessing
his sins over the head of the Lamb and asking for forgiveness
for his past ignorance. Simply understanding that you have
broken the law and ceasing to do so again does not wipe out
the charge against you.

Leviticus 4:27 And if any being of the people of the land

sins by mistake by doing against any of the commands of
which are not to be done, and shall be guilty,
Leviticus 4:29 And he shall lay his hand on the head of
the sin offering, and slaughter the sin offering at the place
of the burnt offering.
Leviticus 4:30 And the priest shall take some of its blood
with his finger, and shall put it on the horns of the altar of
burnt offering, and pour all the blood at the base of the
altar,

New wisdom and understanding that you have broken the law
does not release you from the iniquity of having broken that
law.

Leviticus 5:17 And when any being sins, and has done
what is not to be done, against any of the commands of
, though he knew it not, yet he shall be guilty and shall
bear his crookedness.

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My friend would do well to confess his ignorance over the
head of the Lamb and to accept the atoning blood and seek
forgiveness for his past transgressions. If he does not do so,
his belief, much like the belief of the demons, will do him
little good on this bloody day.

Hebrews 9:24 For messiah has not entered into a Set-apart

Place made by hand figures of the true but into the
heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of Elohim on
our behalf,
Hebrews 9:25 not that He should offer Himself often, as
the High Priest enters into the Set-apart Place year by
year with blood not his own.
Hebrews 9:26 For if so, He would have had to suffer often,
since the foundation of the world. But now He has
appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin
by the offering of Himself.

Only at the "end of the ages" and on the day of atonement is

the blood of messiah given to His people for their deliverance.
It was spilled at the Passover, and may be accepted by those
who recognize its worth at any time up until the blood debt
comes due. You can purchase atonement with your own
blood, but only the blood of messiah purchases deliverance
into covenant and into the promise of eternal life.

Hebrews 10:4 For it is impossible for blood of bulls and

goats to take away sins.

It was always promised, since after the very first sin in the
garden, that a messiah would come to restore the promise. For
thousands of years, the covenant was kept alive by the
temporary covering of the blood of bulls and goats, which was
only a picture of the perfection which was to come. But the
blood of messiah is a permanent removal, not a temporary

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covering. The Levitical priesthood and the sacrificial system
was a diminutive image, a foretelling, a symbol, a temporary
placeholder, a picture of the perfection of the better
priesthood, that of the Melchizedek, under whose authority
the blood of the covenant could be offered once, for all who
choose to accept it. Just as the feast days are a marker, an
image, a foretelling of the messiah's first and second coming,
and by these things we will know him.

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light,

we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of
messiah His Son cleanses us from all sin.

If we walk in obedience to the Word of the creator, as messiah

did, then and ONLY then will his blood cleanse us from our
sin. Disobedience will be rewarded by the spilling of the
blood of the disobedient on Yom Kippur.

Revelation 6:15 And the sovereigns of the Earth, and the

great ones, and the rich ones, and the commanders, and
the mighty, and every slave and every free one, hid
themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains,
Revelation 6:16 and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall
on us and hide us from the face of Him sitting on the
throne and from the wrath of the Lamb,
Revelation 6:17 because the great day of His wrath has
come, and who is able to stand?

The great and terrible day has come. Those who were great
and powerful and rich will be brought low (afflicted) [H6031]
before the authority of Elohim. They will not be able to buy
protection with the grace of their gods, wooden and stone,
silver and gold. Nor will they be able to redeem themselves
with their riches, which they have saved for themselves
instead of wisdom and knowledge of the Word.

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Revelation 7:14 And I said to him, Master, you know.
And he said to me, These are those coming out of the
great distress, having washed their robes and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb.
Revelation 7:15 Because of this they are before the throne
of Elohim, and serve Him day and night in His Dwelling
Place. And He who sits on the throne shall spread His Tent
over them.

After the terrible Day of Atonement, the garments of the

saints will have been made white and pure and sin-free
(atoned!) by the blood of the Lamb. The saints are before Him
in His dwelling place and His tent (Sukkot comes after Yom
Kippur!) is over them.

A saint is defined as one who is set apart according to his

obedience to the Word, and keeps the commandments
(Revelation 14:12). Do not be duped by the misappelations of
the pagan church, who would have you to believe that it has
any authority to declare sainthood upon those who were loyal
not to the Word, but to church doctrine, according to their own
beliefs and foolishness. As of yet, though there are names
recorded in the Book of Life, there are no known saints,
according to the Word. To call a man or woman a saint is to
bow before the authority of the church, and to accept their
word and their definitions of righteousness.

Revelation 14:20 And the winepress was trodden outside

the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the
bridles of the horses, for about three hundred kilometers.

Much blood is the price for much wickedness. Every sin shall
be atoned.

Leviticus 16:29 And this shall be for you a law forever:

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In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you
afflict your beings, and do no work, the native or the
stranger who sojourns among you.
Leviticus 16:30 For on that day he makes atonement for
you, to cleanse you, to be clean from all your sins before
.
Leviticus 16:31 It is a Sabbath of rest for you, and you
shall afflict your beings a law forever.
Leviticus 16:32 And the priest, who is anointed and
ordained to serve as priest in his fathers place, shall make
atonement, and shall put on the linen garments, the set-
apart garments,
Leviticus 16:33 and he shall make atonement for the Most
Set-apart Place, and make atonement for the Tent of
Meeting and for the altar, and make atonement for the
priests and for all the people of the assembly.
Leviticus 16:34 And this shall be for you a law forever, to
make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their
sins, once a year.

The same white linen worn by the saints in Revelation is worn

by the priests in Leviticus. For more on the white linen, see
Chapter 12, A Hebrew Wedding.

What, then, is the purpose of a yearly memorial called Yom

Kippur? It is to remember that in the beginning, there was
eternal life in the garden. Eternal life was lost through sin. The
promise was given of a messiah who would come to bring
back that eternal life. Every year, we are to remember that we
have sin which has gone un-confessed, unbalanced by
atonement. Each year of our lives, we are given the
opportunity to be relieved of the burden of this sin and to be
reminded that one day in the future, the Lamb will come back
to give the gift of his blood for those who accept it. Those
who do not accept it will be utterly destroyed. Those who

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have belief without the works of righteousness found in
Torah will be utterly destroyed. (James 2:20) This
righteousness is the oil of the virgins. It is not enough to be
standing at the door, believing. Without your oil, without
your righteousness, you are unprepared. The righteousness of
the messiah picks up where the limits of your own
righteousness end. This is the grace of , who sent us the
Lamb to make up for that difference. On that day, that will be
the end of sin, and the end of the need for blood to atone for
it. The blood will have purchased everlasting life.

Yom Kippur is a dress rehearsal for the year when it will not
be just a memorial, but an appointed time which was set from
the beginning on a day known only to Elohim. Those who are
waiting for it will know the signs and will be ready to accept
the promise given long ago in the garden. The signs of this
day are many. Recognition of the tenth day of the seventh
moon of the year. The darkness of the sun during the day, the
turning of the moon to blood. Those who are not looking, or
those who see without understanding, will contribute to the
river of blood pouring from the winepress. It is not a happy
time.

We are to be brought low [H6031] before the authority of

Elohim at this time every year because we are not yet saved.
We are to be brought low and to remember that even though
we are in covenant, we are not saved by our works. We are
brought low because there is another year after this one, and
as mortal beings we will sin. We are brought low to remember
that we are not dead yet and are still in bodies capable of
being corrupted by sin in this world. We are brought low in
rehearsal for the time when those of us who remember this
day will be forgiven for our multitude of sins and will be
raised up by our messiah and will be redeemed in his blood,
knowing and understanding why it was shed; ONLY to

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provide the atonement for those who have accepted it as the
price of their re-entry into the covenant which was given in
the garden.
The Two Goats

Leviticus 16:2 And said to Moshe, Speak to Aharon

your brother not to come in at all times to the Set-apart
Place inside the veil, before the lid of atonement which is
on the ark, lest he die, because I appear in the cloud above
the lid of atonement.
Leviticus 16:7 And he shall take the two goats and let
them stand before at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
Leviticus 16:8 And Aharon shall cast lots for the two
goats, one lot for and the other lot for Azazel.
Leviticus 16:9 And Aharon shall bring the goat on which
the lot for fell, and shall prepare it as a sin offering.
Leviticus 16:10 But the goat on which the lot for Azazel
fell is caused to stand alive before , to make atonement
upon it, to send it into the wilderness to Azazel.
Leviticus 16:15 And he shall slaughter the goat of the sin
offering, which is for the people, and shall bring its blood
inside the veil, and shall do with that blood as he did with
the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the lid of
atonement and in front of the lid of atonement.
Leviticus 16:16 And he shall make atonement for the
Set-apart Place, because of the uncleanness of the children
of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their
sins. And so he does for the Tent of Meeting which is
dwelling with them in the midst of their uncleanness.

This event, above all other things concerning Yom Kippur, has
been twisted by the traditions of men until it is no longer
recognizable. We know very well that this is a picture of
messiah because it has to do with blood and atonement.

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Let us explore this from the beginning. Moshe is told that
Aharon is not to come at all times into the set-apart place
inside the veil. He could only enter once a year on Yom
Kippur. It is tradition that this is the only time that the name
of was spoken in the hearing of the congregation. This
tradition, along with the taboo of pronouncing the name, has
done more to hurt the remnant than just about any other of the
innumerable apostasies of man. We are told to call upon the
name of and those who were supposed to be a light to the
nations have allowed the pronunciation of the name to fall into
antiquity. Shame on them.

Once a year, Aharon was to put on the white linen clothes, the
same set-apart clothes worn by the saints in Revelation, and to
make atonement first for himself by the blood of a bull. Then,
he was to take two male goats which were set apart to be sin
offerings, and bring them before the door of the Tent of
Meeting. He was then to cast lots to see which of these
goats was to live and which was to die. This casting of lots is
basically the flipping of a coin. Tradition gives us more
information, but none is presented in the bible as to what
exactly took place with the casting of these lots for the two
goats. One of the two was to be killed and its blood sprinkled
on the lid of atonement. To the other was given a very strange
responsibility.

Leviticus 16:21 Then Aharon shall lay both his hands on

the head of the live goat, and shall confess over it all the
crookednesses of the children of Israel, and all their
transgressions in all their sins, and shall put them on the
head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness
by the hand of a fit man.
Leviticus 16:22 And the goat shall bear on itself all their
crookednesses, to a land cut off. Thus he shall send the
goat away into the wilderness.

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This goat for Azazel has been the inspiration for many
foolish stories, which I will not waste time with here. The
word azazel [ H5799] means to be utterly separated
from, complete removal, as far as east is from west. The High
Priest was to lay his hands upon the head of the living goat
and confess over it the sins of the children of Israel. It was
then sent away, alive, into the wilderness. The traditions of
men, again, have ruined the beauty of this symbol by saying
that the goat was cast off of a mountain or killed in some other
way. That is incorrect, according to the Word. The last we
hear of this goat, it is lead away into the wilderness not to die,
but to live, bearing the iniquity of the children of Israel. Does
not messiah live, bearing the iniquity of the children of Israel?
Come to think of it, did not the same men who devise wicked
traditions cast him off of a mountain, killing him the same
way they killed the azazel goat according to their own words?

The two goats represent the duality of ways in which

atonement is purchased. The first goat dies, its blood spilled
to atone for the sins of the people. Not only does the blood of
messiah spill for the sins of the people, but he died. Just as
those who choose for their own blood to atone for their sins
and balance the scale, the blood of the first goat is the price of
redemption. The second goat, the goat which lives, completes
the picture. It is not enough for a goat to die and for blood to
be spilled. Death is not the answer. Just as messiah died and
yet lives, this goat lives to bear the iniquity of the sins which
have been placed upon its head. Our righteousness, although
suitable (in goat terms), is not enough to complete the picture.
The ritual is only completed by the complete removal of sin
from the people by the goat which lives. The righteousness of
the azazel goat completes the picture, which is incomplete by
the righteousness of the first goat alone. Though both were to
be spotless in order to be offered as a sin offering, the one
which was killed was not enough to balance the scales.

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Our righteousness is not enough to atone for our sins. The
spotlessness of the second goat, the goat which bears the
iniquity of the children of Israel and yet lives, completes the
picture and provides atonement. It picks up where the first
one left off, and completes the atonement. Without the
righteousness of the first, our obedience to Torah, there is no
atonement. Without the righteousness of the second, which is
the messiah who lives, there is no atonement. Neither by
itself is enough to do the job. The first without the second is
an attempt to earn salvation through works. The second
without the first is faith without works, belief without
righteousness. These are two sides of the same coin, and one
without the other is lacking that which is necessary to bring
the chosen people of Elohim back into covenant.

Once a Year

Exodus 30:10 And Aharon shall make atonement upon its

horns once a year with the blood of the sin offering of
atonement once a year he makes atonement upon it
throughout your generations. It is most set-apart to .

Then and now, we still are commanded to observe the day of

atonement, Yom Kippur. One day a year, a very somber day, a
day to be repentant and to ask forgiveness for our un-
confessed sin, the blood of the offering covers the sin. We are
to remember messiah on this day, and to realize that each of
us who accepts the blood must, at some point, confess our sins
and lay them on the head of the messiah, and that each sinner
alone is responsible for the atoning blood which was freely
given to each who would accept it. Although there is no
physical altar which is acceptable today for the blood of the
sacrifice to be put upon, we must come on the tenth day of the
seventh month and symbolically offer up the blood of messiah
for the sins of the preceding year. It does not do to have sin

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which has not been atoned. As we are ready on Yom Teruah
for the coming of messiah, so must we also be ready on Yom
Kippur to recall, repent and atone for our sins.

Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and
I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement
for your lives, for it is the blood that makes atonement for
the life.

There we are, we are given the only way to make atonement

for life. It is the blood that makes atonement. This is a key
verse. The blood alone makes atonement, there is no other
way. Those who feel that they will enter into the kingdom
without the blood of the only perfect lamb will be gravely
disappointed. Those who have never taken the time to inquire
of His law will not even know that they have sinned, that they
have been lawless. They do not understand when it is said that
messiah's blood was shed for the remission of sin. Without
intimate knowledge of these things, they will have much
blood upon their own heads. How can you ask for forgiveness
if you do not know that you have sinned?

Leviticus 23:27 On the tenth day of this seventh month is

the Day of Atonement. It shall be a set-apart gathering for
you. And you shall afflict your beings, and shall bring an
offering made by fire to .
Leviticus 23:28 And you do no work on that same day,
for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you
before your Elohim.
Leviticus 23:29 For any being who is not afflicted on that
same day, he shall be cut off from his people.
Leviticus 23:30 And any being who does any work on
that same day, that being I shall destroy from the midst of
his people.
Leviticus 23:31 You do no work a law forever

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throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Leviticus 23:32 It is a Sabbath of rest to you, and you
shall afflict your beings. On the ninth day of the month at
evening, from evening to evening, you observe your
Sabbath.

Here we are instructed to remember the Day of Atonement,

the same day every year. This is to be fresh in our minds
because it is a prophecy of the day when messiah will judge
the sins of the people. The Father's people, His special
treasure, will be covered by the blood of the Lamb whom He
sent, and those who are not His people will be brought low
and "afflicted" [H6031] before Him. Remember the words of
Abraham to his son Isaac. will provide Himself the
sacrifice. This is not to say that the Father was the one
sacrificed, but rather that it was not necessary for a sacrifice to
be brought, or to be conjured from the hands or minds of men.
It was provided by the Father when He sent the messiah to be
an offering.

Life is Bought with Blood

Numbers 18:17 But the first-born of a cow, or the first-

born of a sheep, or the first-born of a goat you do not
ransom, they are set-apart. Sprinkle their blood on the
altar, and burn their fat as an offering made by fire for a
sweet fragrance to .

Every time we see blood in scripture, it is symbolic of the

atoning blood of messiah. Here we have the blood of the first-
born, the first fruits of the clean from the womb, the ray-
sheeth being offered for His people. The first-born of the
unclean could be ransomed, or purchased. If they were not
ransomed, they must be killed.

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Those with ears to hear, let them hear. The blood of the
firstborn is acceptable to be offered. The unclean must be
ransomed or must be killed. (Exodus 13:13) The purchase of
an unclean beast may only be made by the blood of a clean
beast. We are the unclean beasts whose eternal life is
purchased by the blood of the clean firstborn! The unclean
beast which is not redeemed is killed. Those who are unclean
and do not choose to be purchased by the acceptable blood of
the offering of atonement will simply die to balance the
scales. Their own blood will be spilled to cover their
uncleanness. If the unclean among us do not repent and turn
back in obedience to Torah, they will become their own
sacrifice and their blood will atone for, will balance, their sins.
The unclean among us have only to repent and turn back to
the Way, and their salvation will be provided by the blood of
the only acceptable sacrifice, the lamb of Elohim.

Isaiah 1:11 Of what use to Me are your many

slaughterings? declares . I have had enough of burnt
offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts. I do not delight
in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats.

He has no delight in the blood of atonement sacrifices because

it is better to be obedient than to sacrifice. He's not changing
His law in this verse, but simply saying that countless
offerings are no substitute for repentance and obedience,
which He would rather have from His chosen people than
many apologies for many sins.

1 Samuel 15:22 Then Samuel said, Does delight in

burnt offerings and slaughterings, as in obeying the voice
of ?Look, to obey is better than an offering, to heed is
better than the fat of rams.

Obedience is better because if a sin has not been committed, it

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requires no blood to atone for it! Think of righteousness as
being 0 on a scale, balanced, as being neither positive nor
negative. A sin brings you to -1. Atonement is the act of
bringing the scale back to 0, back into balance. Our
obedience and righteousness cannot bring us back into
balance. We try not to sin, of course. However, there is sin in
this world and it is possible, likely, and even probable that we
will sin. While obedience is better than sin, we have a
gracious Creator who offers us a way out of our sin - by the
atoning blood of His offering. This is the definition of grace.
Grace is not given to the ignorant, the blasphemous, and the
un-repentant. Grace is given ONLY to those who see their
error and return in obedience. There is no way to return
without obedience to Torah, and there is no grace given to
those who are too stiff-necked or too ignorant to be saved.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. (Hosea 4:6)
You do not want to find yourself lacking, your scale at -1,
without the blood of the Lamb to bring you back into balance.
The scales will be balanced in the end, and only blood can do
it. Messiah's, or yours. Messiah's blood comes with eternal
life. Your blood comes with eternal death.

Isaiah 34:1 Come near, you gentiles, to hear. And listen,

you people! Let the Earth hear, and all that is in it, the
world and all its offspring.
Isaiah 34:2 For the displeasure of is against all the
gentiles [the nations who are disobedient, including His
people who have been scattered among them], and His
wrath against all their divisions. He shall put them under
the ban, He shall give them over to the slaughter,
Isaiah 34:3 and their slain be thrown out, and their stench
rise from their corpses. And mountains shall be melted
with their blood.
Isaiah 34:4 And all the host of the heavens shall rot away.
And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll, and all

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their host fade like a leaf fading on the vine, and like the
fading one of a fig tree.
Isaiah 34:5 For My sword shall be drenched in the
heavens. Look, it comes down on Edom, and on the people
of My curse, for judgment.
Isaiah 34:6 The sword of shall be filled with blood, it
shall be made overflowing with fatness, and with the blood
of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For has a slaughtering in Botsrah, and a great
slaughter in the land of Edom.

This is prophecy of the coming time when the blood of the

gentiles (those not in covenant) will be spilled. This is the
prophecy of Yom Kippur. This vision, given to Isaiah, is of the
Day of Atonement, when the blood of the gentiles will be
spilled to atone for their own sins. They are the enemies of
, they are the recipients of His displeasure. This great
slaughter will be the reward and the fruits of disobedience, of
lawlessness.

Isaiah 63:1 Who is this coming from Edom, with garments

of glowing colors [better - harsh pillage] from Botsrah,
who is robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness
of His strength? It is I who speak in righteousness,
mighty to save.
Isaiah 63:2 Why is there red on Your raiment, and Your
garments like one who treads in the winepress?
Isaiah 63:3 I have trodden the winepress alone, and from
the peoples no one was with Me. And I trod them down in
My displeasure, and I trampled them in My wrath. Their
blood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have defiled
all My raiment.
Isaiah 63:4 For a day of vengeance is in My heart, and
the year of My redeemed has come.
Isaiah 63:5 And I looked, but there was none helping,

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and I was astonished that there was none upholding. So
My own arm saved for Me, and My wrath upheld Me.
Isaiah 63:6 And I trod down peoples in My displeasure,
and made them drunk in My wrath, and brought down
their strength to Earth.

Their strength was brought down to Earth. You might use the
phrase "they were brought low before the authority of the
Creator", or "afflicted" [H6031] in that day, as we are told to
be on the Day of Atonement. He says that the year of [His]
redeemed has come. He knows that we have been keeping
Yom Kippur as a remembrance, as a testament to his coming,
as a dress-rehearsal for the future date. And that date will
come. Isaiah expresses this in great detail. does nothing
which is not first told to us by prophets. (Amos 3:7) This is
blatant prophecy of what, in some future year, on the tenth
day of the seventh month, will come to pass.

Did we read even a single verse regarding fasting in our study

of Yom Kippur?

Quick Reference: Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur is deadly serious. It is not a time for joy and
merry-making, but of repentance, remorseful introspection,
and in humbling yourself before the Creator. Do not do any
work on this day, servile or otherwise. It is to be treated as a
Sabbath of complete rest. Even the stranger within your gates
is to desist from work on this day. Devote yourself entirely to
the Word, and to repentance. Prostrate yourself before your
Elohim and recall and confess the sins which you have
committed. Place them upon the head of the goat which lives.
Claim and invoke the blood of the messiah, which was given

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personally to you for the remission of your sins, and to
redeem you from your uncleanness. You have been purchased
by this blood. Recognize that and pray that you may be found
to be worthy of it. In this way, you bring yourself low, you
humble yourself, you weaken yourself before your Elohim.

Fasting is entirely acceptable, if that is the way you choose to

afflict yourself. But it is not to be commanded as the law,
because it is only a tradition. I find hunger to be distracting
not only physically and spiritually, but in the way that the
keeping of the tradition of fasting diverts from the true spirit
of the Day of Atonement, which is to come before your
Elohim as a child before a gracious parent, seeking
forgiveness for wrongdoing. To hold up a tradition against the
actual need to seek forgiveness on this day is akin to replacing
the purpose of the appointed time with one of man's own
choosing. We are told very clearly why we are to afflict our
spirits; open interpretation is not given to us to pick a reason.
This is a day of death, of bloodshed, and of guilt for our
having fallen short of the obedience of our messiah. We are to
bring every thought into captivity, to [match] the obedience of
messiah, not just on this day but every day.

In the forty-ninth year of the Jubilee cycle, the shofar is to be

blown, and we are to be reminded to set the 50th year apart for
a Jubilee to .

Leviticus 25:9 You shall then sound a rams horn to pass

through on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the Day
of Atonement cause a rams horn to pass through all your
land.

You may fast, wear sack cloth and ashes (it worked for
Nineveh!), spend the day in prayer or in reading the Word.
Only remember to be mindful of the day. We are told that

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anyone who works or who is not afflicted of spirit on that day
will be destroyed. That man will not be alone. We have seen
that there are many who will die on that day. Do not swing a
chicken over your head in preparation for Yom Kippur,
whether it is live, dead, or otherwise. Though it sounds silly if
you have never heard of this tradition, it is quite popular in
rabbinic Judaism and is a worthless custom. This is akin to
do not boil a kid in its mother's milk. A strange and silly-
sounding commandment, and yet it once had a clear and
understood meaning. This chicken swinging is done because
after the destruction of the temple, Jews were no longer able
to offer the atoning sacrifice according to the Levitical laws.
They make up for their lacking by this tradition, although they
do not recognize that for the last forty years before the
destruction of the temple their atoning sacrifices were not
accepted by anyway. They swing chickens today because
they are not covered by the atoning blood of messiah and they
desperately seek to be covered by any blood but their own.

As with all of the moedim of , it is best to prepare for

these appointed times every year as if this was the one, not
just the dress-rehearsal. Because the truth of the matter is, he
comes as a thief in the night and no man knows the day or the
hour. You do not want to be as the virgins without oil when
the time comes. Prepare yourself. Work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling. While grace is given to
those who are righteous in the Word, there is a time for fear.
That time is Yom Kippur.

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254
Chapter 9: Sukkot

Leviticus 23:34 Speak to the children of Israel, saying,

On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Festival
of Booths for seven days to .

Remember that the moedim of Leviticus 23 are 's feasts

and festivals, they do not belong to man. The instructions,
rules and regulations for keeping these days are directly from
the Creator. Many of the instructions are clear and evident.
Some of the instructions take on new meaning when you learn
more about the feast days and the Word in general. Some
instructions, while perfectly clear, are anything but evident
and are little understood. That's okay, because that gives us a
mystery to study and a reason to keep learning. The important
thing is not to blindly attach tradition to the things which are
not understood, and, in that way, destroy any real meaning
that might be found in the Word. Sukkot is the last festival
mentioned in Leviticus 23, it is the last festival of the year,
and it is the third and final pilgrimage festival, at which time
the men of Israel were to congregate in Yerushalayim and to
bring their tithe offerings.

The Hebrew word sukkot [ H5523] means a booth, hut,

lair, cottage, tabernacle, or tent, the purpose of which is for

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cover, defense, or for gathering and assembly. As we can see
from this verse in Genesis, such a cover or tent is not always
for people.

Genesis 33:17 And Jacob set out to Sukkot, and built

himself a house, and made booths for his livestock. That is
why the name of the place is called Sukkot.

This is the first mention of a booth or a sukkah in the

bible. The remarkable thing about this verse is that the word
sukkot (the feminine plural form of the word sukkah) is
left in most English translations as the proper name of this
place where Jacob built his house. Another remarkable thing
about this verse is the relation of these booths not to people,
but to livestock. The flocks and the herds of Israel (as his
name was changed from Jacob) were protected by these
booths. The next mention of this place called Sukkot is in
Exodus.

Exodus 12:37 And the children of Israel set out from

Ramses to Sukkot, about six hundred thousand men on
foot, besides the little ones.

Sukkot happens to be the very first stop made by the children

of Israel upon their exodus from Mitsrayim. This is not
coincidence, but providence. The children of Israel would
remain, although not in this physical location, dwelling in
sukkot for the next forty years. This time in the wilderness
dwelling in tents was a time of testing; a time of re-education
in the Word after hundreds of years of apostasy. It was a time
of learning about the commandments and the moedim which
the Creator had set before His special treasure, His chosen
people.

Every year, beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh

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month, the children of Israel are to commemorate that time by
staying in booths for seven days.

Leviticus 23:42 Dwell in booths for seven days; all who

are native Israelites dwell in booths,

Notice the phrase native Israelites. We are told many times

that there is to be one law for the stranger as well as the
native-born.

Numbers 15:16 One Torah and one right-ruling is for

you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.

Consider that when the children of Israel left from Egypt and
camped at Sukkot that there was a group who joined them.

Exodus 12:38 And a mixed multitude went up with them

too, also flocks and herds, very much livestock.

The mixed multitude went up with the native-born from Egypt

to Sukkot, and dwelt with them. There was to be one law for
the native-born and for the stranger who dwelt among them.
All who gathered together under the banners of the twelve
tribes were to do as had commanded. There were no
individual rules for individual tribes, there was unity and truth
and obedience. There was no conversion of the mixed
multitude. They were not considered to be either converts or
strangers. They were simply to obey the commands of ,
and in so doing were considered equal. It was not by the
righteousness of the children of Israel that they won the
promised land, nor was it by their immense faith that they
were lead out of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 9:5)

Because of their sojourn in that evil place, having spent too

much time in the sun (sun worship), the children of Israel

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were every bit as pagan as the Egyptians themselves. They
had to be separated from the nations, and had to start back at
square one, from the very first commandment given in
Genesis: obey the Sabbath day.

We are not told whether the man caught picking up sticks in

the wilderness was a native-born Israelite or a member of
the mixed multitude. It didn't matter anymore because there
was one law for both groups, and by their obedience to ,
the separations between them were of no consequence. There
was no paperwork to fill out, no special prayer for conversion,
simply obedience. The same is true today. There is no formal
religion to join, there is no church, synagogue, temple or
mosque where you can go and have your name included as a
member. There is only the Word, and your obedience to it.
There are no strangers or those native-born in the Covenant.
There is one people, obedient to , being tested in the
wilderness. This people is called Israel.

After Sukkot, the children of Israel marched through the

wilderness for the next four decades, staying in tents (sukkot),
and learning the Word. Like the tents built by Jacob in
Genesis, the tents in the wilderness were for the flocks and the
herds of Israel. Many times in scripture, the children of Israel
are compared to sheep, being lead by their shepherd.

Matthew 15:24 And He answering, said, I was not sent

except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

The master comes to bring every one of his lost sheep back
into the fold, back into the protection of the sukkah. The
shepherd will know his sheep because they know their
master's voice; they answer when he calls them. (John 10:11-
16) If you are waiting and listening at the appointed time, you
will hear his voice and he will know you when you come. If

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you are not present at the appointed time, you will not hear
the call and will not be gathered into the fold at the time of
Sukkot.
The First Day

Leviticus 23:35 On the first day is a set-apart gathering,

you do no servile work.

The first day of Sukkot, the fifteenth day of the seventh

month, is a day in which no servile work is performed. It
does not have the severe restrictions of either the weekly
Sabbath or of Yom Kippur. We must be mindful of the fact
that this is a remembrance of the sojourn in the wilderness.

Leviticus 23:40 And you shall take for yourselves on the

first day the fruit of good trees, branches of palm trees,
twigs of leafy trees, and willows of the stream, and shall
rejoice before your Elohim for seven days.

It is rabbinic tradition to gather what they call the four

species at this time of year, and to wave these in a special
ceremony during Sukkot. We must be very careful not to add
to the Word by the addition of any special ceremonies. To be
quite clear on this; if the Word says to do it, do it. If the Word
doesn't say to do it, then it is a tradition and should be
avoided. Karaite Jews incorporate the branches of the four
species into the actual construction of their sukkah,
according to the Hebrew word suk [H5520], the root word
of sukkot, which means a tabernacle or tent as of entwined
boughs. This certainly seems to be much closer to the
command than the waving of plants in a ceremony for which
the rules do not appear in Torah. As far as the four species
themselves go, it must be said that these are listed nowhere
but in the Babylonian Talmud and in the Mishneh regarding
the traditions of Sukkot. To adhere to such traditions is to

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follow blindly in the doctrines of men and to do exactly the
opposite of what the children of Israel were brought out of
Egypt to do - to forget their traditions, to drop the leaven, and
to focus only on what said to do. As the Creator was
perfectly capable of having made a clear list of suitable plants
to be used in the keeping of Sukkot and did not, it is adding to
the Word to suggest that any four species are required for the
correct keeping.

Nevertheless, we are instructed to take for ourselves on the

first day, or before the first day, as we saw during the week
of unleavened brad, the fruit of goodly trees, the branches of
palm trees, the twigs of leafy trees and willows of the
stream and to rejoice before .

Nehemiah 8:14 And they found written in the Torah,

which had commanded by Moshe, that the children of
Israel should dwell in booths in the festival of the seventh
month,
Nehemiah 8:15 and that they should announce and
proclaim in all their cities and in Yerushalayim, saying,
Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches,
branches of oil trees, and myrtle branches, and palm
branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as
it is written.

It certainly seems as if the Karaite Jews are doing something

right in using the branches of trees for actual sukkah
construction. Yet there are potentially more than four species
mentioned there, and the olive branches are specifically not
listed in the traditional list of the four species. Also, which
leafy trees are acceptable and which are not? Again, if
did not tell us, then we do not know. Just as with the bitter
herbs which were eaten with the Passover, so also the source
of the techelet blue color, or the proper making of tzitzit;

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there is nothing but tradition to tell us these things. I daresay
that if it were vital, that information would have been included
in the Word.

Mirror Images: The Two Equinoxes

There is an apparent mirroring of the spring and fall feast days

that begins to appear when these subjects are studied. First
month, seventh month. On the tenth day of the first month,
the unblemished lamb is selected. On the tenth day of the
seventh month, the death of the lamb provides the atoning
sacrifice. On the fifteenth day of the first month, Unleavened
Bread begins. On the fifteenth of the seventh month, Sukkot
begins.

Consider the following:

Exodus 12:15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.

Indeed on the first day you cause leaven to cease from
your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the
first day until the seventh day, that being shall be cut off
from Israel.

Before the first day of Unleavened Bread, would be a better

translation. Otherwise, removing the leaven on the first day, it
would only cease to be found in your house for six days
instead of the required seven. Before the first day of
Unleavened Bread, we are to remove the leaven from our
houses. On or before the first day of Sukkot, we are to gather
together the fruit of goodly trees. If leaven is false doctrine,
then what is the fruit of goodly trees but righteousness and
correct doctrine?

Matthew 12:33 Either make the tree good and its fruit
good, or else make the tree rotten and its fruit rotten, for a

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tree is known by its fruit.

How are we to know a goodly tree except for its fruit? Just as
the removal of leaven and the eating of unleavened bread
during the spring feast is representative of the unleavened
(uncorrupted) Word, so the good fruit during Sukkot is
representative of gathering the uncorrupted Word to you.
Simply removing the leaven isn't good enough if you have
nothing to put back in its place. So we put good fruit back in
its place during the fall festival! These are two times a year to
examine what we practice, what we do, what we teach. In the
spring, after the equinox, we remove false doctrine and in the
fall, after the equinox, we collect good doctrine into our
sukkot.

Reading the Torah

Deuteronomy 31:10 And Moshe commanded them,

saying, At the end of seven years, at the appointed time,
the year of release, at the Festival of Booths,
Deuteronomy 31:11 when all Israel comes to appear
before your Elohim in the place which He chooses,
read this Torah before all Israel in their hearing.
Deuteronomy 31:12 Assemble the people, the men and
the women and the little ones, and your sojourner who is
within your gates, so that they hear, and so that they learn
to fear your Elohim and guard to do all the Words of
this Torah.
Deuteronomy 31:13 And their children, who have not
known it, should hear and learn to fear your Elohim
as long as you live in the land you are passing over the
Yarden to possess.

This is the only time that the children of Israel are

commanded to hear the Torah. Many years ago, scrolls and

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books used to take many thousands of hours to copy and were
very expensive. It was unlikely that a community would have
more than one copy, and more likely still that the ones it did
have would be very closely guarded and protected and not at
all times available to the general population. Yet at this time,
in the Shemitah year, during the Festival of Sukkot, the Torah
would be brought out and it would be read before all Israel.
This would have been the first time that young children would
have heard the Word. This would be a refresher for teenagers,
perhaps only the third time it was heard by men of fighting
age. Even the elderly would have been unlikely to hear the
Torah read in its entirety more than ten or fifteen times. They
were commanded to bring the Torah out in the seventh year,
the year of land rest, before the entire congregation which
would be gathered in Yerushalayim for the third pilgrimage
feast.

Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times a year all your males

appear before your Elohim in the place which He
chooses: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and at the
Festival of Weeks, and at the Festival of Booths. And none
should appear before empty-handed,

In this year, a year in which no fruit could be harvested (how

the rabbinic community legally acquires an etrog during the
Shemitah I'll never know!), they were to eat of the fruit of the
Word. Just as they were to put out the leaven for Unleavened
Bread, so they bring in the good fruit of the Word for Sukkot.

Deuteronomy 16:13 Perform the Festival of Booths for

seven days after the ingathering from your threshing-floor
and from your winepress,

Grapes, figs, and pomegranates are all ripe in Israel at this

time of year. In fact, these are the things which would have

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been harvested in the weeks before Sukkot, and a tenth of that
yield was brought as tithe during the pilgrimage festival of
Sukkot. These things would have been available to eat during
this time of year. It seems possible that the edible fruits of
trees are to be gathered and brought into the sukkah, but this
is not entirely clear in the bible. It seems likely that the
branches of trees are to be used in the construction of our
sukkot, but branches are not always at hand - not necessarily
the listed species, anyway.

Nehemiah 8:15 and that they should announce and

proclaim in all their cities and in Yerushalayim, saying,
Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches,
branches of oil trees, and myrtle branches, and palm
branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as
it is written.

These were sent to the mountain to gather these branches. I

have heard it said that Jebel Lawz in the Arabian peninsula
contained all of these types of trees, and is more likely to be
the location of Mt. Sinai than that mountain which is
generally accepted as such. It would be likely that broad-leaf,
palm, and olive trees would all grow on one mountain at
different elevations. While Jebel Laws would be too far to
travel from Yerushalayim every year for the branches of trees,
a mountain near to Yerushalayim may have similar bounty.

The important thing about Sukkot is that we rejoice. Why are

we to rejoice? Because we have been given the Word! In the
wilderness coming out of Egypt, the children of Israel were
given the Word. In the wilderness coming out of Babylon, we
are given that same Word. This is the Word which saves from
death, and the obedience of which creates life! There is no
better gift, no fruit more pure, no bread more unleavened than
the Torah!

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Leviticus 23:41 And you shall observe it as a festival to
for seven days in the year a law forever in your
generations. Observe it in the seventh month.

Just as with Unleavened Bread in the Spring, Sukkot lasts for

seven days. This is a law forever. Remember that the end
was known from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10), and that a law
forever in your generations was written with the Creator's
full knowledge of the children of Israel being scattered among
the nations. In fact, let us examine Deuteronomy 30.

Deuteronomy 30:1 And it shall be, when all these words

come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set
before you, and you shall bring them back to your heart
among all the gentiles where your Elohim drives you,
Deuteronomy 30:2 and shall turn back to your
Elohim and obey His voice, according to all that I
command you today, with all your heart and with all your
being, you and your children,

It has been said by some that the feast days can only be
observed within the land of Israel. How is it possible that all
that I command you could be observed by those who have
been scattered to the nations, if many of the commands were
to observe the feast days themselves? How could we be
obedient, being scattered, if we are to perform the feast days
only in Israel? We are told that in the end time, we are to be
gathered, according to our obedience, from the four corners of
the world into which we have been scattered. That being said,
many of the species which grew in Israel are simply not
available in Florida, in Maine, in Montana, or in Nevada. We
are told that the Word is not far from us, that it is not difficult
to obey, and that it is in our very hearts to obey it
(Deuteronomy 30:11). We must remember that when we're
practicing the feasts and festivals. If we are told to do it, then

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it must be able to be performed no matter where we have been
scattered among the nations.

Colossians 2:16 Let no one therefore judge you in eating

or in drinking, or in respect of a festival or a new moon or
Sabbaths

This verse is often used by those who promote licentiousness

and who seek to pervert the perfect Word. I say to you that
these words were written for Torah keepers who would be
themselves driven to licentiousness and perversion according
to the traditions of men. Such traditions insist that pork is
perfectly fine to eat but that such things as wheat gluten are to
be avoided. Tradition which insists that the Creator of all
things doesn't mind if you scoff at His festivals in favor of
pagan/satanic rituals because He knows my heart and that's
not what it means to me. Tradition which insists that it has
the authority to change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.
Tradition which insists that four species must be bound and
waved to the four directions on Sukkot.

That verse is not for the wicked but for the righteous. Not for
the tree bearing bad fruit who uses the verse as permission to
go on bearing bad fruit, but for the tree bearing good fruit; nor
for the Egyptian but for the Israelite.

Deuteronomy 16:12 And you shall remember that you

were a slave in Mitsrayim, and you shall guard and do
these laws.

The words of slaves and slave-masters alike - That old law

was done away with. Slavery is defined here as being
helpless to heed the law of . Pharaoh was told to let the
children of Israel go so that they might go and offer to their
Elohim. They could not do that while they were enslaved

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because they were powerless to obey - no man can serve two
masters. In the wilderness, no longer enslaved, they were free
to obey the Torah of .

The Eighth Day

Leviticus 23:36 For seven days you bring an offering

made by fire to . On the eighth day there shall be a set-
apart gathering for you, and you shall bring an offering
made by fire to . It is a closing festival, you do no
servile work.

Unlike Unleavened bread, it is the eighth day, not the seventh

day, which is to be a set-apart gathering. The eighth day,
traditionally called Shemini Atzeret (the eighth day of
assembly), is symbolic of many things. As you will recall
from Chapter 2:

In the bible, the number 8 is significant of new beginnings, of

renewal, of rebirth, of revitalization, and of entering into
covenant. We have many eights that represent these things,
and here are a few:

Leviticus 22:27 When a bull or a sheep or a goat is born,

it shall be seven days with its mother. And from the eighth
day and thereafter it is acceptable as an offering made by
fire to .

Leviticus 12:3 And on the eighth day the flesh of his

foreskin is circumcised.

Leviticus 14:23 And he shall bring them to the priest on

the eighth day for his cleansing, to the door of the Tent of
Meeting, before .

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Leviticus 15:29 And on the eighth day she takes for
herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and shall
bring them to the priest, to the door of the Tent of
Meeting.

There were eight people on the ark; Noah and his wife, his
three sons and their three wives. This gave humanity a new
beginning.

Every seventh day is a Sabbath. Every eighth day begins a

new week.

I've saved the best eight for last. The number of man is six,
and the time of man is six thousand years. At the end of the
sixth millennium, messiah will return and will reign with the
righteous for a thousand years (the seventh millennium). At
the end of the millennial reign comes the marriage supper of
the lamb and the beginning of the eighth millennium. Sin has
been eliminated, so has death.

Isaiah 11:6 And a wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and a
leopard lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the
young lion and the fatling together, and a little child leads
them.

So begins the period of time known as forever. The Creator

and the messiah will tabernacle with us in the place which
has been prepared by the bridegroom for his bride. This is the
teaching of the day of Shemini Atzeret, the eighth day after
Sukkot, the day after the marriage celebration of the messiah
and his bride. The last feast day in the cycle, a new beginning
in Torah, renewal of the Covenant and everlasting life.

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Shemini Atzeret is also the eighth listed non-working day and
set-apart gathering of Leviticus 23. They are, in order listed
in that chapter of Leviticus: 1)Shabbat (the weekly Sabbath);
2) Chag Matzot (the first day of Unleavened Bread); 3) the
seventh day of Unleavened Bread; 4) Shavuot (Pentecost); 5)
Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets); 6) Yom Kippur (Day of
Atonement); 7) the first day of Sukkot (Festival of Booths); 8)
Shemini Atzeret. (the eighth day of assembly)

Leviticus 23:43 so that your generations know that I made

the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them
out of the land of Mitsrayim. I am your Elohim.

Again, no man can serve two masters. The children of Israel

were brought out from under Egyptian rule in order that they
could be free to obey the Elohim of their fathers,
unencumbered, without trying to satisfy the demands of the
Egyptian ruler as well. In the wilderness, they were entirely
dependent upon for all of their needs, and ate of the
manna (the pure Word) daily. Again, this pure Word is the
fruits of goodly trees - of righteousness - which is to be
brought into the sukkah on the first day. They dwelled in
flimsy booths, tents, and had faith that their needs would be
met and that they would be safe. Sukkot is the annual
remembrance of the need to remove ourselves from the
principalities and sovereignty of the world just as the children
of Israel were brought out of Mitsrayim, and to submit
humbly to the will of our Elohim. We are to dwell in tents,
and to depend upon Him for our sustenance, our safety, and
our well-being. If the children of Israel could do it for forty
years, surely we can do it for a week!

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Leviticus 23:36 For seven days you bring an offering
made by fire to . On the eighth day there shall be a set-
apart gathering for you, and you shall bring an offering
made by fire to . It is a closing festival, you do no
servile work.

There are several other important parts of this verse to

discuss. The eighth day is called a closing festival, not only
as the closing of Sukkot. This last set-apart gathering closes
out the year of appointed times. In the end, it will close out
the first period of human history and usher us into covenant
eternity. No servile work is done during covenant eternity, as
it is now. Remember what happened when Adam sinned and
eternal life was lost.

Genesis 3:17 And to the man He said, Because you have

listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the
tree of which I commanded you, saying, Do not eat of it:
Cursed is the ground because of you, in toil you are to eat
of it all the days of your life,

In the eighth day, this curse is lifted, the covenant restored,

and we will no longer toil for our food. There will literally be
no toiling for food or for servile work in the eighth day!

Nehemiah 8:16 So the people went out and brought them

and made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his
house, and in their courtyards and in the courtyards of the
House of Elohim, and in the open space of the Water Gate
and in the open space of the Gate of Ephrayim.

Nehemiah 8:17 And the entire assembly of those who had

come back from the captivity made booths and sat under

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the booths, for since the days of Joshua son of Nun until
that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there
was very great rejoicing.

Nehemiah 8:18 And day by day, from the first day until
the last day, he read from the Book of the Torah of
Elohim. And they performed the festival seven days. And
on the eighth day there was an assembly, according to the
right-ruling.

Those who came back from Babylonian captivity were

anxious to keep the Word. They had gone up the mountain to
gather the branches of trees, and each built his sukkah. They
were made on rooftops, in their yards, even around the temple
- any open space they could find to use. This had not been
done for hundreds of years; not since the children of Israel
first entered the promised land. We are to remember that by
keeping the commandments of , we are granted the
blessings accorded to us in so doing. The reasons for the
Babylonian captivity were many; they had not been observing
the feast days, not observing the Shemitah years, and had been
participating in all other manner of disobedience to the Word
according to the lawlessness of the nations around them. Their
captivity was in direct response to their disobedience. Such
are the fruits to be expected in practicing lawlessness!

Just as in the exodus from Egypt, the remnant of Judah was

freed from Babylonian bondage in order to return to the land
and to worship their Elohim. Very unfortunately, though they
started out with vigor and obedience, they very quickly
descended back into apostasy. They decided to forsake the
Word of and began reading instead a book which had
come out of captivity with them, a book of evil and tradition,
today known as the Babylonian talmud, of which messiah
spoke:

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Mark 7:9 And He said to them, Well do you set aside the
command of Elohim, in order to guard your tradition.

Sukkot in the Future

Much is said about Sukkot in the end times. It is true that the
Word is, was, and always will be. There are no changes to the
covenant, no changes in the possession of the land and the
blessings, no changes to the Sabbath, or to the moedim.
These things are forever. To say that they have been done
away with is to directly contradict Leviticus 23, and the
prophecies which speak of things which have not yet come to
pass.

Zechariah 14:16 And it shall be that all who are left from
all the gentiles which came up against Yerushalayim, shall
go up from year to year to bow themselves to the
Sovereign, of hosts, and to observe the Festival of
Booths.
Zechariah 14:17 And it shall be, that if anyone of the clans
of the Earth does not come up to Yerushalayim to bow
himself to the Sovereign, of hosts, on them there is to
be no rain.

Why are they to come? Because this is a pilgrimage festival.

When there exists a place in which puts His name, we are
required to travel to Yerushalayim three times a year for the
feasts of Unleavened Bread, Shavuot, and Sukkot. If they do
not come and do not bring of their tithes during those times,
the punishment is no rain - no crops will grow. Not one bit of
the law has changed. Remember that this is in the future, this
is prophecy which has not happened yet.

Zechariah 14:18 And if the clan of Mitsrayim does not

come up and enter in, then there is no rain. On them is the

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plague with which plagues the gentiles who do not
come up to observe the Festival of Booths.
Zechariah 14:19 This is the punishment of Mitsrayim and
the punishment of all the gentiles that do not come up to
observe the Festival of Booths.

This must take place during the thousand year reign because
after that there is no more sin, plagues, curses, or
punishments. Eschatological opinions aside, it is important to
know that Sukkot will still be celebrated even when has
declared His sovereignty. And even after that.

Revelation 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the heaven

saying, See, the Booth of Elohim is with men, and He
shall dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and
Elohim Himself shall be with them and be their Elohim.

We are not told the date of messiah's birth. This is likely for
the reason that the fools of men would gather together on that
day and presume to celebrate in a way devised of their own
hearts, forsaking the Word. Although Nimrod or Tammuz or
whatever pagan deity du jour is said to have been born on
December 25th, the one thing we know for sure is that
messiah was not. It is much more likely that he was born
some time in the seventh month. The following verse is often
given as evidence, by the words pitched his tent or
tabernacled among:

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and pitched His
tent among us, and we saw His esteem, esteem as of an
only brought-forth of a father, complete in favor and
truth.

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The traditions of men would put the birth of Yocanon (John)
the Immerser on Passover and the birth of messiah six months
later around the time of Sukkot. However, the only thing we
are able to determine from scripture is that they were indeed
born about six months apart. While it is possible that messiah
was born during Sukkot, it cannot be said for certain. We do
know that Miriam and Joseph were traveling, possibly to
Yerushalayim for the Feast. However, since the new
testament commentary is not clear on this matter, it is clearly
not for us to know at this time. As the observance of Sukkot
began long before the messiah's birth and will last forever
after, his birth is irrelevant. We are not told to remember him
by it.

Sukkot During the Time of Messiah

John 7:2 And the festival of the Yehudim was near, the
Festival of Booths.

John 7:10 But when His brothers had gone up to the

festival, then He also went up, not openly, but as it were in
secret.

The Festival of Booths was being kept during the time of

messiah and he himself kept it.

It is interesting to note that Rav Sha'ul's (the apostle Paul's)

profession was that of tentmaker.

Acts 18:1 And after this Shaul left Athens and went to
Corinth.

Acts 18:3 And because he was of the same trade, he stayed

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with them and was working, for they were tentmakers by
trade.

Quick Reference: Sukkot

Sukkot, culminating in the closing festival called Shemini
Atzeret, is the last festival of Leviticus 23. It begins the first
day on the fifteenth (sunset on the fourteenth) of the seventh
month, which day is a day of no servile work, a set-apart
gathering, and ends on the eighth day, also a day of no servile
work and a set-apart gathering. Days two through seven are
normal work days.

For seven days, we are to dwell in booths, or sukkot

(feminine plural of sukkah). By this, we are to remember
that the children of Israel left Egypt and dwelled in sukkot in
the wilderness for forty years, depending on the bounty of
to provide for them. Having been freed from the sovereignty
and oppression of Pharaoh, they were at liberty to worship
and to relearn His Word, which had been forgotten during
their years in captivity.

On the first day, we are to gather in the fruit of good trees,

symbolizing the good and pure doctrine of the Word, the
antithesis of the leavening which is discarded from the home
before the first day of Unleavened Bread. We are also to
gather the branches of diverse trees and to use them in the
construction of our booths. Other than the instruction to use
these branches, we are not told how to construct our sukkot.
To say that there is a correct way or an incorrect way would
be to add to the Word. The important thing is that we build
these sukkot. They can be built on your roof, if you have a flat

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roof, in your yard, even on public property like a camp site.
Many people gather together for communal camping during
Sukkot. As we are told that the first and eighth days are set-
apart gatherings, this may not be a bad idea. We are not told
to camp together during that time, however. We are
encouraged to invite the participation of strangers,
representative of the mixed multitude who left Egypt with
the children of Israel and encamped among them. While
unable to participate in Passover, strangers are encouraged
to participate in the other moedim.

Dwelling may include eating, sleeping, playing games,

reading scripture, all within the sukkah. Tithe may be used to
provide the construction materials, necessities, food, drink, or
whatever your being desires, appropriate to the keeping of
the festival according to Deuteronomy 14:24-26. Remember
that if you redeem a tithe offering of grain, fruit, or wine with
money, the fifth-part must be added to it (Leviticus 27:31).
If your tithe originally consists of fiat currency, however,
there is no need to add the fifth part because no redemption
has taken place. For more information on adding the fifth-
part, see Appendix D.

We always eat very well during the week of Sukkot! After all,
this is a party, a celebration of the ultimate wedding feast!
Imagine a seven-day wedding festival with the best of
everything. This is a time of joy, symbolic of the marriage
supper of the lamb and the time spent in the bridal chamber
with the bridegroom, sealing the covenant in wine and meal.
The term Feast is really appropriate here. Why would you
not feast when the occasion warrants it and is paid for? For
more on tithe, see Appendix D.

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While the eighth day is the second of the no-servile-work
days, it is not a day to spend in the sukkah; only stay in the
sukkah for seven days. Sukkot may be built of lumber and
plywood, entirely woven of branches, log cabin style, canvas
tents, travel trailers, or any other way you can imagine. As
there are no expressed rules, there are no limits to the ways to
build a suitable booth. They are traditionally built without a
roof, or may have sparse roofs of interwoven or thatched
branches or palm fronds, but again, there are no directions in
the bible for sukkah construction.

In the Shemitah year, the seventh year of land rest, we are

commanded to read the Torah in its entirety during Sukkot.
This may be the first time strangers participating in Sukkot
will have heard the Word. This is the only commanded time
to read or to hear the Torah. Many of us read weekly Torah
Portions, and while that is great to do it is only tradition and
we are commanded to read it in its entirety during the festival.
Some vacation during this time, taking care to observe the
first and eighth days as non-working days as well as taking
care to work the other six days, as we are commanded to do.

Take care not to observe the traditions of men or to teach them

as being required by the Word. If you choose to acquire a
very expensive lemon and dance around rejoicing, you are
certainly within your rights and even within the realm of
reason during Sukkot, but do not teach that this is required of
us. Do not travel to Israel; observe the feast of Sukkot
wherever you are. Do not forsake the commands of in
order to teach the traditions of men.

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278
Chapter 10: Shemitah

Exodus 23:10 And for six years you are to sow your land,
and shall gather its increase,

Exodus 23:11 but the seventh year you are to let it rest,
and shall leave it, and the poor of your people shall eat.
And what they leave, the beasts of the field eat. Do the
same with your vineyard and your oliveyard.

Though not a feast day, Shemitah year is an appointed time

of . Man is to rest every seventh day on the Sabbath.
Land is to rest as well, but it would be impossible and
impractical for it to rest every seventh day. Instead, the land
is to rest every seventh year. Just as the weekly Sabbath, the
years are: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Shemitah. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Shemitah.
Every seventh year is a Sabbath of rest for the land, just as
every seventh day is a Sabbath of rest for man. As with the
Sabbath, if you have more than or fewer than six years
between Shemitah years, you have something wrong with
your cycle. This is further proof against the lunar sabbath
theory; this cycle is representative of the Sabbath day cycle,
as well as the Jubilee cycle. These are all perfect sevens.
Only imperfection, chaos and confusion would upset a perfect

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cycle.

Man is told to rest every seven days throughout the year, but
the land continues to work all year long. Consider the
following. In seven years, with 52 weeks a year, there are 364
weekly Sabbaths. This is (approximately) equal to the
number of days during the seventh year in which the land is
allowed to rest. In this way, being that the land is unable to
rest weekly, it is allowed a full year's worth of rest every
seven years - one seventh of the time, just as we rest one
seventh of the time. Seeing as how our current solar calendar
has 365.25 days in a year, not 364, this Shemitah cycle may
be further proof of the Enoch calendar described in Chapter
1. Remember though that the bible does not go by either the
Enoch calendar or the Gregorian calendar, but upon the rules
set forth by the heavenly luminaries. The cycles of the sun
and moon govern the months and the years, and the number of
days in a year are irrespective of those cycles. It is better to
observe the cycles of the moon than to count days. In
counting, one can make mistakes. One is unlikely to mistake
seeing the moon in the sky.

For six years we plant annuals, tend to perennials, and gather

(harvest for preservation) of the increase of those things. We
gather fruit from trees, bushes and vines, we gather grain and
vegetables and oil from seeds, nuts, and fruits like olives. We
gather freely of things which are wild or grow of
themselves. But in the seventh year, every seventh year, we
are to let the land rest. We do not sow a crop in the sixth year
which would be harvested in the seventh. We do not harvest
in the seventh year that which is wild, volunteer, or grows
of itself. Food may be plucked and eaten, but not harvested
for long-term storage. We may graze as animals graze,
plucking and eating directly from the plants, but animals do
not fill buckets or prepare jellies, pies or pickles. In the

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seventh year, we are to allow our land to be free to produce
what it will, and to allow the poor and the beasts of the field
to enjoy of its bounty.

What is the exact purpose of letting the land rest? I do not

know. I do not see this as important, however. We let it rest
because we are told to let it rest. The nearest direct
explanation the bible gives for its purpose is:

Leviticus 25:6 And the Sabbath of the land shall be to

you for food, for you and your servant, and for your
female servant and your hired servant, and for the
stranger who sojourns with you,
Leviticus 25:7 and for your livestock and the beasts that
are in your land. All its crops are for food.

We are told that the Sabbath of the land shall be to us for food.
We, and our servants, and our hired servants, and the strangers
who sojourn with us, for the livestock, the beasts in the land,
etc. If this list looks familiar to you, I'll help you out. It is the
same list of living things commanded to rest on the weekly
Sabbath! Every creature which rests on the Sabbath is to eat
of the fruit which grows naturally of the land while the land
itself is resting during Shemitah.

The Sabbath of the land shall be to you for food. This can
mean several things. This can mean that the poor are immune
from paying for food during the Shemitah year, allowing them
to provide for themselves without need of money. This can
also mean that without the Sabbath for the land, the land may
become incapable of producing food; that the rest itself
maintains the land's ability to be to you for food. We know
that crops, especially consistently similar crops on the same
land year after year, can deplete the soil of nutrients necessary
for that crop to grow. A year of rest would certainly go a long

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way to replenishing those depleted nutrients! And yet it
would be foolish to suggest this as the sole reason to allow the
land to rest on the Sabbatical year.

Leviticus 25:2 Speak to the children of Israel, and say to

them, When you come into the land which I give you,
then the land shall observe a Sabbath to .
Leviticus 25:3 Six years you sow your field, and six years
you prune your vineyard, and gather in its fruit,
Leviticus 25:4 but in the seventh year the land is to have a
Sabbath of rest, a Sabbath to . Do not sow your field
and do not prune your vineyard.
Leviticus 25:5 Do not reap what grows of its own of your
harvest, and do not gather the grapes of your unpruned
vine, for it is a year of rest for the land.

Why were they told to begin to observe this land rest when
they came into the land? Quite simply because they were not
farming in the wilderness. They moved camp so many times
in forty years that they were never in one place long enough to
tend crops. The children of Israel ate the manna from Elohim,
they did not grow traditional crops as nomads in the
wilderness.

Many mistakenly say that it is only the land of Israel which

must rest. Very small plots of land in Israel are sold to
wealthy and foolish (although well-meaning) people all over
the world, so they may own a piece of land in Israel and allow
it to rest during the Shemitah year. These plots are likely sold
over and over, and there is no way to know for sure that your
piece of Israel isn't in the middle of a barley field, at the top of
an arid mountain in Qumran, or in the middle of the Dead Sea.
Since Rabbinic Judaism begins the Shemitah year in the
seventh month, as opposed to the biblical first month, a tract
of land you purchase in Israel just to maintain the Shemitah

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might actually be farmed on the first month, making you
guilty of breaking the Shemitah. While an excellent way for
an industrious and unscrupulous person in Israel to make a
little extra cash, it is unwise to purchase land in Israel for this
purpose. You may let your own land rest and be perfectly in
accordance with the Word. As with the pilgrimage feasts of
First Fruits, Shavuot, and Sukkot, the Shemitah was
commanded to be kept long before the children of Israel
entered the promised land. While the verse does tell them to
begin to keep the land Sabbath when they enter into the land
which He gives them, there is never an instruction to end its
observance. Quite the contrary:

Deuteronomy 30:1 And it shall be, when all these words

come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set
before you, and you shall bring them back to your heart
among all the gentiles where your Elohim drives you,
Deuteronomy 30:2 and shall turn back to your
Elohim and obey His voice, according to all that I
command you today, with all your heart and with all your
being, you and your children,
Deuteronomy 30:3 then your Elohim shall turn back
your captivity, and shall have compassion on you, and He
shall turn back and gather you from all the peoples where
your Elohim has scattered you.
Deuteronomy 30:4 If any of you are driven out to the
farthest parts under the heavens, from there your
Elohim does gather you, and from there He does take you.

We are told that wherever we have been driven, even out to

the farthest parts under the heavens, even there are we able to
keep ALL of the commandments which were given to the
children of Israel. As the end was known from the beginning,
this too was known. If the Shemitah year was only to be kept
within the land of Israel, how could we keep it being driven

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out among the nations? The answer is plain. Allow the land
to rest as men are allowed to rest outside Israel on the
Sabbath. It would be silly to suggest that we are only to keep
the weekly Sabbath in Israel, or that we are only to be
circumcised in Israel, or to refrain from eating bacon only in
Israel. Therefore, we let the land rest.

Leviticus 25:19 and the land shall yield its fruit, and you
shall eat to satisfaction, and shall dwell there in safety.

Unpruned Vine

We are not to prune the vineyard in the Shemitah. The

Hebrew word for an unpruned vine is the same word as that
for unshorn locks or one who has taken a vow of the Nazarite
(Numbers 6). It also means separated or set apart,
consecrated. The word is nazir [ H5139]. Isn't it
interesting that these concepts should all share the same
word? A Nazarite vow prohibits one from cutting his or her
hair or eating of the fruit of the vine. During the Shemitah
year, we are instructed not to prune, cut or dress a vine or to
gather of its fruit. Both the Nazarite and the Shemitah are
consecrated, and are set apart to . Once a Nazarite vow is
over, the person is to cut his or her hair and may once again
eat of the fruit of the vine. Once the Shemitah year is over,
we are allowed to prune the vine and gather of its fruit. This
is not coincidence, these things are intimately related!
Exactly how they are related is a mystery to be studied.

We are not to reap (harvest for preservation) that which grows

of itself during the Shemitah year. Although Monsanto might
disagree with me, man is not required for the proper growing
of food. Through the digestive system of birds and mammals
alike, as well as by wind currents, and upon the hair and fur of
all that moves, the seeds of all plants are able to be scattered

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and planted quite efficiently without our help. Simply by
falling from the mature plant, grain and fruit is able to
propagate itself by obeying gravity and landing in fertile
ground. This produces entire forests as well as scattered
groves of grains, vegetables, and fruit. We are told in the
verses regarding Shemitah that we may freely eat of all that
grows of itself. It stands to reason that we could even bring
some home to our families or use fresh greens for the salad
with dinner that night. But we are not to gather grain
systematically as a man would systematically remove his
beard with a razor. We are not to gather for processing or
long-term storage. The things which grow naturally are there
for food, as we are told, but food for immediate use.

Leviticus 25:20 And since you might say, What do we

eat in the seventh year, since we do not sow nor gather in
our crops?
Leviticus 25:21 Therefore I have commanded My
blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth
the crop for three years.
Leviticus 25:22 And you shall sow in the eighth year, and
eat of the old crop until the ninth year. Eat of the old until
its crop comes in.

Just as the children of Israel gathered a double-portion in the

wilderness on the day before Sabbath, to provide for the needs
of both the sixth and seventh days, so we are also blessed with
the bounty of crops in the sixth year. These verses add some
slight confusion because we see crop for three years, as well
as reference to the eighth and ninth years. But it is a simple
thing.

Lets say it is the year 1, and the first year in the cycle. Last
year was the year of rest, we did not sow, so there are no crops
to gather this spring. We harvest in year 1 what grows of

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itself (and eat of the third year of bounty promised to us in
Leviticus 25, which was gathered in the sixth year) and plant
for year 2. We harvest in year 2 and plant for year 3. We
harvest in 3 and plant for 4. Harvest in 4, and plant for 5. In
year 6, we are promised the bounty of three years, and we do
not plant crops to be gathered in year 7. Since we didn't plant
for 7, we do not harvest anything in 7 (not even what grows of
itself), and since we have to let the land rest, we cannot plant
for 8. Since we couldn't plant for 8, there's nothing to harvest
in 8 (except what grows of itself, which we are now allowed
to harvest). But we plant in 8 so we can harvest in 9. When
we are promised the bounty of three years, we are given food
for years 6, 7, and 8 while we wait for the new crop and
continue as normal in the 9th year, which is the second year in
the new cycle.

1- nothing to harvest, sow

2- normal
3- normal
4- normal
5- normal
6- gather for three years, do not sow
7- do not gather for storage but eat what grows, do not sow
8 (first year of new cycle) - nothing to harvest, sow
9 (second year of new cycle) - normal

The bounty of the sixth year in the cycle needs to last for year
6, year 7, and year 8 while we're waiting for the new crops to
grow.
That's not difficult at all! But I'm not a farmer, you're
saying. That's okay, you can still participate in a big way! I
am not a cashier at a grocery store, but I cause one to work for
me if I go shopping on the Sabbath. You are not a farmer of
land, but you cause the land to work for you if you consume
that which was gathered for you on the Shemitah. Our

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responsibility in the sixth year is to be as the children of Israel
in the wilderness on the sixth day, and gather enough to allow
for the rest. We are to gather enough food in the sixth year of
the cycle to allow us to not benefit from the food harvest in
the seventh year.

This is big. We are told to gather enough food for our families
to last us through Shemitah year. This requires resources of
money, time, and space. This requires difficult logistics of
watching what you eat and in what quantities, making notes
about how long a box of this or that lasts you, and finding out
how many of those you would need for a year's worth of land
rest.

I know that I will need 14 cans of coffee, and about 40lbs of

sugar. Several gallons of cooking oil and a 50lb bag of rice.
This is really not an easy thing, and it requires faith to even
think that you'll be capable of doing it as we're supposed to do
it. It may help you to know that it was done when the
children of Israel came into the promised land, and for years
after. And they didn't have refrigerators, freezers, or
commercial fertilizer. They didn't have electric dehydrators,
vacuum bags, pressure canners, or any of the modern food-
storage contrivances that we do today. By today's standards,
this should be a breeze! There is a wonderful book put out by
Beit Tefillah Publishing called The Shemitah: How We
Prepared For It, which is currently available on Amazon in
both print and Kindle formats. It is a great resource that
covers how to buy, grow, and prepare food for storage for the
Shemitah year. These things are of utmost importance if you
have never thought about preparing or had to prepare for
Shemitah year, and this information will be very valuable to
you. That information is beyond the scope of this book. If
you are just learning about Shemitah now, as of this
publishing, it may be too late for you to prepare for it to

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practicable standards. The next seventh year in the cycle
begins in the spring (Abib 1) of 2016 and ends in the spring
(Abib 1) of 2017. This is contrary to the rabbinic
community's tradition, but more about that later.

There are some things which become difficult or even

impossible in the Shemitah year because of the restrictions
imposed upon us by our obedience to the command to observe
the land Sabbath. Eating out at restaurants during Shemitah
year is not advised because of the recently-grown food which
is served there. Travel is difficult during Shemitah year
because of the necessity to carry your own stored food. This
would be difficult, say, if traveling to a relative's house, and
would be hard to explain why you are unable to eat the
wonderful meal they have prepared in your honor.

Remember that the year starts Abib 1, and we are commanded

on (or before) Abib 15 to remove the leaven from our houses.
Make sure to have everything with yeast very clearly marked
and maybe even in a special storage location so you know to
remove those things from your home for Unleavened Bread
during the Shemitah year.

Now, there are some things which you are allowed go to out
and buy. The restrictions are only on things which are grown,
and only those things which are grown for food. There are no
restrictions on animal products, as these things do not grow
from the soil. You may go and buy fresh meat, eggs, and
cheese. Only make sure there isn't any potato starch added in
the shredded cheddar to prevent clumping. You may buy
yogurt, but not fruit-on-the-bottom. If you want fruit, you'll
have to store it in the sixth year and put it into your fresh
yogurt in the seventh. You may buy copy paper and toilet
paper and gasoline (ethanol comes from corn), and cream for
the coffee you bought in the sixth year. You may buy shirts

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and socks and cotton Dockers because these things are not for
food. We are told that the Sabbath of rest for the land will be
food for us, not garments for us. We do not require nutrients
in the textiles which make our clothing. If the land becomes
depleted of whatever nutrients are present in cotton, we may
have fewer socks. But we can live with fewer socks, socks are
not required for life. Only that which grows for food is the
benefit of the land Sabbath. It is not necessary to buy a year's
worth of clothing or gasoline, thankfully. Shemitah and the
land rest is all about eating, all about sustaining life by
allowing the land what it needs to produce plant food
material, which sustains life for the entire food chain.

Not only can we live without socks, so can our livestock and
our pets. Leviticus 25:6-7 tells us that the land rest is to be
food for us and for our livestock and the beasts of the field.
Humans are not the only beings which depend upon the fruit
of the ground for sustenance. As we may walk through the
fields and eat of the standing grain which grew of itself in the
seventh year as messiah did on the Sabbath day, so the
livestock and beasts of the field and birds of the air may
graze. However, any food which we would store for our
beasts, be it hay for cows and horses, or dog food with
vegetable content, these things must be doubly-gathered in the
sixth year, enough to last over the seventh. We are
responsible for the stewardship of two things: the land and the
animals. The land cannot rest if we grow food for the
animals, and the domesticated animals would not be allowed
to eat without our efforts in the sixth year. Animals may
graze, but when the time comes to supplement their dietary
needs with hay and other products of the ground, those things
need to have been gathered for them before the start of the
seventh year.

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 Rest on the Seventh

Matthew 12:1 At that time went through the grain

fields on the Sabbath. And His taught ones were hungry,
and began to pluck heads of grain, to eat.
Matthew 12:2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to
Him, Look, Your taught ones are doing what is not right
to do on the Sabbath!
Matthew 12:3 But He said to them, Have you not read
what David did when he was hungry, he and those who
were with him:
Matthew 12:4 how he went into the House of Elohim and
ate the showbread which was not right for him to eat, nor
for those who were with him, but only for the priests?

In Chapter 2, The Sabbath, these verses are much discussed

and picked apart for truth and content. The Sabbath day and
the Shemitah year are the same type of rest - they are images
of the same thing - the seventh millennial rest. The weekly
Sabbath provides rest for man and beast alike, and the
Sabbath year provides rest for the land over the same number
of days in that seven year period that man and beast were
allowed to rest. In that way, all that lives is given rest for 364
days every seven years, one-seventh part of the cycle.

The same rules apply for food on the Sabbath and in the
Shemitah years. You gather that which is needed in the sixth
to last over the seventh. On the seventh, you may not go out
and harvest, but you may gather and consume for that day's
needs. You may cook (contrary to tradition) on the Sabbath
day, just as you may cook during the Shemitah year. While it
is probably a good idea to abstain from creating meals which
take hours to prepare on the Sabbath, we are told that work
may be done so that everyone may eat. Speaking from
experience, there is a lot to be done on a Friday afternoon to

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prepare for the Sabbath. Especially during the winter months,
when the sun sets so early in the day, time is precious and it
may not be possible to leave work, take care of the necessary
chores at home, and get everything done which must get done
before the Sabbath. Many weeks I find myself racing the
clock and still doing dishes, or some other chore, two minutes
before sunset. If I wasn't allowed to cook a small meal on the
Sabbath, I simply wouldn't be able to eat that day at all. And
that is contrary to the purpose of the Sabbath; it is not a
burden and does not contain burdensome or bureaucratic
instructions designed to cause grief on that day. Burdensome
and bureaucratic instructions are instead the way of the
scribes and Pharisees, who told messiah that his taught ones
did what was not right to do on the Sabbath. They were so
indoctrinated by that time in the ways of the Babylonian
talmud that they were unable to determine the Word of
from the words of man, and assumed that the Torah was being
broken because their elders and sages spoke laws
indistinguishable from Torah by the uneducated masses.

This is why it is so important to learn the Word and to throw

out the leaven of the scribes and the Pharisees. We do not
want to be like them, unable to distinguish the good from the
bad or the clean from the unclean, wise in our own estimation,
having knowledge of wickedness and no knowledge of
righteousness. The reason they got away with the mixing of
talmud with Torah then and now is because of the claim that
the oral torah contained specifics and traditions which were
given only to Moshe and which were not written down. That
is in direct contradiction to the bible.

Exodus 24:3 And Moshe came and related to the people

all the Words of and all the right-rulings. And all the
people answered with one voice and said, All the Words
which has spoken we shall do.

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Exodus 24:4 And Moshe wrote down all the Words of ,
and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar at the
foot of the mountain, and twelve standing columns for the
twelve tribes of Israel.

We are told that Moshe wrote down ALL the words of ,

which He had spoken. How then is it logical that there is a
oral torah which came from and yet was not written
down? These are the words of a ruling class of Pharisees who
simply wished to maintain control by their burdensome laws
and mysterious knowledge. The same was true then as it is
now.

Are you bound by words which do not appear in a contract?

Would that be acceptable before a court of law? The people
said, All the words which has spoken, we will do. And
then all of those words were written down. They did not
agree to things which were not spoken, they did not agree to
things which were not written down at that time. Messiah did
not come to teach the oral torah, but the written Word of
Elohim. A huge percentage of what messiah said in the new
testament commentary is directly quoting Torah. The children
of Israel agreed and were bound by ONLY the Word, which
was spoken and written at Mt. Sinai. If you number yourself
among the children of Israel and bind yourself according to
the same covenant which they agreed to at the base of the
mountain, then you are only bound by those things which
were agreed to and recorded in the book of Moshe. You are
not bound by the apostasy of the oral torah propagated by
those who wish to maintain power over the nations.

There are many laws and contrivances of men which attempt

to circumvent the Word and allow food to be grown and
harvested on Shemitah. Crop rotation, while valuable in its
own right, is not a replacement for complete land rest. Just as

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we are not simply allowed to pick one day a week on which to
have our Sabbath and in that way rest one day a week, we are
not allowed to pick a year in which a particular parcel of land
will rest. Do not presume to understand the law and to
achieve obedience by your own methods. It was given to us
for a reason; if crop rotation was a genuine method of
observing land rest, is not smart enough to suggest it to
us? We are to rest on THE Sabbath day. All of us. The land is
to rest on THE Sabbath year. All of it. Any way of trying to
get around this is attempting to find loopholes in the Word and
skirt around the Word of . Many say that they cannot
afford to let the land rest because of the loss of crops which
would occur during that time. I say to them that with faith,
they would gather enough for that lost crop in the sixth year,
and more besides every year because the land would benefit
from its seventh-year rest. A person living paycheck to
paycheck would say that they cannot afford to take the
Sabbath off from work. Speaking from personal experience,
any job which causes you to work on the Sabbath isn't good
enough for you. If you leave it in faith to avoid working on
the Sabbath, you will be blessed in ways which are
innumerable and unpredictable. The same is true on the
Sabbath year. Simply by living in faith, much is
accomplished.

Some attempt to grow gardens in pots, in raised beds or in

green houses. This sounds just like the thinking of the
Pharisees, who keep a law only to keep it according to their
traditions and without learning the lesson associated with it,
breaking it by the addition of faulty logic. Let me make this
very clear. Anything that grows from the ground in any year
only does so by the grace of . The nourishing rains come
from Him. All food comes from Him. If He tells you to
gather in the sixth for both years, there must not be any other
way to obey. If growing food in pots was a legal alternative,

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it would have said so in the Word. As the engineer of the
cycles of the sun and moon, and the author of the story of life
from the soil, then quite surely He will tell us the best way to
stand as stewards over His creation.

Just as the children of Israel were told to NOT gather on the

seventh day, they were told to gather DOUBLE on the sixth.
If you do not gather double on the sixth, you are breaking the
commandment. If you gather at all on the seventh, you are
breaking the commandment. If you plant a crop in the sixth to
harvest on the seventh, you are breaking the law. Quite
foolishly, I might add, because you are not promised a
blessing for anything you do contrary to the Word. Just as
you cannot expect to grant you health from eating bacon,
you cannot expect sufficient rain in the Shemitah year for any
crops you planted in a way discordant to the Word.

Do not try to be wise in your own estimation. Do not follow

after others to do evil. Do not contrive devious methods to
break the commandments of Elohim. Obey the Word. Keep
the Sabbath day and keep the Sabbath of rest for the land.

Captivity: The Reward for Disobedience

The children of Israel were told what would happen to them if

they did not obey the commandment for the land Sabbath.

Leviticus 26:33 And I shall scatter you among the

gentiles and draw out a sword after you. And your land
shall be desert and your cities ruins,
Leviticus 26:34 and the land enjoy its Sabbaths as long as
it lies waste and you are in your enemies land. Then the
land would rest and enjoy its Sabbaths.
Leviticus 26:35 As long as it lies waste it rests, for the
time it did not rest on your Sabbaths when you dwelt in it.

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Let this simmer for a moment. The following things are
equal: The land enjoys its Sabbaths and It lies waste and
rests without people on it at all. The only way the land can
truly receive its rest is if we do not put any tool to it. We are
told that without man's presence, the land gets its rest. There
is the answer right there! Treat the land as an animal does
when it is grazing. Your footfalls upon the ground are
acceptable. Eating from the plants as you walk is acceptable.
All else is prohibited because the land rests as it lies waste.

The verses above were not empty promises.

2 Chronicles 36:20 And those who escaped from the

sword he exiled to Babel, where they became servants to
him and his sons until the reign of the reign of Persia,
2 Chronicles 36:21 in order to fill the word of by the
mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her
Sabbaths. As long as she lay waste she kept Sabbath, until
seventy years were completed.

Seventy years of Sabbaths had been neglected by the children

of Israel and so they were sent into captivity for that many
years so the land could have its rest. The cumulative effects
of 490 years' worth of farming without letting the land rest
every seventh year must have given rise to famines and to the
production of GMO crops which were better suited to infertile
soil and years without sufficient rain. This must have given
rise to disease, infertility, and malnourishment. We know
these things because such promises are given to those who
should break the commandments of . This, again, is faith.
This is operating according to the Word because of the belief
that the Word has the power to bring those things which it
promises to pass. Both for good and for ill, the blessings for
obedience, and the curses for disobedience; these things are
promised to the children of Israel and are part of the Word to

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which they agreed and bound themselves at the base of Mt.
Sinai.

The prophets of each generation remind the people of the need

to live by the Word. Jonah saved Nineveh from destruction
because of his word to them and their repentance. Had Judah
repented and turned back in obedience, they would not have
been taken away into Babylon. They would not have come
back from Babylon with the Hillel calendar and their
worthless talmud. To this day, they remain as Esau, weeping
bitterly for all their curses and the loss of their birthright but
they have NEVER ONCE turned back to the Word and seek
riches instead from the words of their sages and solace from
their traditions. Such lawlessness and the effects wrought
from it are NOT to be pitied, and these people are NOT to be
prayed for. (Jeremiah 7:16, 11:14, 14:11) For we are told that
such lawlessness would be rewarded with bitter punishment
and that those people would become as a parable, an example,
a sign and even a horror before the nations of the power of
and of the need to obey Him. The curse without cause
does not come (Proverbs 26:2), and we are NOT to pity those
who choose curses when they act contrary to the Word of
Elohim. This is where fear comes into play. He has the
power to destroy you with famine and immense conflagration.
DO NOT disobey the commands of .

Jeremiah 25:11 And all this land shall be a ruin and a

waste, and these nations shall serve the sovereign of Babel
seventy years.
Jeremiah 25:12 And it shall be, when seventy years are
completed, that I shall punish the sovereign of Babel and
that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their
crookedness, declares , and shall make it everlasting
ruins.

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We are told in Proverbs that the curse without a cause does not
come. If you are being cursed, if you are missing out on
blessings, if your family or your land is in captivity or
helpless against the forces at work against it, then you are in
some way disobedient. Consider the verses above. The land
was a ruin and a waste, and the inhabitants of the land were
brought to a foreign nation and caused to serve them for
seventy years. If you didn't know the whole story, that would
sound like a really pitiable situation. These poor people.
How did it come to be that their lives were destroyed in this
way? Was it because of the strength of the power against
them? Was it because of their weakness or their few
numbers? NO! It was because of disobedience! A direct line
can be drawn, a flow chart can be made, from commandment
to action to outcome. If you do not know the Word, you
cannot know the commandment. If you do not know the
commandment, you may or may not be acting contrary to it.
And if you do not know the Word, this life appears sporadic
and you feel as one tossed on the wind, caught in the eddies
and unpredictable flows of circumstance. Wisdom is gained
from knowing the Word of , not just of seemingly archaic
rituals and histories, but the wisdom of life. The bible could
effectively be renamed to The instruction manual for how to
not get carried away into captivity and suffer from horrible
diseases. But the sons of men have more love for tradition
and wickedness than for the Word and Truth of the Creator.
As Jonah brought the Word to Nineveh, I call you myself,
today, now, to turn away from darkness, to enter into the light.

Read the Torah during Sukkot in the seventh year and learn
things worth knowing. Remove the leaven from your houses,
examine your ways and open your eyes to the fact that this
world is governed not by random accidents, but by the
government of Covenant set up from the very beginning and
that you are in control according to the Word of . You may

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choose blessings and obedience or you may choose the curses
that come with disobedience.

Year of Release

Deuteronomy 15:1 At the end of every seven years you

make a release of debts.
Deuteronomy 15:2 And this is the word of the release:
Every creditor is to release what he has loaned to his
neighbor, he does not require it of his neighbor or his
brother, because it is called the release of .
Deuteronomy 15:3 Of a foreigner you could require it,
but your hand is to release whatever is owed by your
brother.

Remember the perfect cycles of sevens. We have seven days

in the Sabbath cycle. Seven Sabbaths in the Shavuot cycle.
Seven years in the Shemitah cycle. Seven Shemitahs in the
Jubilee cycle. Remember the perfection of the renewal of the
8's. Circumcision on the eighth day. A kid, lamb, or calf may
be sacrificed on the eighth day. (Exodus 22:30) There were
eight people in the ark from whom humanity was replenished.
Noah himself was the eighth Melchizedek priest of ,
responsible for keeping the Covenant for the remnant
assembly. The day after the Sabbath, the eighth day, is the
new week. The eighth year marks the new Shemitah cycle.

The forgiveness of debts should be seen through that lens.

This isn't an arbitrary commandment, not just a way to
prevent social problems in Israel or a way to keep down the
numbers of poor within the community. This teaches renewal
of life, forgiveness of sins, and is prophetic of the eighth
day, in which messiah and his spotless bride will live in the
new city forever without sin and death.

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Consider the following. At the end of a week, after Sabbath,
you have the opportunity to start the new week, the eighth
day, according to the wisdom and insight gained on the
Sabbath day. You are recharged, renewed of body from your
rest, renewed of spirit by the Word, and ready to tackle
another week. Last week doesn't matter. Contrary to Christian
teaching, you cannot go back in time and undo your sin. There
is no ritual to perform to undo the sins which you committed.
You can only start now, from this moment, and walk forward
in obedience. This is the true definition of repentance. There
is no biblically-condoned method of corporal mortification or
penance for past sins. Simply put them down and walk away,
placing those sins symbolically upon the head of the Lamb
and asking forgiveness. In the same vein, you are not always
saved. Just as any number of men and women in the bible
started out with good intentions, ending up corrupting
themselves and falling from the reward they had earned by
their righteousness, we too are very capable of straying from
the path of light and falling into darkness. You must examine
yourself and your doctrines to make sure you are still living
according to the Word. Without examination, we fall into
tradition and apostasy.

At the end of a week of years, the seven years in the Shemitah

cycle, debts are forgiven and debtors are given a blank slate,
just as we are given a blank slate in a new week after the
Sabbath, and just as the world will begin new and without sin,
all things being forgiven, after the millennial reign on Shemini
Atzeret. The diminutive, the release of debts in the flesh
every seventh year, is prophetic of the eventual and permanent
release of all debt, which was paid by the blood of the atoning
Lamb.

Likewise, messiah was in the grave for the Sabbath and arose
at sunset, the very beginning of the eighth day, and the world

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was renewed because of his resurrection. The priesthood was
wrenched from the hands of the worldly and ineffective
Levitical system, which had degenerated into little more than
a Roman popularity contest, and went back into the hands of
the Melchizedek priesthood - a perpetual system which is now
incorruptible and incorporeal (not of the flesh) in messiah, the
ray-sheeth of those born into eternal life. The release of
debts that occurred then and which will occur at the end of the
millennial reign was prophesied long ago, within Torah, in
Deuteronomy 15.

According to the Word of the release, every creditor is to

release and forgive all which has been given to his brother and
to his neighbor (synonyms). All debts are forgiven and all
loaned things are to be stricken from the books.

HOWEVER. Only that which was owed by a brother or

neighbor is forgiven.

Luke 8:21 And He answering, said to them, My mother

and My brothers are those who are hearing the Word of
Elohim and doing it.

The children of Israel are not required to forgive that which is

owed by a stranger - by a child of the nations. Just as is
not guaranteed to forgive the transgressions of those who are
not hearing the Word and doing it. Christianity would lump
all men into the heading of brothers, hoping in vain that
will overlook their own lawlessness and welcome their
wickedness with the open arms of unconditional love and
forgiveness at the appointed time. According to Deuteronomy
15, and Luke 8, this is not so. Only those who are considered
to be brothers to the messiah, those who listen with
understanding to the Word of the Father, will be forgiven of
their debts at the end of the seventh year millennium and be

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allowed to enter into the Kingdom.

Jeremiah 34:14 At the end of seven years each one

should set free his Hebrew brother, who has been sold to
him. And when he has served you six years, you shall let
him go free from you. But your fathers did not obey Me
nor incline their ear.
Jeremiah 34:15 And you recently turned and did what
was right in My eyes, each man proclaiming release to his
neighbor. And you made a covenant before Me in the
house which is called by My Name.
Jeremiah 34:16 But you turned back and profaned My
Name, and each one of you took back his male and female
slaves, whom he had set free, at their pleasure, and
brought them into subjection, to be your male and female
slaves.
Jeremiah 34:17 Therefore thus said , You have not
obeyed Me in proclaiming release, each one to his brother
and each one to his neighbor. See, I am proclaiming
release to you, declares , to the sword, to the
pestilence, and to the scarcity of food! And I shall make
you a horror to all reigns of the Earth.

Although slavery and servitude is very different today when

compared with the way it used to be, these verses should be
remembered. Things in this world tend to be cyclical, and we
could once again find ourselves in a less-than-perfect system
in the aftermath of severe economic downturn or other
emergency. Do not profane the covenant by sinning against a
brother or a neighbor in this way or you will find yourself
carried off into slavery.

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 Quick Reference: Shemitah year

Just as the weekly Sabbath occurs every seventh day, every

seventh year is a rest year for the land. This rest is needed to
properly replenish the soil in order to grow food for both man
and beast. In the sixth year, just as on the sixth day in the
wilderness, gathering the manna, we are to put back enough
food to last until the time when food may be harvested again
after the seventh year. In the bible and in a segregated
agrarian society even today, food enough would be gathered
in the sixth year for that year, for the seventh, and for the
eighth, waiting for the new crop which could be harvested in
the ninth. However, in the present day with worldwide food
distribution and the ability to acquire out-of-season produce
simply by walking to the grocery store, we must examine the
commandment at the nuts and bolts level.

We are told to let the land rest in the seventh year. This
logically follows: Gather enough in the sixth year for the sixth
and seventh years. After the seventh year is over, any food
which is available growing of itself may be harvested and
eaten because it is no longer Shemitah year. Groups which
scavenge and do not practice conventional farming (such as
some Native American tribes which cultivated the bounty of
wild edibles) would obviously not be waiting for a typical
crop to come up in the ninth year. The root of the
commandment is to allow the land to rest in the seventh year.
Any way that you are able to fulfill that commandment is
sufficient for obedience. After the seventh year, you may
consume, harvest, put up, or store anything which is available
to you.

Again, the commandment is to let the land rest. The

remainder of the instructions surrounding the commandment
are to sustain human life and offer practical instruction for

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staying alive during the Sabbath year and subsequent time
until crops may be raised and harvested. For example, the
commandment to gather food enough in the sixth year to last
until after the rest. The only reason for that is to sustain your
life during that time. You do not have to gather that food, but
without it you would die in attempting to keep the Shemitah
year. So there is practical instruction mixed in with the
commandments.

Do not attempt to skirt around the Shemitah year by growing

food indoors, in pots, in raised beds, or in green houses. Do
not rotate your crops and say that you are being obedient to
the Word, because you are not. Just as you cannot choose
when the sun sets, when the moon rises, or which day to have
your Sabbath, you cannot choose another way on the straight
path of righteousness. Obey the Word, don't try to sneak
around it.

Release the debts of those who are, by definition of the Torah

and of messiah, brothers and neighbors. If you know of one
indebted to you who keeps the Sabbath, keeps the Feast Days,
is able to distinguish clean from unclean, then this debtor is a
child of Israel and is a neighbor to you. Forgive him of his
debts as you hope to be forgiven of your own debts at the end
of the Seventh Day. Claim forgiveness of your debts against
others who would consider you to be a brother or a neighbor.
Claim release with authority and unabashedly, for you are
promised this release according to the Word. Be prepared to
give the scripture which states your case, and stand firm in
your resolve. These things work to the good of all men.

Do not borrow with the intent that your debt will be forgiven
at the end of the seventh year. This is dishonest and you will
be found guilty if you remain unrepentant in your wickedness.
Attempt to repay what you are able before the appointed time,

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and take care to have things resolved in a way that will suit all
parties involved.

Deuteronomy 15:9 Be on guard lest there be a thought of

wickedness in your heart, saying, The seventh year, the
year of release, is near, and your eye is evil against your
poor brother and you give him naught. And he shall cry
out to against you, and it shall be a sin in you.
Deuteronomy 15:10 You shall certainly give to him, and
your heart should not be grieved when you give to him,
because for this reason your Elohim does bless you in
all your works and in all to which you put your hand.

Do not expect a court of law to uphold the Word of release; by

the very nature of your obedience to Torah, you set yourself at
odds with the world and its church of mammon. The world is
unlikely to forgive you of your mortgage or the lawnmower
you borrowed from the man next door in the Shemitah year.
As you expect to absolve a brother and hold a stranger liable
for his debts, expect a brother to absolve you and a stranger to
hold you liable for yours.

As strange as it may sound in today's advanced society,

release any children of Israel, brothers and neighbors, who
have come to be enslaved, have been purchased by you, or are
serving their debt to you through servitude.

Until very recently, the concept of the Shemitah year has been
relatively unknown except to Jewish communities and those
of Israel (the people, not the land) who keep Torah. The
recent and popular books of Jonathan Cahn have brought the
concept of Shemitah into popular culture here in America and
abroad, which is a good thing. Yet the rabbinic tradition
surrounding Cahn and his books have done more harm than
good in spreading lies and teaching others the traditions of

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men contrary to the Word.

Cahn, and all rabbinic Jewry for that matter, insists that the
Shemitah begins in the fall, at Rosh HaShana, or the first
day of the seventh month. They fool themselves and the
world by this teaching, which is contrary to the Word which
says that the new year begins in the spring, namely at Abib 1,
the day of the new moon in the season when the barley is
abib. This information is quite clear and quite self-
explanatory.

Exodus 12:2 This month is the beginning of months for

you, it is the first month of the year for you.

If every year begins on Abib 1, then it stands to reason that the

seventh year, the Shemitah year, would also begin on Abib 1,
the first day of the first month, and not on the first day of the
seventh month. I have not read Cahn's book because one lie is
sure to be followed by many and I do not wish to devote
precious grey matter to trash. I reserve it instead for the Word
of , which is quite plain. I do not condemn Cahn; he is a
product of his environment and the latest in a long line of
those who love their tradition above the Word. I condemn his
actions and would call for his repentance from the traditions
of his fathers and to return to the Word.

Matthew 5:19 Whoever, then, breaks one of the least of

these commands, and teaches men so, shall be called least
in the reign of the heavens; but whoever does and teaches
them, he shall be called great in the reign of the heavens.

Unfortunately for Cahn, the Shemitah is hardly the least of

the commandments. It causes entire nations to be carried away
into captivity for decades and lifetimes. Millions of copies of
his books have been sold, leading millions away from the

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truth of the Word and into vain tradition. One cannot serve
two masters (Matthew 6:24), and Cahn appears to value
mammon above Truth.

Another error, though less intentional and harder to spot,

although by no means above reproof, is the error in years. As
we cannot pick any day of the week for our Sabbath, we
cannot simply pick any year in the cycle to observe the
Sabbath of rest for the land. Although this will be covered
more in Appendix C regarding the Hillel calendar, let the
following explanation suffice for this chapter.

According to the rabbinic community, the year is 5776 (2015-

2016), and began in the fall. As we already have covered, no
year begins in the fall, but rather in the spring. They claim
that 5775 was a Shemitah year. Simple math would appear to
support this claim. 5775 years divided by seven would equal
825 Shemitah cycles. However, among the numerous errors
of calendar keeping is included the rabbinic tradition that
some years are simply not to be included in the count, such as
those during which Judah spent in captivity in Babylon. That
would put the calendar closer to 5845. But who's counting?

As I said regarding Cahn's book, with such errors and blatant

disregard for facts in their record keeping, the calendar
provided by them should not be trusted at all as one lie is sure
to be followed by many. To use the Hillel calendar is no
better than blindly picking a year in which to observe
Shemitah. Worse, in fact! Blindly picking, you may actually
observe it correctly - there's a 1 in 7 shot you'll get it right.

The Hillel calendar was designed and is currently kept in spite

of FULL KNOWLEDGE that it is being kept incorrectly
according to the Word. To say that you are uncertain as to the
proper year in the cycle is much better than to claim

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knowledge when you possess ignorance. At least those
without clear understanding will be on the search for truth, not
merely settling for the incorrect dates set by those who value
their traditions above correctness. See Appendix C regarding
the Hillel calendar and how it more closely resembles the
Babylonian calendar than it does the Word of .
Therein lies the problem in determining the correct year. We
have a witness as to the beginning and ending of the day. The
sun sets, a new day has begun. We have a witness as to the
beginning and ending of the month. When the new moon is
visible, a new month has begun. We have a witness as to the
beginning and ending of the year. When the new moon is
visible after the equinox in the time of year when the barley is
abib, the new year has begun. We even have a witness,
although less understood, in the Mazzaroth, which tells us of
cycles beyond that of single years. Unfortunately for all,
however, there is no known physical, terrestrial, or celestial
witness which marks the seventh year in the Shemitah cycle.

Let me pause to say that if you are aware of one, I beg you to
put down this book, and to contact Beit Tefillah Publishing
immediately. I've said before and I'll say again that if I am
incorrect in this or any other matter, I wish to know about it.
All correspondence, arguments, and criticisms will be taken
into consideration, though I would prefer scriptural (chapter
and verse, please) and documented historical (publication and
page number, please) fact to come along with any argument
on this particular topic.

Counting the Years

So how do we know for sure which year in the seven-year

cycle is the Shemitah year?

This study is a hairy mess. There is no clear, quick, or easy

307
way to point to a bible verse which states, for example, So
the year 28CE was a year of rest for the land. It would then
be a simple matter of counting the number of years from that
year to this year and we'd have a convenient table of Shemitah
years. There are, however, a good many ways that, while not
clear and concise, do lead, in a very jogging way, to
acceptable answers, ranging anywhere from 162BCE to as
late as 70CE. I will follow one of those paths for you here.
As was said, there is no one source which gives us an exact
answer, acceptable to be applied to today's calendar. While
there are witnesses for many years, for this explanation I have
chosen the year with the most evidence and the highest
number of witnesses to back it up. That year is the biblical
year which falls on our current calendar 134/133BCE - from
Abib 134BCE to Abib 133BCE. Please understand that
because we lack biblical references which are able to prove
this matter beyond a doubt, it is best to then fall back upon
dependable historical and extra-biblical sources. Keep in
mind that historians would have little reason to lead their
readers astray in such matters. Neither would their
contemporaries allow them to make claims that were against
widely-accepted truths. If I say to you in this book that
everyone knows the moon is made of cheese, I would have
very little remaining credibility. Likewise, Josephus would not
have said something which was so obviously known to be
contrary in his own book of historical facts. Facts, anyway,
which have nothing to do with tradition. He would have lost
all credibility.

Before we begin down this path, a bit of historical

background. The Jewish military commander in the revolt
against the Seleucid Empire (the Romans) in the second
century BCE was a man named Simon Maccabeus. His sons
were John, Mattathius, and Judas. Simon's own son-in-law
and rival, Ptolemy, son of Arubus, worked for Antiochus VII,

308
the Seleucid king. Armed with that information, let's examine
our first witness. The following is from Josephus' work
Antiquities of the Jews, book 13.

13 Antiquities 6:7 But Simon, who was made High Priest

by the multitude, on the very first year of his High
Priesthood set his people free from their slavery under the
Macedonians, and permitted them to pay tribute to them
no longer; which liberty and freedom from tribute they
obtained after a hundred and seventy years of the
kingdom of the Assyrians, which was after Seleucus, who
was called Nicator, got the dominion over Syria.

Seleucus Nicator became the ruler of Syria in 312BCE. With

his rule began the Selucid calendar. In the 170th year of that
calendar, as Josephus stated above, Simon won the Jews'
freedom from the Macedonians. Note that the text says that
he was named as High Priest by the multitude. This, of
course, is unacceptable according to Torah, which states that
the High Priesthood was to go to only the sons of Aharon.
(Numbers 16:40)

Eight years (inclusive - cf 13 Antiquities 7:4) after the event

which won Simon the priesthood, we have the following, as
is recorded in the first book of Maccabees, Chapter 16.

1 Maccabees 16:14 Now Simon was visiting the cities that

were in the country, and taking care for the good ordering
of them; at which time he came down himself to Jericho
with his sons, Mattathias and Judas, in the hundred
threescore and seventeenth year, in the eleventh month,
called Sabat:

This is one of the only references available which ties the

Shemitah in any way to any exact date on any calendar. Let

309
us go through the verse to set our date. One hundred
threescore and seventeen is the year 177. It is also important
to note that since this was a calendar reckoned by the Jews,
who had not yet adopted the Babylonian style of beginning
the year in the seventh month, the year 177 was from Nisan to
Nisan (Abib to Abib) by their reckoning. We are given the
added advantage of knowing the month, the eleventh month of
the year, called here Sabat, but more commonly referred to
as Shevat (according to the Jewish names of the months, see
the table in Appendix C). This year, 177 Selucid, is very
important. Sadly, it was Simon's last year.

1 Maccabees 16:16 So when Simon and his sons had drunk

largely, Ptolemy and his men rose up, and took their
weapons, and came upon Simon into the banqueting place,
and slew him, and his two sons, and certain of his servants.

Simon's remaining son John was not killed but Ptolemy sent
men after him, according to both the book of Maccabees and
to Josephus:

13 Antiquities 7:4 Now he was the ruler of the Jews in all

eight years; but at a feast came to his end. It was caused
by the treachery of his son-in-law Ptolemy, who caught
also his wife, and two of his sons, and kept them in bonds.
He also sent some to kill John the third son, whose name
was Hyrcanus; but the young man perceiving them
coming, he avoided the danger he was in from them, and
made haste into the city [Yerushalayim], as relying on the
good-will of the multitude, because of the benefits they had
received from his father, and because of the hatred the
same multitude bare to Ptolemy; so that when Ptolemy
was endeavoring to enter the city by another gate, they
drove him away, as having already admitted Hyrcanus.

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13 Antiquities 8:1 So Ptolemy retired to one of the
fortresses that was above Jericho, which was called Dagon.
But [John] Hyrcanus having taken the High Priesthood
that had been his father's before, and in the first place
propitiated by sacrifices, he then made an expedition
against Ptolemy; and when [John] made his attacks upon
the place, in other points [John] was too hard for
[Ptolemy], but was rendered weaker than [Ptolemy], by
the commiseration [John] had for his mother and
brethren, and by that only; for Ptolemy brought them
upon the wall, and tormented them in the sight of all, and
threatened that he would throw them down headlong,
unless Hyrcanus would leave off the siege....And as the
siege was drawn out into length by this means, that year
on which the Jews used to rest came on; for the Jews
observe this rest every seventh year, as they do every
seventh day; so that Ptolemy being for this cause released
from the war, he slew the brethren of Hyrcanus, and his
mother;

Here is the crucial point. Simon and his two sons were killed
in the year 177 Selucid. We know from this passage that
John, the remaining son, sought to avenge the deaths of his
father and brothers, and laid siege to the fortress called
Dagon. His efforts, 'drawn out into length', were put to a stop
by the coming of the Shemitah, during which the Jews
(according to their own tradition, because the verse does not
exist in Torah which commands such a thing) must desist
from war. So his campaign against Dagon stopped sometime
before Abib 178 Selucid.

Okay, now keep in mind that the Selucid calendar began when
Seleucus became king in 312BCE. 312 minus 178 (the
Shemitah year proved by these verses in both Antiquities and
in Maccabees) is 134BCE. The Shemitah year began Abib

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134BCE and ended 133BCE (remember that you count years
backwards when we're BCE). Therefore a list of Shemitah
years (beginning in Abib of the year underlined) is as follows.

Jubilee years, discussed in the next chapter, are emboldened.

Every seventh year is a Shemitah year, and the year after
every seventh Shemitah is a Jubilee. Each Jubilee is counted
as the first year in the next Shemitah cycle, as well as the first
year in the next Jubilee cycle. This is the same count as in
Shavuot, counting the seven complete weeks after First Fruits.
We're on the BCE side of the calendar on this page, counting
down to the Common Era.

750, 749, 748, 747, 746, 745, 744, 743, 742, 741, 740, 739,
738, 737, 736, 735, 734, 733, 732, 731, 730, 729, 728, 727,
726, 725, 724, 723, 722, 721, 720, 719, 718, 717, 716, 715,
714, 713, 712, 711, 710, 709, 708, 707, 706, 705, 704, 703,
702, 701, 700, 699, 698, 697, 696, 695, 694, 693, 692, 691,
690, 689, 688, 687, 686, 685, 684, 683, 682, 681, 680, 679,
678, 677, 676, 675, 674, 673, 672, 671, 670, 669, 668, 667,
666, 665, 664, 663, 662, 661, 660, 659, 658, 657, 656, 655,
654, 653, 652, 651, 650, 649, 648, 647, 646, 645, 644, 643,
642, 641, 640, 639, 638, 637, 636, 635, 634, 633, 632, 631,
630, 629, 628, 627, 626, 625, 624, 623, 622, 621, 620, 619,
618, 617, 616, 615, 614, 613, 612, 611, 610, 609, 608, 607,
606, 605, 604, 603, 602, 601, 600, 599, 598, 597, 596, 595,
594, 593, 592, 591, 590, 589, 588, 587, 586, 585, 584, 583,
582, 581, 580, 579, 578, 577, 576, 575, 574, 573, 572, 571,
570, 569, 568, 567, 566, 565, 564, 563, 562, 561, 560, 559,
558, 557, 556, 555, 554, 553, 552, 551, 550, 549, 548, 547,
546, 545, 544, 543, 542, 541, 540, 539, 538, 537, 536, 535,
534, 533, 532, 531, 530, 529, 528, 527, 526, 525, 524, 523,
522, 521, 520, 519, 518, 517, 516, 515, 514, 513, 512, 511,
510, 509, 508, 507, 506, 505, 504, 503, 502, 501, 500, 499,
498, 497, 496, 495, 494, 493, 492, 491, 490, 489, 488, 487,

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486, 485, 484, 483, 482, 481, 480, 479, 478, 477, 476, 475,
474, 473, 472, 471, 470, 469, 468, 467, 466, 465, 464, 463,
462, 461, 460, 459, 458, 457, 456, 455, 454, 453, 452, 451,
450, 449, 448, 447, 446, 445, 444, 443, 442, 441, 440, 439,
438, 437, 436, 435, 434, 433, 432, 431, 430, 429, 428, 427,
426, 425, 424, 423, 422, 421, 420, 419, 418, 417, 416, 415,
414, 413, 412, 411, 410, 409, 408, 407, 406, 405, 404, 403,
402, 401, 400, 399, 398, 397, 396, 395, 394, 393, 392, 391,
390, 389, 388, 387, 386, 385, 384, 383, 382, 381, 380, 379,
378, 377, 376, 375, 374, 373, 372, 371, 370, 369, 368, 367,
366, 365, 364, 363, 362, 361, 360, 359, 358, 357, 356, 355,
354, 353, 352, 351, 350, 349, 348, 347, 346, 345, 344, 343,
342, 341, 340, 339, 338, 337, 336, 335, 334, 333, 332, 331,
330, 329, 328, 327, 326, 325, 324, 323, 322, 321, 320, 319,
318, 317, 316, 315, 314, 313, 312, 311, 310, 309, 308, 307,
306, 305, 304, 303, 302, 301, 300, 299, 298, 297, 296, 295,
294, 293, 292, 291, 290, 289, 288, 287, 286, 285, 284, 283,
282, 281, 280, 279, 278, 277, 276, 275, 274, 273, 272, 271,
270, 269, 268, 267, 266, 265, 264, 263, 262, 261, 260, 259,
258, 257, 256, 255, 254, 253, 252, 251, 250, 249, 248, 247,
246, 245, 244, 243, 242, 241, 240, 239, 238, 237, 236, 235,
234, 233, 232, 231, 230, 229, 228, 227, 226, 225, 224, 223,
222, 221, 220, 219, 218, 217, 216, 215, 214, 213, 212, 211,
210, 209, 208, 207, 206, 205, 204, 203, 202, 201, 200, 199,
198, 197, 196, 195, 194, 193, 192, 191, 190, 189, 188, 187,
186, 185, 184, 183, 182, 181, 180, 179, 178, 177, 176, 175,
174, 173, 172, 171, 170, 169, 168, 167, 166, 165, 164, 163,
162, 161, 160, 159, 158, 157, 156, 155, 154, 153, 152, 151,
150, 149, 148, 147, 146, 145, 144, 143, 142, 141, 140, 139,
138, 137, 136, 135, 134, 133, 132, 131, 130, 129, 128, 127,
126, 125, 124, 123, 122, 121, 120, 119, 118, 117, 116, 115,
114, 113, 112, 111, 110, 109, 108, 107, 106, 105, 104, 103,
102, 101, 100, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 91, 90, 89, 88,
87, 86, 85, 84, 83, 82, 81, 80, 79, 78, 77, 76, 75, 74, 73, 72,
71, 70, 69, 68, 67, 66, 65, 64, 63, 62, 61, 60, 59, 58, 57, 56,

313
55, 54, 53, 52, 51, 50, 49, 48, 47, 46, 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40,
39, 38, 37, 36, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31, 30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24,
23, 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6,
5, 4, 3, 2, 1, [we go directly from 1BCE to 1CE because
there is no year 0] 0001, 0002, 0003, 0004, 0005, 0006,
0007, 0008, 0009, 0010, 0011, 0012, 0013, 0014, 0015, 0016,
0017, 0018, 0019, 0020, 0021, 0022, 0023, 0024, 0025, 0026,
0027, 0028, 0029, 0030, 0031, 0032, 0033, 0034, 0035, 0036,
0037, 0038, 0039, 0040, 0041, 0042, 0043, 0044, 0045, 0046,
0047, 0048, 0049, 0050, 0051, 0052, 0053, 0054, 0055, 0056,
0057, 0058, 0059, 0060, 0061, 0062, 0063, 0064, 0065, 0066,
0067, 0068, 0069, 0070, 0071, 0072, 0073, 0074, 0075, 0076,
0077, 0078, 0079, 0080, 0081, 0082, 0083, 0084, 0085, 0086,
0087, 0088, 0089, 0090, 0091, 0092, 0093, 0094, 0095, 0096,
0097, 0098, 0099, 0100, 0101, 0102, 0103, 0104, 0105, 0106,
0107, 0108, 0109, 0110, 0111, 0112, 0113, 0114, 0115, 0116,
0117, 0118, 0119, 0120, 0121, 0122, 0123, 0124, 0125, 0126,
0127, 0128, 0129, 0130, 0131, 0132, 0133, 0134, 0135, 0136,
0137, 0138, 0139, 0140, 0141, 0142, 0143, 0144, 0145, 0146,
0147, 0148, 0149, 0150, 0151, 0152, 0153, 0154, 0155, 0156,
0157, 0158, 0159, 0160, 0161, 0162, 0163, 0164, 0165, 0166,
0167, 0168, 0169, 0170, 0171, 0172, 0173, 0174, 0175, 0176,
0177, 0178, 0179, 0180, 0181, 0182, 0183, 0184, 0185, 0186,
0187, 0188, 0189, 0190, 0191, 0192, 0193, 0194, 0195, 0196,
0197, 0198, 0199, 0200, 0201, 0202, 0203, 0204, 0205, 0206,
0207, 0208, 0209, 0210, 0211, 0212, 0213, 0214, 0215, 0216,
0217, 0218, 0219, 0220, 0221, 0222, 0223, 0224, 0225, 0226,
0227, 0228, 0229, 0230, 0231, 0232, 0233, 0234, 0235, 0236,
0237, 0238, 0239, 0240, 0241, 0242, 0243, 0244, 0245, 0246,
0247, 0248, 0249, 0250, 0251, 0252, 0253, 0254, 0255, 0256,
0257, 0258, 0259, 0260, 0261, 0262, 0263, 0264, 0265, 0266,
0267, 0268, 0269, 0270, 0271, 0272, 0273, 0274, 0275, 0276,
0277, 0278, 0279, 0280, 0281, 0282, 0283, 0284, 0285, 0286,
0287, 0288, 0289, 0290, 0291, 0292, 0293, 0294, 0295, 0296,
0297, 0298, 0299, 0300, 0301, 0302, 0303, 0304, 0305, 0306,

314
0307, 0308, 0309, 0310, 0311, 0312, 0313, 0314, 0315, 0316,
0317, 0318, 0319, 0320, 0321, 0322, 0323, 0324, 0325, 0326,
0327, 0328, 0329, 0330, 0331, 0332, 0333, 0334, 0335, 0336,
0337, 0338, 0339, 0340, 0341, 0342, 0343, 0344, 0345, 0346,
0347, 0348, 0349, 0350, 0351, 0352, 0353, 0354, 0355, 0356,
0357, 0358, 0359, 0360, 0361, 0362, 0363, 0364, 0365, 0366,
0367, 0368, 0369, 0370, 0371, 0372, 0373, 0374, 0375, 0376,
0377, 0378, 0379, 0380, 0381, 0382, 0383, 0384, 0385, 0386,
0387, 0388, 0389, 0390, 0391, 0392, 0393, 0394, 0395, 0396,
0397, 0398, 0399, 0400, 0401, 0402, 0403, 0404, 0405, 0406,
0407, 0408, 0409, 0410, 0411, 0412, 0413, 0414, 0415, 0416,
0417, 0418, 0419, 0420, 0421, 0422, 0423, 0424, 0425, 0426,
0427, 0428, 0429, 0430, 0431, 0432, 0433, 0434, 0435, 0436,
0437, 0438, 0439, 0440, 0441, 0442, 0443, 0444, 0445, 0446,
0447, 0448, 0449, 0450, 0451, 0452, 0453, 0454, 0455, 0456,
0457, 0458, 0459, 0460, 0461, 0462, 0463, 0464, 0465, 0466,
0467, 0468, 0469, 0470, 0471, 0472, 0473, 0474, 0475, 0476,
0477, 0478, 0479, 0480, 0481, 0482, 0483, 0484, 0485, 0486,
0487, 0488, 0489, 0490, 0491, 0492, 0493, 0494, 0495, 0496,
0497, 0498, 0499, 0500, 0501, 0502, 0503, 0504, 0505, 0506,
0507, 0508, 0509, 0510, 0511, 0512, 0513, 0514, 0515, 0516,
0517, 0518, 0519, 0520, 0521, 0522, 0523, 0524, 0525, 0526,
0527, 0528, 0529, 0530, 0531, 0532, 0533, 0534, 0535, 0536,
0537, 0538, 0539, 0540, 0541, 0542, 0543, 0544, 0545, 0546,
0547, 0548, 0549, 0550, 0551, 0552, 0553, 0554, 0555, 0556,
0557, 0558, 0559, 0560, 0561, 0562, 0563, 0564, 0565, 0566,
0567, 0568, 0569, 0570, 0571, 0572, 0573, 0574, 0575, 0576,
0577, 0578, 0579, 0580, 0581, 0582, 0583, 0584, 0585, 0586,
0587, 0588, 0589, 0590, 0591, 0592, 0593, 0594, 0595, 0596,
0597, 0598, 0599, 0600, 0601, 0602, 0603, 0604, 0605, 0606,
0607, 0608, 0609, 0610, 0611, 0612, 0613, 0614, 0615, 0616,
0617, 0618, 0619, 0620, 0621, 0622, 0623, 0624, 0625, 0626,
0627, 0628, 0629, 0630, 0631, 0632, 0633, 0634, 0635, 0636,
0637, 0638, 0639, 0640, 0641, 0642, 0643, 0644, 0645, 0646,
0647, 0648, 0649, 0650, 0651, 0652, 0653, 0654, 0655, 0656,

315
0657, 0658, 0659, 0660, 0661, 0662, 0663, 0664, 0665, 0666,
0667, 0668, 0669, 0670, 0671, 0672, 0673, 0674, 0675, 0676,
0677, 0678, 0679, 0680, 0681, 0682, 0683, 0684, 0685, 0686,
0687, 0688, 0689, 0690, 0691, 0692, 0693, 0694, 0695, 0696,
0697, 0698, 0699, 0700, 0701, 0702, 0703, 0704, 0705, 0706,
0707, 0708, 0709, 0710, 0711, 0712, 0713, 0714, 0715, 0716,
0717, 0718, 0719, 0720, 0721, 0722, 0723, 0724, 0725, 0726,
0727, 0728, 0729, 0730, 0731, 0732, 0733, 0734, 0735, 0736,
0737, 0738, 0739, 0740, 0741, 0742, 0743, 0744, 0745, 0746,
0747, 0748, 0749, 0750, 0751, 0752, 0753, 0754, 0755, 0756,
0757, 0758, 0759, 0760, 0761, 0762, 0763, 0764, 0765, 0766,
0767, 0768, 0769, 0770, 0771, 0772, 0773, 0774, 0775, 0776,
0777, 0778, 0779, 0780, 0781, 0782, 0783, 0784, 0785, 0786,
0787, 0788, 0789, 0790, 0791, 0792, 0793, 0794, 0795, 0796,
0797, 0798, 0799, 0800, 0801, 0802, 0803, 0804, 0805, 0806,
0807, 0808, 0809, 0810, 0811, 0812, 0813, 0814, 0815, 0816,
0817, 0818, 0819, 0820, 0821, 0822, 0823, 0824, 0825, 0826,
0827, 0828, 0829, 0830, 0831, 0832, 0833, 0834, 0835, 0836,
0837, 0838, 0839, 0840, 0841, 0842, 0843, 0844, 0845, 0846,
0847, 0848, 0849, 0850, 0851, 0852, 0853, 0854, 0855, 0856,
0857, 0858, 0859, 0860, 0861, 0862, 0863, 0864, 0865, 0866,
0867, 0868, 0869, 0870, 0871, 0872, 0873, 0874, 0875, 0876,
0877, 0878, 0879, 0880, 0881, 0882, 0883, 0884, 0885, 0886,
0887, 0888, 0889, 0890, 0891, 0892, 0893, 0894, 0895, 0896,
0897, 0898, 0899, 0900, 0901, 0902, 0903, 0904, 0905, 0906,
0907, 0908, 0909, 0910, 0911, 0912, 0913, 0914, 0915, 0916,
0917, 0918, 0919, 0920, 0921, 0922, 0923, 0924, 0925, 0926,
0927, 0928, 0929, 0930, 0931, 0932, 0933, 0934, 0935, 0936,
0937, 0938, 0939, 0940, 0941, 0942, 0943, 0944, 0945, 0946,
0947, 0948, 0949, 0950, 0951, 0952, 0953, 0954, 0955, 0956,
0957, 0958, 0959, 0960, 0961, 0962, 0963, 0964, 0965, 0966,
0967, 0968, 0969, 0970, 0971, 0972, 0973, 0974, 0975, 0976,
0977, 0978, 0979, 0980, 0981, 0982, 0983, 0984, 0985, 0986,
0987, 0988, 0989, 0990, 0991, 0992, 0993, 0994, 0995, 0996,
0997, 0998, 0999, 1000, 1001, 1002, 1003, 1004, 1005, 1006,

316
1007, 1008, 1009, 1010, 1011, 1012, 1013, 1014, 1015, 1016,
1017, 1018, 1019, 1020, 1021, 1022, 1023, 1024, 1025, 1026,
1027, 1028, 1029, 1030, 1031, 1032, 1033, 1034, 1035, 1036,
1037, 1038, 1039, 1040, 1041, 1042, 1043, 1044, 1045, 1046,
1047, 1048, 1049, 1050, 1051, 1052, 1053, 1054, 1055, 1056,
1057, 1058, 1059, 1060, 1061, 1062, 1063, 1064, 1065, 1066,
1067, 1068, 1069, 1070, 1071, 1072, 1073, 1074, 1075, 1076,
1077, 1078, 1079, 1080, 1081, 1082, 1083, 1084, 1085, 1086,
1087, 1088, 1089, 1090, 1091, 1092, 1093, 1094, 1095, 1096,
1097, 1098, 1099, 1100, 1101, 1102, 1103, 1104, 1105, 1106,
1107, 1108, 1109, 1110, 1111, 1112, 1113, 1114, 1115, 1116,
1117, 1118, 1119, 1120, 1121, 1122, 1123, 1124, 1125, 1126,
1127, 1128, 1129, 1130, 1131, 1132, 1133, 1134, 1135, 1136,
1137, 1138, 1139, 1140, 1141, 1142, 1143, 1144, 1145, 1146,
1147, 1148, 1149, 1150, 1151, 1152, 1153, 1154, 1155, 1156,
1157, 1158, 1159, 1160, 1161, 1162, 1163, 1164, 1165, 1166,
1167, 1168, 1169, 1170, 1171, 1172, 1173, 1174, 1175, 1176,
1177, 1178, 1179, 1180, 1181, 1182, 1183, 1184, 1185, 1186,
1187, 1188, 1189, 1190, 1191, 1192, 1193, 1194, 1195, 1196,
1197, 1198, 1199, 1200, 1201, 1202, 1203, 1204, 1205, 1206,
1207, 1208, 1209, 1210, 1211, 1212, 1213, 1214, 1215, 1216,
1217, 1218, 1219, 1220, 1221, 1222, 1223, 1224, 1225, 1226,
1227, 1228, 1229, 1230, 1231, 1232, 1233, 1234, 1235, 1236,
1237, 1238, 1239, 1240, 1241, 1242, 1243, 1244, 1245, 1246,
1247, 1248, 1249, 1250, 1251, 1252, 1253, 1254, 1255, 1256,
1257, 1258, 1259, 1260, 1261, 1262, 1263, 1264, 1265, 1266,
1267, 1268, 1269, 1270, 1271, 1272, 1273, 1274, 1275, 1276,
1277, 1278, 1279, 1280, 1281, 1282, 1283, 1284, 1285, 1286,
1287, 1288, 1289, 1290, 1291, 1292, 1293, 1294, 1295, 1296,
1297, 1298, 1299, 1300, 1301, 1302, 1303, 1304, 1305, 1306,
1307, 1308, 1309, 1310, 1311, 1312, 1313, 1314, 1315, 1316,
1317, 1318, 1319, 1320, 1321, 1322, 1323, 1324, 1325, 1326,
1327, 1328, 1329, 1330, 1331, 1332, 1333, 1334, 1335, 1336,
1337, 1338, 1339, 1340, 1341, 1342, 1343, 1344, 1345, 1346,
1347, 1348, 1349, 1350, 1351, 1352, 1353, 1354, 1355, 1356,

317
1357, 1358, 1359, 1360, 1361, 1362, 1363, 1364, 1365, 1366,
1367, 1368, 1369, 1370, 1371, 1372, 1373, 1374, 1375, 1376,
1377, 1378, 1379, 1380, 1381, 1382, 1383, 1384, 1385, 1386,
1387, 1388, 1389, 1390, 1391, 1392, 1393, 1394, 1395, 1396,
1397, 1398, 1399, 1400, 1401, 1402, 1403, 1404, 1405, 1406,
1407, 1408, 1409, 1410, 1411, 1412, 1413, 1414, 1415, 1416,
1417, 1418, 1419, 1420, 1421, 1422, 1423, 1424, 1425, 1426,
1427, 1428, 1429, 1430, 1431, 1432, 1433, 1434, 1435, 1436,
1437, 1438, 1439, 1440, 1441, 1442, 1443, 1444, 1445, 1446,
1447, 1448, 1449, 1450, 1451, 1452, 1453, 1454, 1455, 1456,
1457, 1458, 1459, 1460, 1461, 1462, 1463, 1464, 1465, 1466,
1467, 1468, 1469, 1470, 1471, 1472, 1473, 1474, 1475, 1476,
1477, 1478, 1479, 1480, 1481, 1482, 1483, 1484, 1485, 1486,
1487, 1488, 1489, 1490, 1491, 1492, 1493, 1494, 1495, 1496,
1497, 1498, 1499, 1500, 1501, 1502, 1503, 1504, 1505, 1506,
1507, 1508, 1509, 1510, 1511, 1512, 1513, 1514, 1515, 1516,
1517, 1518, 1519, 1520, 1521, 1522, 1523, 1524, 1525, 1526,
1527, 1528, 1529, 1530, 1531, 1532, 1533, 1534, 1535, 1536,
1537, 1538, 1539, 1540, 1541, 1542, 1543, 1544, 1545, 1546,
1547, 1548, 1549, 1550, 1551, 1552, 1553, 1554, 1555, 1556,
1557, 1558, 1559, 1560, 1561, 1562, 1563, 1564, 1565, 1566,
1567, 1568, 1569, 1570, 1571, 1572, 1573, 1574, 1575, 1576,
1577, 1578, 1579, 1580, 1581, 1582, 1583, 1584, 1585, 1586,
1587, 1588, 1589, 1590, 1591, 1592, 1593, 1594, 1595, 1596,
1597, 1598, 1599, 1600, 1601, 1602, 1603, 1604, 1605, 1606,
1607, 1608, 1609, 1610, 1611, 1612, 1613, 1614, 1615, 1616,
1617, 1618, 1619, 1620, 1621, 1622, 1623, 1624, 1625, 1626,
1627, 1628, 1629, 1630, 1631, 1632, 1633, 1634, 1635, 1636,
1637, 1638, 1639, 1640, 1641, 1642, 1643, 1644, 1645, 1646,
1647, 1648, 1649, 1650, 1651, 1652, 1653, 1654, 1655, 1656,
1657, 1658, 1659, 1660, 1661, 1662, 1663, 1664, 1665, 1666,
1667, 1668, 1669, 1670, 1671, 1672, 1673, 1674, 1675, 1676,
1677, 1678, 1679, 1680, 1681, 1682, 1683, 1684, 1685, 1686,
1687, 1688, 1689, 1690, 1691, 1692, 1693, 1694, 1695, 1696,
1697, 1698, 1699, 1700, 1701, 1702, 1703, 1704, 1705, 1706,

318
1707, 1708, 1709, 1710, 1711, 1712, 1713, 1714, 1715, 1716,
1717, 1718, 1719, 1720, 1721, 1722, 1723, 1724, 1725, 1726,
1727, 1728, 1729, 1730, 1731, 1732, 1733, 1734, 1735, 1736,
1737, 1738, 1739, 1740, 1741, 1742, 1743, 1744, 1745, 1746,
1747, 1748, 1749, 1750, 1751, 1752, 1753, 1754, 1755, 1756,
1757, 1758, 1759, 1760, 1761, 1762, 1763, 1764, 1765, 1766,
1767, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, 1773, 1774, 1775, 1776,
1777, 1778, 1779, 1780, 1781, 1782, 1783, 1784, 1785, 1786,
1787, 1788, 1789, 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1796,
1797, 1798, 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803, 1804, 1805, 1806,
1807, 1808, 1809, 1810, 1811, 1812, 1813, 1814, 1815, 1816,
1817, 1818, 1819, 1820, 1821, 1822, 1823, 1824, 1825, 1826,
1827, 1828, 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833, 1834, 1835, 1836,
1837, 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843, 1844, 1845, 1846,
1847, 1848, 1849, 1850, 1851, 1852, 1853, 1854, 1855, 1856,
1857, 1858, 1859, 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865, 1866,
1867, 1868, 1869, 1870, 1871, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1876,
1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886,
1887, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896,
1897, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906,
1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916,
1917, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926,
1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936,
1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946,
1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956,
1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966,
1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976,
1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986,
1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996,
1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006,
2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016,
2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026,
2027, 2028, 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032, 2033, 2034, 2035, 2036,
2037, 2038, 2039, 2040, 2041, 2042, 2043, 2044, 2045, 2046,
2047, 2048, 2049, 2050, 2051.

319
I would like now to mention that holders to the Wacholder
school of thought would suggest that each underlined year
presented herein to be one year before the Shemitah year.
However, that system is built upon a foundation of faulty
assumptions based on the Babylonian talmud.

Quote Wacholder: There is no doubt, however, that the

season of Shemitah commenced on the first of Tishri and
ended on the last day of Elul.

It would appear that Mr. Cahn has found a friend, and yet they
disagree on the year; Cahn suggests the year before the actual
Shemitah and Wacholder suggests the year after.

We are told that by the mouth of two or three witnesses a

matter is established (Deuteronomy 19:15). Both Josephus
and the first book of Maccabees were used as witnesses in
setting 134/133BCE as a Shemitah year. Let that first date be
the first of two witnesses in settling the Shemitah matter.

Let us examine our second witness, not of the year

134/133BCE, but of another year in that same seven-year
iteration, which bears witness of the correct cycle of seven
years.

1 Maccabees 6:20 So they came together, and besieged

them in the hundred and fiftieth year, and he made
mounts for shot against them, and other engines.
1 Maccabees 6:49 But with them that were in Bethsura he
made peace: for they came out of the city, because they
had no victuals there to endure the siege, it being a year of
rest to the land.

12 Antiquities 9:3-5 This was in the hundred and fiftieth

year of the dominion of the Seleucids. So he made engines

320
of war, and erected bulwarks, and very zealously pressed
on to take the citadel....
But then their provisions failed them; what fruits of the
ground they had laid up were spent and the land being not
ploughed that year, continued unsowed, because it was the
seventh year, on which, by our laws, we are obliged to let it
lay uncultivated.

Both 1 Maccabees and Josephus stand witness of the 150th

Selucid year, which corresponds to 162BCE, as being a year
of rest for the land.

By the witness of these two years, 150AG and 178AG,

162BCE and 134BCE respectively, let the matter of the
correct year in the cycle of seven years be established.

321
322
Chapter 11: Jubilee

Leviticus 25:11 The fiftieth year is a Jubilee to you. Do

not sow, nor reap what grows of its own, nor gather from
its unpruned vine.

The word Jubilee comes from the Hebrew word yobel

[H3104], which is similar to the word teruah for the blast of
a horn or shofar. The yobel is also the signal from the silver
trumpets.

Numbers 10:2 Make two silver trumpets for yourself,

make them of beaten work. And you shall use them for
calling the congregation and for breaking camp.

Jubilee is very similar to Shemitah in some respects, but the

release proclaimed in Jubilee is further-reaching. It is also
similar to Shavuot, according to the counting of the years.
You will remember that on First Fruits, we are to count seven
complete Sabbaths, and the day after the seventh Sabbath, the
50th day from First Fruits, is Shavuot. Similarly, for Jubilee,
we count seven weeks of years, seven years times seven, to 49
years. The year after the 49th year, (at once the 50th year as
well as the first year in the new Jubilee cycle) is the Jubilee.

Leviticus 25:8 And you shall count seven Sabbaths of

323
years for yourself, seven times seven years. And the time of
the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine
years.
Leviticus 25:9 You shall then sound a rams horn to pass
through on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the Day
of Atonement cause a rams horn to pass through all your
land.
Leviticus 25:10 And you shall set the fiftieth year apart,
and proclaim release throughout all the land to all its
inhabitants, it is a Jubilee for you. And each of you shall
return to his possession, and each of you return to his clan.

The ram's horn spoken of in v. 9 is the yobel and it signifies

the release.

Rent to Own the Bible Way

Land ownership today is very different from how it was in the

bible. According to the account in Joshua 14, the children of
Israel came into Canaan and the land was parceled out among
the twelve tribes, the size of the parcel according to the
numbers of each tribe. Those parcels were to belong to the
tribes to which they were assigned for all time. This is why
marriages were only permitted within the tribe.

Numbers 36:7 And the inheritance of the children of

Israel is not to change hands from tribe to tribe, for every
one of the children of Israel is to cling to the inheritance of
the tribe of his fathers.
Numbers 36:8 And every daughter possessing an
inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel is to be
the wife of one of the clan of her fathers tribe, so that the
children of Israel possess each the inheritance of his
fathers.
Numbers 36:9 Thus the inheritance is not to change

324
hands from one tribe to another, but every tribe of the
children of Israel is to cling to its own inheritance.

I have heard these verses perverted into racist examples of

biblically-sanctioned rules for ethnic purity. These verses say
nothing of the kind. The entire purpose of this arrangement
was to make sure that the land allotted to the tribe of Joseph,
for example, would remain the property of those belonging to
the tribe of Joseph. For a member of the tribe of Joseph to
marry a member of the tribe of Asher, the inheritance of the
children would be confused between lands of the two different
tribes. And as we are shown in Torah, land is not transferable
from one tribe to another on a permanent basis. If a Josephite
woman's husband dies, she is the inheritor of the land. She
must therefore marry another Josephite man (if she chooses to
remarry) to avoid the confusion of the land passing on to the
children of another tribe. (Numbers 36) This has nothing to
do with strangers or aliens, who can be included into a
tribe after being convicted of the Hebrew faith. Remember
Ruth, the Moabitess who joined with the tribe of Judah and
was the great-grandmother of David.

When the bible speaks of land being sold between tribes, it

is really only being rented or hired. The use of it is sold for
the growing of crops or the grazing of herds, but the
ownership does not transfer to the new tribe member. The
value of the land is calculated according to the number of
years left before Jubilee. Unlike today where the value of
land is based upon factors such as the local population, tax
base, location, and resources upon the land, the biblical worth
of a field in biblical times was according to the remainder of
years left in the Jubilee cycle. The land was worth more if
there were a larger number of years left on the lease, and
less if the Jubilee was right around the corner. It is valued
according to the number of crops which can be raised.

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Leviticus 25:14 And when you sell whatever to your
neighbor or buy from the hand of your neighbor, do not
exploit one another.
Leviticus 25:15 According to the number of years after
the Jubilee you buy from your neighbor, and according to
the number of years of crops he sells to you.
Leviticus 25:16 According to the greater number of years
you increase its price, and according to the fewer number
of years you diminish its price, because he sells to you
according to the number of the years of the crops.

There are two ways for the original tribe (if not the original
owner) to get the land back. One way is to redeem the land
from the buyer, to repay him what he paid for its use, or to
wait until the Jubilee, at which point all land reverts back to
its original tribal ownership.

Leviticus 25:28 And if his hand has not found enough to

give back to him, then what was sold shall remain in the
hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee. And it
shall be released in the Jubilee, and he shall return to his
possession.

In this way, society was assisted from the usurpation of those

who are extremely wealthy, and assurances were made to all
of the tribes that they were to remain upon equal footing
according to their populations. However, there were several
exceptions to the rule of Jubilee release. Homes inside walled
cities anywhere in Israel could be sold permanently. Often
times, a house in a city might be sold to get out of debt. The
seller had one year to redeem (pay back the purchase price) of
the house in the walled city. If he could not come up with the
money in that time, the house was permanently transferred to
the buyer and the ownership lasted throughout the new
owner's generations - beyond the period of a year, there is no

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redemption or release of the house in a walled city.

Leviticus 25:29 And when a man sells a house in a walled

city, then his right of redemption shall be at the end of the
year after it is sold. His right of redemption lasts a year.
Leviticus 25:30 But if it is not redeemed within a
complete year, then the house in the walled city shall be
established beyond reclaim to the buyer of it, throughout
his generations. It is not released in the Jubilee.

The tribe of Levi did not own land in the countryside, but they
had instead cities with tracts of land around them for their
agricultural use. The Levites' holdings came with special
permissions.

Leviticus 25:32 As for the cities of the Levites, and the

houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites have a
right of redemption forever.
Leviticus 25:33 And that which is redeemed from the
Levites, both the sale of a house and the city of his
possession shall be released in the Year of Jubilee, because
the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession
in the midst of the children of Israel.
Leviticus 25:34 But the field of the open land of their
cities is not sold, for it is their everlasting possession.

However, anything not in a walled city, and anything not

belonging to the Levites, was bound by the Word of the
Jubilee.

Leviticus 25:31 The houses of villages, however, which

have no wall around them are reckoned as the field of the
country. A right of redemption belongs to it, and they are
released in the Jubilee.

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In the last chapter, slavery and servitude were mentioned
regarding the release of the children of Israel who had been
sold into bondage to another Hebrew. While this wouldn't
be extremely common today, it was often the case that to
escape debt, a Hebrew would sell himself as a slave or servant
as a way to pay off his debt. The value of the man's servitude
would be assessed according to his skills and abilities.
(Leviticus 27:8) This was a common enough occurrence to
warrant rules to govern these transactions within Torah.

Leviticus 25:39 And when your brother who dwells by

you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, do not make
him serve as a slave.
Leviticus 25:40 But as a hired servant, as a settler he is
with you, and serves you until the Year of Jubilee.
Leviticus 25:41 And then he shall leave you, he and his
children with him, and shall return to his own clan, even
return to the possession of his fathers.
Leviticus 25:42 For they are My servants, whom I
brought out of the land of Mitsrayim, they are not sold as
slaves.
Leviticus 25:43 Do not rule over him with harshness, but
you shall fear your Elohim.
Leviticus 25:53 He is with him as a yearly hired servant,
and he does not rule with harshness over him before your
eyes.

The rules for the release of a Hebrew slave, the open

redemption for the Levites, and the release of debts in the
Shemitah year are all related at their root, which is this. The
Hebrews belong to . They are His chosen people, His
special treasure. Of the Hebrews, the Levites were special
because they did not participate in the golden calf incident at
the base of Mt. Sinai, and were therefore acceptable to redeem
the firstborn of Israel and become priests to . They have

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no inheritance in the land of Israel because is their
inheritance. (Deuteronomy 10:9) The release of debts in the
Shemitah year for those brothers and neighbors among us are
governed by the same rules. Those who love and keep
His commandments have certain blessings, special rules, and
are promised a release of their sins and their debts. All of
these things are interconnected.

On the other hand, those who are not brothers and neighbors
are not given a release in the Shemitah. Those Hebrews who
are not Levites must redeem their sold houses within walled
cities within a year or lose them permanently. And those
servants who are not Hebrews are not set free in the Jubilee.
They are every bit as much to be considered property as
livestock.

Leviticus 25:44 And your male and female slaves whom

you have from the nations that are around you, from them
you buy male and female slaves,
Leviticus 25:45 and also from the sons of the strangers
sojourning among you, from them you buy, and from their
clans who are with you, which they shall bring forth in
your land, and they shall be your property.
Leviticus 25:46 And you shall take them as an
inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as
a possession, they are your slaves for all time. But over
your brothers, the children of Israel, you do not rule with
harshness, one over another.

In this case, the word employee may be used more

appropriately of a brother than servant. Though the terms
of the employment are quite firm and only to be released upon
redemption or Jubilee.

As a home can be redeemed, so can a servant. He may make

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enough money to redeem himself from his debt, or a kinsman
redeemer may step in to wipe away his debt. Such things as
homes within walled cities, personal possessions, or even the
debtors themselves may be sold. Any of these things may be
redeemed (paid for, purchased) by either the debtor or the
kinsman redeemer. The redemption price of either the
servitude or the land is to be pro-rated up to the time of the
Jubilee, at which point it would return to the original tribe
without redemption. Just as land is evaluated according to the
number of years left in the Jubilee cycle, so also a man's labor
is evaluated according to that same standard.

Leviticus 25:25 When your brother becomes poor, and

has sold some of his possession, and his redeemer, a close
relative comes to redeem it, then he shall redeem what his
brother sold.
Leviticus 25:26 And when the man has no one to redeem
it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it,
Leviticus 25:27 then let him count the years since its sale,
and return the remainder to the man to whom he sold it,
that he shall return to his possession.
Leviticus 25:28 And if his hand has not found enough to
give back to him, then what was sold shall remain in the
hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee. And it
shall be released in the Jubilee, and he shall return to his
possession.
Leviticus 25:52 And if few years are left until the Year of
Jubilee, then he shall reckon with him, and according to
his years he repays him the price of his redemption.

It may be that the servant or employee is unable to

acquire his redemption price or to find a kinsman redeemer
capable or willing to pay for his redemption. But whether or
not he is able to find redemption, as a child of Israel he is
redeemed by during the Jubilee.

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Leviticus 25:54 And if he is not redeemed in these years,
then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee, he and his
children with him.
Leviticus 25:55 Because the children of Israel are
servants to Me, they are My servants whom I brought out
of the land of Mitsrayim. I am your Elohim.

Let us explore a practical real-world example of these things.

I want to buy a house from a man, but I am unable to afford it.
He is asking fifteen thousand shekels but I only have three
thousand saved. I am a skilled laborer, and the value of my
labor is one thousand shekels a year. If there are twelve
thousand shekels on the balance of my debt, and twelve years
left until the Jubilee, I may sell myself into that man's
servitude to pay for the remaining balance on the house. My
purchase price was twelve thousand shekels, which will be
paid over the next twelve years according to the value of my
skilled labor working for the man to pay for the house. If I
should come into money by some other way or if a kinsman
redeemer should provide my redemption price to the man who
sold me the house, I will be set free. If I come into this
money after five years of work, the balance due is seven
thousand shekels. The only other way to be set free is to wait
until the Jubilee. The terms of the agreement must be agreed
upon by both parties, according to the evaluation of my labor
and of the house.

As foreign as it may sound to our ears today, these were just

primitive banking practices and the laws which guaranteed
fair treatment and fair payment for both the debtor and the
creditor.
The Value of an Offering

When a man offers a vow or an offering, he may set apart

himself, a clean animal, food, or even his land.

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Leviticus 27:17 If he sets his field apart from the Year of
Jubilee, according to your evaluation it stands.
Leviticus 27:18 But if he sets his field apart after the
Jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the silver due
according to the years that remain till the Year of Jubilee,
and it shall be deducted from your evaluation.

As is the case with other forms of land use, a vow or an

offering may be redeemed by the offerer.

Leviticus 27:19 And if he who sets the field apart ever

wishes to redeem it, then he shall add one-fifth of the silver
of your evaluation to it, and it shall be his.
Leviticus 27:20 And if he does not redeem the field, or if
he has sold the field to another man, it is no longer
redeemed,
Leviticus 27:21 but the field, when it is released in the
Jubilee, is set-apart to as a dedicated field, to be the
possession of the priest.

Not wanting to leave contingencies open for the interpretation

of the priesthood or of the man doing the offering, very much
detail is given to the possible transactions able to be
conducted.

Leviticus 27:22 And if a man sets apart to a field

which he has bought, which is not the field of his
possession,
Leviticus 27:23 then the priest shall reckon to him the
amount of your evaluation, up to the Year of Jubilee, and
he shall give your evaluation on that day, set-apart to .
Leviticus 27:24 In the Year of Jubilee the field returns to
him from whom he bought it, to him whose is the
possession of the land.

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There is never a permanent transfer of ownership of land from
an owner of one tribe to the owner of another tribe, except for
in the case of a house within a walled city.

Numbers 36:4 And if the Jubilee of the children of Israel

takes place, then their inheritance shall be added to the
inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their
inheritance taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of
our fathers.

In this way, every generation has a second chance. A man

may have sold himself into servitude for an unpaid debt to the
remainder of the Jubilee, only to come into his own property
after the Jubilee, and might become the owner of a vineyard.
This series of laws was put into effect to be a blessing to the
children of Israel as well as being prophetic of the release of
debts and return of the land at the end. If it isn't already
obvious to my readers, let us explore.

We live in a world governed by the law of sin and death. At

the end of days, on some future date, possibly even a Jubilee
year, we will be released from our sins, redeemed by our
kinsman redeemer, the messiah, who said that those who hear
and obey the commandments of the Father are called his
brothers and kinsmen. There will be no messianic redemption
for the stranger or the alien among us who has not said, as
Ruth said, Your Elohim, my Elohim. Your people, my
people. (Ruth 1:16) Those who are redeemed have either
kept the Covenant through the Hebrew bloodlines or have
been grafted in through faith and obedience and will return to
the land. At that time, the land of Israel, which was promised
throughout Torah to be an everlasting possession of the
children of Israel, will be returned to those tribes to whom it
belongs, parcel by parcel.

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Those of us who have been downtrodden in this life will find
ourselves not only free of our bondage but in possession of
the inheritance of the kingdom, promised to us from the
beginning! Jubilee is a reminder, every fiftieth year, of the
promise of redemption from the sins of this world, as well as
the promise of the inheritance to come if we obey the
commands of . The land does not belong solely to the
tribe of Judah, nor to the people who today call themselves
Jews. The land of Israel belongs to the twelve tribes of Israel,
among whom Ephraim is the first-born, the ray-sheeth, the
head of the household, and the recipient of the double-portion.
The tribe of Judah, not necessarily those people today who
call themselves Jews, is only one tribe of the twelve tribes
called Israel, and its inheritance is equal to one twelfth part.

Many Jews today do not obey the commands of , and add

to and take away from the Word. These are not children of
Israel, though they claim to be, and no part of Israel will be
held by them at the redemption. If you call yourself Israel, if
you obey the commands of , the land belongs to you. A
piece of that land belongs to me, and on some future Jubilee, I
will have my possession returned to me.

Leviticus 25:13 In the Year of this Jubilee let each one of

you return to his possession.

At the beginning of the chapter, I mentioned Jubilee's

similarities to Shemitah year. The difficulty, if I may use that
word, in keeping the feast days, can be the unusual number of
non-working days that come during both the spring and fall
festivals. You may find yourself with as many as ten Sabbaths
inside a four week period in the fall. (Yom Teruah, weekly
Sabbath, weekly Sabbath, Yom Kippur, weekly Sabbath, First
day of Sukkot, weekly Sabbath, weekly Sabbath, Shemini
Atzeret, weekly Sabbath...Wow!) It can be difficult to fill that

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time. The same difficulty arises in the forty-ninth and fiftieth
year of the Jubilee cycle. Here we have a back-to-back two
years of land rest. It looks like this.

Shemitah cycle year 1- (Jubilee cycle 43) nothing to harvest,

sow
Shemitah cycle year 2- (Jubilee cycle 44) normal
Shemitah cycle year 3- (Jubilee cycle 45) normal
Shemitah cycle year 4- (Jubilee cycle 46) normal
Shemitah cycle year 5- (Jubilee cycle 47) normal
Shemitah cycle year 6- (Jubilee cycle 48) gather for four
years, do not sow
Shemitah cycle year 7- (Jubilee cycle 49) Shemitah - do not
gather for storage but eat what grows, do not sow
8-(Jubilee cycle 50) (first year of new Shemitah cycle)
Jubilee - do not gather for storage but eat what grows, do not
sow
9 - (second year of new Shemitah cycle) nothing to harvest,
sow
10- (third year of new Shemitah cycle) normal

In the sixth year, you must gather enough for four years - for
the sixth year, the seventh year (Shemitah), the eighth year
(Jubilee - there's another 8, by the way), and for the ninth year
while you're waiting for your newly sown crop to be
harvested.
We're lucky this comes around only once or maybe twice in a
lifetime, because this does not sound easy at all.

Leviticus 25:11 The fiftieth year is a Jubilee to you. Do

not sow, nor reap what grows of its own, nor gather from
its unpruned vine.
Leviticus 25:12 It is a Jubilee, it is set-apart to you. Eat
from the field its crops.

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The difference between reaping and eating from the field is
simply this. Reaping means to go out and collect all of the
ripe fruit available and to put it into storehouses. Harvesting
means systematically removing the grain from a field as a
man would remove his beard with a razor, and storing the
grain in storehouses. We are not to do this. But we may walk
in the field and eat what is there at that time.

For all the conveniences of living in modern times, leaving

behind a largely agrarian society, we seem to have painted
ourselves into a corner. It is very easy to go to the grocery
store and buy whatever we want as opposed to growing it
ourselves. But since nobody around us grows food themselves
(not that it would be the same, since our next-door neighbors
aren't all Torah keepers), we cannot simply go around picking
food off of their nicely manicured lawns. Saving food like
that for two years instead of just one for Shemitah is going to
prove to be a challenge. It is not something I have had to
contemplate since I came into obedience to Torah.

There is only a single new testament commentary reference to

the Jubilee, and unfortunately, it may be taken largely out of
context by Christianity. There is no way to be sure that the
year in which messiah got up to read before the congregation
was a year of release, even when it seems to say so in Luke.

Luke 4:18 The Spirit of is upon Me, because He has

anointed Me to bring the Good News to the poor. He has
sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim release to
the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send
away crushed ones with a release,
Luke 4:19 to proclaim the acceptable year of .

As the majority of Christianity seems to forget that there were

many pages and much history prior to Matthew 1:1, many

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may not realize that messiah was not speaking his own words.
Most of the time when messiah was speaking, he was quoting
the Torah or the Prophets. He said nothing new, he came to
teach nothing new, he came only to teach what was written in
the Torah and in the Prophets. In Luke 4, he was speaking the
words of Isaiah.

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Master is upon Me,

because has anointed Me to bring good news to the
meek. He has sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to
proclaim release to the captives, and the opening of the
prison to those who are bound,
Isaiah 61:2 to proclaim the acceptable year of , and
the day of vengeance of our Elohim, to comfort all who
mourn,

You are correct if you are saying that Isaiah 61 was prophetic
of the messiah. However, the mere presence of the phrase
release of the captives does not necessarily prove that either
the year in which Isaiah 61 was written or the year in which
messiah stood before the congregation to read the haftorah
was actually a Jubilee year. The release he was anointed to
bring was the news of the prophesied messianic redemption,
not necessarily something so common as the 50 year Jubilee.
Those who say that messiah was speaking of the current year
as the year of Jubilee may not have a firm grasp on the Word
regarding Jubilee or, in fact, the importance of his coming at
all. In my opinion, there is no mention in the new testament
commentary of the keeping of Jubilee, nor is there a key date
which can be derived from those texts to fix a Jubilee year on
the current calendar.

Although it is romantic, and is a fact which is often used as

sole proof simply for convenience by those who are educated
over those who are not as familiar with the scriptures, we

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cannot simply say that the tribe of Judah was released from
Babylon on a Jubilee year. Sure, it sounds good. It sounds
believable. Yet the bible does not say that. Just as the giving
of the law at Mt. Sinai on the day of Shavuot sounds plausible
and believable, seeing as how the text does not come out and
say it, we do not know for sure. Only tradition fixes these
things as one on a timeline, but such traditions are usually
wrong and detract from the Truth with their errors.

Aside from a very obscure reference to the year of release

in Ezekiel 46, the Jubilee is not mentioned as being kept or
not kept in all the rest of the old testament. It is primarily
seen in the Torah: Leviticus 25, 27, and in Numbers 36.

Ezekiel 46:17 And when he gives a gift of some of his

inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his till
the year of release, then it shall return to the prince. Only
the inheritance of his sons is theirs.
Ezekiel 46:18 And the prince does not take any of the
peoples inheritance by evicting them from their
possession. He is to give his sons their inheritance from his
own possession, so that none of My people are separated
from his possession.

This was according to the vision given to Ezekiel in the

twenty-fifth year of the Babylonian exile.

Ezekiel 40:2 In visions of Elohim He brought me into the

land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, and
upon it toward the south was as the structure of a city.

As little as we know about it, we know that the Jubilee will be

kept in New Yerushalayim.

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 Quick Reference: Jubilee
Jubilee is a fifty year cycle. Seven Shemitah year cycles are
counted and complete, and the fiftieth year is Jubilee. At this
time, any land which has been sold or rented to another
tribe within the land of Israel goes back to the original tribe to
whom it belonged. Think of it like state lines. A little piece
of Michigan may have been rented for farming to somebody
in Ohio, but during Jubilee the land reverts back to Michigan.
In this way, the lines are never marred and the wealth of one
tribe cannot be permanently transferred to another tribe. This
time also marks a freeing of the Hebrew slaves, servants, or
indentured employees who have sold themselves to other
Hebrews to do labor in order to pay off their debts. This has a
tendency to sound a little bit worse than it actually was. For
example, if a man was getting married and wanted to build a
house for his bride, he might arrange financing through a
wealthy man. The wealthy man would pay for the home to be
built, and the man getting married would agree to work for the
financier until the Jubilee. He knew that he would be well
treated, according to the stipulations set forth in Torah, and
that he would be freed at the Jubilee. Obviously, the value of
the employment would depend on how many years were left
until the Jubilee. Likewise with the buying or renting of a
piece of property within the borders of a different tribe. Just as
a man in Ohio might rent a piece of property from a man in
Michigan, the value of that property would be measured by
the number of crops able to be grown on that land for the
remainder of years until the next Jubilee.

It is important to remember that these rules were designed for

and governed only that land which was inside the biblical
borders of the land of Israel. Since the children of Israel no
longer occupy that land, and since only two of the tribes ever
returned from captivity, these rules regarding Jubilee are in

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temporary hiatus. That is, until one Jubilee in the future when
the remaining ten tribes will return from the four corners of
the Earth and the land will return to its original tribal holders.
To put it another way, do not show up in Yerushalayim in the
Jubilee year to stake your claim!

Because of the societal changes which have been made and

which exist within the developed world today, including the
concept of permanent land ownership of one man, his heirs
and assigns, not to mention the fact that very few of us are
actually within the land of Israel today, we are unable to obey
this command. We shouldn't feel bad or regretful about it; we
cannot perform sacrifices either because the blood of messiah
permanently removes all sin, there are no Levitical priests to
assist, and there is no temple. This is simply another one of
those things that we cannot do now, but will do one day again
in the future, in the New Yerushalayim, under the government
of the Sovereign. I don't want to be misunderstood here.
There are groups at this time who wish to build another
temple and to re-institute animal sacrifices. When I say that
we will be doing these things again in the future, I do not
mean that such things will justly or rightly be brought about
by the Zionist Temple Institute, but rather by messiah after his
coming. Until then, we can dream of the inheritance which
will be given to us at that time.

What can we do in the Jubilee? We can blow the shofar

because, after all, it is a celebration! A celebration of the
forgiveness of debts, of the eventual forgiveness of sin, and
the scheduled redemption of all men and women by their
kinsman redeemer. Like a Shemitah year, it is a year of no
sowing and no harvesting, though we may eat what grows of
itself in that year. For more information please read Chapter
10 on Shemitah.

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 Counting the Years

So how do we know what year this is in the Jubilee cycle?

As with the Shemitah, answering the question of what exact

years have been Jubilee years is not an easy and
straightforward task. There is not a verse in the bible which
directly relates the occurrence of a Jubilee year to any
common calendar, although the Jubilee is mentioned as
having taken place directly after a Shemitah year:

2 Kings 19:29 And this is the sign for you: This year you
eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what
springs from that, and in the third year sow and reap and
plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

This year, is obviously a Shemitah year, and the second

year or next year, they were told to do the same, to eat
what grows of itself. Only in the third year would they be
allowed to sow and reap and plant and eat what was reaped.
Logically, this year is the 49th year in the cycle, next year
is the 50th year in the cycle. A Shemitah year and then a
Jubilee.

Before we continue, a little historical background. Very

recently, because of their disobedience, the ten northern tribes
of Israel were carried into captivity in Assyria. It looked very
much as if the same was going to happen to the southern
tribes of Judah, but a righteous king named Hezekiah arose.

2 Kings 18:3 And he did what was right in the eyes of ,

according to all that his father David did.
2 Kings 18:5 He put his trust in Elohim of Israel, and
after him was none like him among all the sovereigns of
Yehudah, nor who were before him,

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2 Kings 18:6 and he clung to . He did not turn away
from following Him, but guarded His commands, which
had commanded Moshe.
2 Kings 18:7 And was with him wherever he went
he acted wisely. And he rebelled against the sovereign of
Assyria and did not serve him.

Isaiah 36:1 And it came to be in the fourteenth year of

Sovereign Hezekiah that Sennacherib sovereign of Assyria
came up against all the walled cities of Yehudah and took
them.

We are not given biblical sources for the precise calendation

of these events, but these verses represent the only clear
historical documentation which pin down the Jubilee year in
relation to a Shemitah year, and record the events necessary to
find the year. There are several sources which agree to the
accuracy of these events. Three biblical sources: 2 Kings, 2
Chronicles, and Isaiah, as well as the writings of Josephus and
the annals of the Assyrian king Sennacherib himself, which
were found engraved in cuneiform on a hexagonal prism of
clay in Nineveh by Colonel Robert Taylor in 1830. It is with
that information alone that we are able to correlate the events
spoken of in the bible with an actual calendar year.

We are told that Sennacherib invaded Judah in the fourteenth

year of the reign of king Hezekiah. Because of the time it
would take to march the distance from Assyria to Jerusalem
(about 500 miles), as well as the various other military
campaigns of which we are told, being carried out by the
Assyrians against Egypt, Ethiopia, and other cities in Judah, it
must have been some months before Yerushalayim was
actually under siege. Evidence of this length of time is found
in the Assyrian annals.

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After failed attempts at peace-making, Hezekiah was warned
that Sennacherib was going to lay siege to Yerushalayim if
they did not turn themselves over to Assyrian rule.

2 Kings 19:1 And it came to be, when Sovereign Hezekiah

heard it, that he tore his garments, and covered himself
with sackcloth, and went into the House of ,
2 Kings 19:6 and Isaiah said to them, Say this to your
master, Thus said , Do not be afraid of the words
which you have heard, with which the servants of the
sovereign of Assyria have reviled Me.
2 Kings 19:7 See, I am putting a spirit upon him, and he
shall hear a report and return to his own land. And I shall
cause him to fall by the sword in his land.

It is after these events that the sign of the Shemitah and

Jubilee years was given to Hezekiah. He was told that he had
no cause for alarm, that a rumor would send Sennacherib back
to his own land to be destroyed.

Isaiah 37:30 And this shall be the sign for you: This year
you eat such as grows of itself, and the second year what
springs from that, and in the third year sow and reap,
plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.

It was likely that it was the very next year being spoken of, the
fifteenth year of Hezekiah's reign (the third year of
Sennacherib), which was the Shemitah year. Otherwise, the
verse would have acknowledged that they were already eating
what grew of itself. The second year would have meant
next year, and the third year would have meant two
years from this year, and that is confusion. The verse implies
that the current year is the sixth year in the cycle, the soon-
coming year was the seventh year Shemitah (the fourth year
of Sennacherib and the fifteenth year of Hezekiah) in which

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they were to eat what grows of itself, the eighth year was the
Jubilee (the fifth year of Sennacherib, had he lived, and the
sixteenth year of Hezekiah), in which they were to eat what
grows of itself, and the ninth year (the sixth year of
Sennacherib, had he lived, and the seventeenth year of
Hezekiah), they would be allowed to sow and reap. See the
cycle on page 335.

These years can only be dated by the records of the Assyrians.

Their records indicate that Sennacherib ascended the throne
on the twelfth day of the fifth month of Abu (see the chart on
page 379) in the year 704BCE. In his third regnal year,
702/701BCE (from Abib to Abib - the Assyrians kept the
same spring-spring calendar), he began his campaign against
Judah. This was the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, as we are
told in 2 Kings, in 2 Chronicles, and in Isaiah. The records of
the Assyrians show that Sennacherib and his army perished in
their own land in his fourth regnal year, the fifteenth year of
Hezekiah, the Shemitah year, 701/700. The next year was the
Jubilee, the year 700/699, from Abib to Abib. See the chart of
years, beginning on page 312.

After the siege of Sennacherib and his return to Assyria, we

are told:

2 Kings 20:1 In those days Hezekiah was sick unto death.

And Isaiah the prophet, son of Amots, went to him and
said to him, Thus said , Set your house in order, for
you are going to die, and not live.

Hezekiah was repentant and prayed, recalling his

righteousness to .

2 Kings 20:3 I pray to You, O , remember how I have

walked before You in truth and with a perfect heart, and

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have done what was good in Your eyes. And Hezekiah
wept bitterly.

We are then told that heard his prayer and that Hezekiah
was healed and blessed with another fifteen years of life.

2 Kings 20:6 And I shall add to your days fifteen years,

and deliver you and this city from the hand of the
sovereign of Assyria, and shall defend this city for My own
sake, and for the sake of David My servant.

It must be that this blessing was given late in the fourteenth

year of his reign or early in the fifteenth year, because we are
told that his total number of regnant years was 29.

2 Kings 18:2 He was twenty-five years old when he began

to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in
Yerushalayim. And his mothers name was Abi, daughter
of Zekaryah.

Had this blessing occurred before the end of his fourteenth

year, than fifteen added years would have exceeded the
twenty-nine years which he is said to have reigned. If this
blessing had occurred long after the start of his fifteenth year
as king, he would have gotten fewer than fifteen extra years,
according to the overall number of 29 regnal years. The only
way that he could have reigned for 29 years would be to
receive this blessing in his late fourteenth or early fifteenth
year. Having already established the Shemitah cycle in the
last chapter, the year 700BCE, beginning in the month of
Abib, is the only possible year of the Jubilee according to
these events in the life and reign of Hezekiah. Any other
possible Shemitah/Jubilee pair of years, mentioned in Isaiah
37:30 would have been seven years before or seven years after
this event, destroying the timeline of Hezekiah's life which we

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are given in 2 Kings.

Consider the verses relating to Shavuot.

Leviticus 23:15 And from the morrow after the Sabbath,

from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave
offering, you shall count for yourselves: seven completed
Sabbaths.
Leviticus 23:16 Until the morrow after the seventh
Sabbath you count fifty days, then you shall bring a new
grain offering to .

Similarly, the count for Jubilee begins on the morrow after

the Sabbath. In the year after the Shemitah, the count of
fifty years to Jubilee begins. We count seven complete
Shemitah cycles, or Sabbaths, and the 50th year is Jubilee.
Since Jubilee itself is the year after the seventh Shemitah, the
morrow after the Sabbath is the Jubilee year, and the cycle
starts over again from that year. Jubilee is both the 50th year
in the old cycle and the first year in the new cycle. Just as the
eighth day begins the new week of seven days, so the Jubilee
begins the eighth Shemitah cycle of seven years. There is
surely no greater new beginning than Jubilee!

This has been a very brief explanation of a very detailed

episode in the history of the tribe of Judah. For more
information, please refer to Josephus' 10 Antiquities Chapter
1, the annals of Sennacherib available from the Oriental
Institute of the University of Chicago (see references,
Appendix F), and a very excellent book called The Sabbath
and Jubilee Cycle, put out by Qadesh La Yahwey Press (also
listed in Appendix F).

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Chapter 12: A Hebrew Wedding

This is sort of a bonus chapter. My wife and I were married

November 10th, 2015. We decided that we wanted a teaching
wedding, at which our guests would learn about the bible
passages and prophecies which spoke of messiah returning for
his spotless bride. We took painstaking care to match up the
scriptures to the ceremony and to show as much symbolism as
we could not only in the ceremony but in the days leading up
to it. The following is a copy of the guest program which was
given to each guest to help them follow along.

There are many people interested in a wedding of this type to

teach their friends and loved ones about the messiah, and to
give more meaning to their union. When I looked for myself,
I realized that there were no plans or prepared programs or
videos available anywhere online for a couple wishing to
teach these things at their wedding. So I made one. This is not
patented or copyrighted, I do not require permission for you to
duplicate this message in your own ceremony. This was
written to the glory of Elohim, to glorify His set-apart Name,
and I hope it blesses you. Feel free to contact Beit Tefillah
Publishing with any questions, comments, or ideas. We
would also love to see pictures and to learn of any additions or
ideas that you came up with (accompanying chapter and

347
verse, of course).

What is Marriage?

Of all the things which men and women do in their lives, and
there are many, the bible mentions marriage an inordinate
number of times. Messiah's first miracle took place at a
wedding. The bible's first mention of weddings occurs in
Genesis 2:

Genesis 2:24 For this cause a man shall leave his father
and mother, and cleave to his wife, and they shall become
one flesh.

A wedding between a man and a woman is symbolic of the

wedding prophesied between messiah and the people of .
So who are His people? Those who call upon His name and
keep His covenant, which was given as an everlasting
covenant to His people, those who are His bride. This is very
important, because there is an everlasting covenant between a
man and his wife, called a ketubah, which will be covered
below. His bride, His people, are those who obey His
covenant and call on Him.

Deuteronomy 4:7 For what great nation is there which

has Elohim so near to it, as our Elohim is to us,
whenever we call on Him?
Deuteronomy 4:8 And what great nation is there that has
such laws and righteous right-rulings like all this Torah
which I set before you this day?

Leviticus 26:12 And I shall walk in your midst, and shall

be your Elohim, and you shall be My people.

Exodus 19:5 And now, if you diligently obey My voice,

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and shall guard My covenant, then you shall be My
treasured possession above all the peoples for all the
Earth is Mine
Exodus 3:7 And said, I have indeed seen the
oppression of My people who are in Mitsrayim, and have
heard their cry because of their slave-drivers, for I know
their sorrows.
Exodus 3:10 And now, come, I am sending you to
Pharaoh, to bring My people, the children of Israel, out of
Mitsrayim.

Exodus 6:7 and shall take you as My people, and I shall be

your Elohim. And you shall know that I am your
Elohim who is bringing you out from under the burdens of
the Mitsrites.

Exodus 7:4 And Pharaoh is not going to listen to you, and

I shall lay My hand on Mitsrayim, and bring My divisions
and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of
Mitsrayim by great judgments.

Exodus 7:16 And you shall say to him, the Elohim of

the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, Let My people
go, so that they serve Me in the wilderness, but see, until
now you have not listened!
Exodus 8:20 And said to Moshe, Rise early in the
morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the
water, and say to him, Thus said , Let My people go,
so that they serve Me.
Exodus 8:23 And I shall put a distinction between My
people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall be.

There shall be a distinction between those who are His people

and those who are not His people - those who are of the bride
and those who are not of the bride. Messiah comes only for

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Israel, the spotless bride. (Matthew 15:24)

Isaiah 62:5 For as a young man marries a maiden, so shall

your sons marry you. And as the bridegroom rejoices over
the bride, so shall your Elohim rejoice over you.
Hosea 2:19 And I shall take you as a bride unto Me
forever, and take you as a bride unto Me in righteousness,
and in right-ruling, and kindness and compassion.
Hosea 2:20 And I shall take you as a bride unto Me in
trustworthiness, and you shall know .

Revelation 21:2 And I, John, saw the set-apart city,

renewed Yerushalayim, coming down out of the heaven
from Elohim, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband.
Revelation 21:9 And one of the seven messengers who held
the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to
me and spoke with me, saying, Come, I shall show you
the bride, the Lambs wife.

2 Colossians 11:2 For I am jealous for you with a jealousy

according to Elohim. For I gave you in marriage to one
husband, to present you as an innocent maiden to messiah.

Revelation 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him

praise, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His
wife prepared herself.
Revelation 19:9 And he said to me, Write, Blessed are
those who have been called to the marriage supper of the
Lamb! And he said to me, These are the true words of
Elohim.

Messiah even calls himself the bridegroom.

Matthew 9:15 And messiah said to them, Are the friends

350
of the bridegroom able to mourn as long as the
bridegroom is with them? But the days shall come when
the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they
shall fast.

A marriage is a covenant in which two parties vow to adhere

not to each other, but to become one flesh and in obedience to
that covenant. What is the covenant of ?

Exodus 34:27 And said to Moshe, Write these Words,

for according to the mouth of these Words I have made a
covenant with you and with Israel.

Deuteronomy 7:9 And you shall know that your

Elohim, He is Elohim, the trustworthy El guarding
covenant and kindness for a thousand generations with
those who love Him, and those who guard His commands,

Deuteronomy 7:12 And it shall be, because you hear

these right-rulings, and shall guard and do them, that
your Elohim shall guard with you the covenant and the
kindness which He swore to your fathers,

Deuteronomy 29:9 Therefore you shall guard the words

of this covenant, and do them, so that you prosper in all
that you do.

His covenant requires our obedience to His commands, and

His faithfulness to uphold the blessings and cursings
according to His Word. This is the definition of faith.
Obedience to His commands and expecting His Word to come
to pass based on your obedience and His fulfilling of the
covenant. His Word is His covenant, and it is available to all
who chose to call on His name and to obey His Word. It has
been said that the commands, the covenant, and the title of

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"chosen people" were given solely to the Jews. I tell you that
they were not. tells us that they were not, and messiah
tells us that they were not.

Deuteronomy 29:14 And not with you alone I am making

this covenant and this oath,
Deuteronomy 29:15 but with him who stands here with us
today before our Elohim, as well as with him who is
not here with us today.

Isaiah 42:6 I, , have called You in righteousness, and

I take hold of Your hand and guard You, and give You for
a covenant to a people, for a light to the gentiles,

Those who keep the covenant, the bride, are to be a light to

the gentiles. Without change, are the gentiles part of the bride?
The answer is no. Was Ruth allowed into Israel while she was
a Moabite? The answer is no.

Deuteronomy 23:3 An Ammonite or Moabite does not

enter the assembly of , even a tenth generation of them
does not ever enter the assembly of ,

Why was Ruth allowed in then? She was a Moabite!

Ruth 1:4 And they took wives of the women of Moab, the
name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other
Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years.

Ruth was allowed in because she renounced her Moabite

status and decided to follow the Elohim of Israel.

Ruth 1:16 But Ruth said, Do not urge me to leave you, or

to go back from following after you. For wherever you go,
I go; and wherever you stop over, I stop over. Your people

352
is my people, and your Elohim is my Elohim

She repented of being a Moabite, a gentile, and became

instead a daughter of Israel. She hadn't known better, but now
she does, and she was blessed. This ex-Moabite was the
great-grandmother of David!

So, is it true that you cannot be part of the bride unless you
are not a gentile but part of Israel? Let us look at the words of
messiah:

Matthew 15:24 And He answering, said, I was not sent

except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Wow. He was only sent for the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. He was NOT sent for the gentiles. He was only sent
for those who are his bride. For those who keep his Father's
covenant. Why did he then tell his disciples to bring the
gospel to the nations, to the gentiles? So that those lost sheep
who are among them will hear his Father's Word. So that the
seed, scattered into the field, would grow in those who are
righteous and who keep His covenant.

Matthew 10:5 Messiah sent these twelve out, having

commanded them, saying, Do not go into the way of the
gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Shomeronites,
Matthew 10:6 but rather go to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel.

Not to the gentiles. Only to the lost sheep of the house of

Israel. Ruth was not a Moabite when she was accepted into
the chosen people of . She was a formerly-lost child of
Israel, who was called from among the nations. Just like we
are, who obey His commandments and wait for the
bridegroom to come at the appointed time.

353
Caleb was an Egyptian, not a child of Israel. He was among
the mixed multitude who was called out from the gentile
nation and was included among the chosen people of . In
fact, he was one of only two who were allowed to see the
promised land after the forty year sojourn in the wilderness.
How's that for prophecy? Two men of the exodus of all of
those who left Egypt, Joshua and Caleb, were allowed to see
the promised land, one a native-born Israelite and the other a
foreigner who took up the covenant. Two houses, the house
of Israel and the house of Judah, each representative of the
chosen people who will inherit the promised land.

Jeremiah 31:31 See, the days are coming, declares ,

when I shall make a new covenant with the house of
Israel and with the house of Yehudah

Ezekiel 37:16 And you, son of man, take a stick for

yourself and write on it, For Yehudah and for the children
of Israel, his companions. Then take another stick and
write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephrayim, and for all
the house of Israel, his companions.
Ezekiel 37:17 Then bring them together for yourself into
one stick, and they shall become one in your hand.
Ezekiel 37:18 And when the children of your people
speak to you, saying, Wont you show us what you mean
by these?
Ezekiel 37:19 say to them, Thus said the Master ,
See, I am taking the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand
of Ephrayim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions. And
I shall give them unto him, with the stick of Yehudah, and
make them one stick, and they shall be one in My hand.
Ezekiel 37:20 And the sticks on which you write shall be
in your hand before their eyes.
Ezekiel 37:21 And speak to them, Thus said the Master
, See, I am taking the children of Israel from among

354
the gentiles, wherever they have gone, and shall gather
them from all around, and I shall bring them into their
land.

He will gather us from wherever we have gone; He will be our

Elohim and we shall be His people. This is promised in the
covenant.

Deuteronomy 30:1 And it shall be, when all these words

come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set
before you, and you shall bring them back to your heart
among all the gentiles where your Elohim drives you,
Deuteronomy 30:2 and shall turn back to your
Elohim and obey His voice, according to all that I
command you today, with all your heart and with all your
being, you and your children,
Deuteronomy 30:3 then your Elohim shall turn back
your captivity, and shall have compassion on you, and He
shall turn back and gather you from all the peoples where
your Elohim has scattered you.
Deuteronomy 30:4 If any of you are driven out to the
farthest parts under the heavens, from there your
Elohim does gather you, and from there He does take you.

Who is His Bride? Those who keep His covenant. What is His
covenant? His instructions to us for how to live, His
commandments, His judgments and His instructions. Those
who remain steadfast to the Ketubah are His bride.

What is a Ketubah?

A ketubah, in Hebrew " "from [H3789] means literally a

"written thing". It is a binding written covenant between a
bridegroom and his bride. Today in many religions, a bride is
asked to "love, honor and obey". What/who is she obeying?

355
The groom? No! The covenant. This is a legally binding
contract. "If you will, then I will." Or "we both vow that..."
This is seen by many to be a tradition and is not widely
known in the western world. However, it is not a man-made
tradition, it is based strictly upon the ketubah given by to
the children of Israel at the base of Mt. Sinai, AT THE
MARRIAGE CEREMONY. Another translation of ketubah is
engraved contract, as the tablets of stone were engraved by
the finger of Elohim.

Exodus 19:8 And all the people answered together and

said, All that has spoken we shall do. So Moshe
brought back the words of the people to .

It is very interesting to note that they had agreed to everything

in the covenant. And that the covenant existed before the ten
commandments! Read that again. They agreed to the
covenant. Before the giving of the ten commandments. What
was this covenant that they agreed to?

Exodus 24:4 And Moshe wrote down all the Words of ,

and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar at the
foot of the mountain, and twelve standing columns for the
twelve tribes of Israel.
Exodus 24:5 And he sent young men of the children of
Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and slaughtered
peace slaughterings of bulls to .
Exodus 24:6 And Moshe took half the blood and put it in
basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
Exodus 24:7 And he took the Book of the Covenant and
read in the hearing of the people. And they said, All that
has spoken we shall do, and obey.
Exodus 24:8 And Moshe took the blood and sprinkled it
on the people, and said, See, the blood of the covenant
which has made with you concerning all these

356
Words.

He read to them all the words in the book of the Covenant.

Isn't it interesting that it wasn't until afterward that Moshe
climbed the mountain for the two tablets. What did they agree
to? What was the "book of the Covenant" which was read to
all the people and agreed upon? Was this covenant a brand
new thing? The answers to these questions are behind the veil
and I invite you to study them for yourself.

For our purposes here, it is to be understood that the

Covenant, which was spoken to Moshe ("all the Words of
)", was written down (turned into a ketubah), and was
agreed upon by His chosen people. They vowed to obey the
covenant, which was to exist "forever", for a "thousand
generations", and "to the vanishing point". They accepted the
terms of the contract and agreed to obey it. A ketubah is an
agreement, a contract, a written thing which is endorsed by
two parties. The ketubah between and His bride is the
covenant. The Torah is the ketubah. The bride and groom
have a ketubah which they will each sign, binding them as one
flesh not only before the state, but before , following the
example He gave His chosen people, who would be His son's
bride. The ketubah will be displayed for all to see after the
ceremony, but here is a copy of those things which are
contained in this "written thing".

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Genesis 2:24

Under the chuppah, this 27th day of the 8th biblical month, the
tenth day of November two thousand fifteen, we come together
before our Elohim, our friends and our family to fulfill the
commandment given in the garden; to cleave together and to
become one flesh. May we always look to for our strength,
our courage, and to remain steadfast in His Word. Seeking first
the kingdom of heaven above all else, may we always remain
equally yoked. May we be a light to each other and to the nations
in times of darkness, and help each other never to turn aside to
the right or to the left, but to cling to Elohim and to remain
strong and do all that is written in the book of the Covenant.
May the blessings, joy, and the enrichment which we receive be
seen by others and be recognized by them as the fulfillment of
the Truth granted by the power of the Word. As is the head
of a man, and the bridegroom is the head of a bride, let us be
blessed according to the Word, and to be faithful to each other
and to our Elohim, that we may be found to be set-apart to Him
and without blemish at the appointed time.

We vow this day to fulfill the responsibilities expected of us, to

perform those tasks required of us, and to grant that which is
asked of us by our Elohim. We promise to obey the commands,
laws and judgments, to write them on our doors, our gateposts,
on our hearts, and to teach them to our children. We will stand
by each other in faith and in trust as husband and wife, as we
stand before , our creator.

Groom____________________________

Bride____________________________

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This Ketubah will be proudly displayed in their home,
evidence of those things witnessed here today by friends and
family, and as a constant reminder not only to be loyal to each
other, but that a bigger and greater union is promised by He
who created the universe, only foreshadowed here today by
the signatures of these two people under the chuppah.

What is a Chuppah?

A "chuppah" or "huppah" has three different English

translations in our modern bible, italicized in their respective
verses below.

Psalms 19:5 And it is like a bridegroom coming out of his

room, It rejoices like a strong man to run the path.

Isaiah 4:5 then shall create above every dwelling

place of Mount Tsiyon, and above her assemblies, a cloud
and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by
night, for over all the esteem shall be a covering,

Joel 2:16 Gather the people, set the assembly apart,

assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing
babes. Let a bridegroom come out from his room, and a
bride from her dressing room. (some translations "closet")

This is the place where the act of marriage takes place, and it
hasn't historically always included a wedding ceremony. For
example:

Genesis 24:67 And Isaac brought her into his mother

Sarahs tent. And he took Rebekah and she became his
wife, and he loved her. Thus Isaac was comforted after his
mothers death.

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The tent was the chuppah. There was no ceremony but the act
of marriage took place within the chuppah. This is where
canopy beds come from. The children of Israel, after having
agreed to the ketubah, were "married" under the canopy of
Mt. Sinai when they accepted the terms of the covenant.

Exodus 19:17 And Moshe brought the people out of the

camp to meet with Elohim, and they stood at the foot of
the mountain.

This is symbolic of the bride having made herself ready and

presenting herself spotless in the appointed place and time.
The timing of the wedding at the base of Mt. Sinai, as well as
that of the chosen people to messiah is very important.

Exodus 19:10 And said to Moshe, Go to the people

and set them apart today and tomorrow. And they shall
wash their garments,
Exodus 19:11 and shall be prepared by the third day. For
on the third day shall come down upon Mount Sinai
before the eyes of all the people.

Exodus 19:14 And Moshe came down from the mountain

to the people and set the people apart, and they washed
their garments.
Exodus 19:15 And he said to the people, Be prepared by
the third day. Do not come near a wife.
Exodus 19:16 And it came to be, on the third day in the
morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a
thick cloud on the mountain. And the sound of the rams
horn was very loud, and all the people who were in the
camp trembled.

The wedding was to take place on the third day. According to

the seven "day" millennial plan, messiah came in the fourth

360
day. He will be gone for two days (the fifth and sixth
millennium), during which time his bride will not see him,
and will return to accept his spotless bride on the third day,
which will usher in the millennial reign. The only
communication between the bride and his groom is through
the Word and by the use of messengers. The Hebrew word
incorrectly translated into English as "angel" literally means
"messenger".

The wedding at which messiah performed his first recorded

miracle was on the third day:

John 2:1 And on the third day there was a wedding in

Qanah of Galilee, and the mother of messiah was there.

We are told that messiah has gone to prepare a place for us.

John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I shall

come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am,
you might be too.

This place is the chuppah. This is the bridal chamber. It is

being prepared for his bride even now. In accordance with
these scriptures, the bride and groom being joined today have
not seen each other for the past two days. They have guarded
themselves against uncleanness. The bridegroom has spent the
last two days preparing the chuppah, and the bride did not see
it until the third day. The chuppah has been approved by the
father of the bridegroom. There has been no communication
between the bride and groom except through a messenger.
Just as with the wedding at Sinai and with messiah at the end,
the arrival of the bridegroom is announced by the blast of the
shofar.

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 What is the Shofar?

We are never told in scripture which animal's horns were used

as a shofar. Most English translations use the words "ram's
horn", but those words are simply a translation of the Hebrew
word, which is never expressed as "ram's shofar". The
shofarot in this ceremony are the horns of the kudu, a very
popular type of shofar. The shofar was very important in the
bible and was used for many things.

Psalms 150:3 Praise Him with the blowing of the rams

horn; Praise Him with the harp and lyre!
Psalms 81:2 Lift up a song and beat the tambourine, The
pleasant lyre and with the harp.
Psalms 81:3 Blow the rams horn at the time of the New
Moon, At the full moon, on our festival day.
Psalms 89:15 Blessed are the people Who know the
trumpet-call! They walk, O , in the light of Your face.

The first use of the word shofar in the bible just happens to be
at the base of Mt. Sinai:

Exodus 19:16 And it came to be, on the third day in the

morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a
thick cloud on the mountain. And the sound of the ram's
horn was very loud, and all the people who were in the
camp trembled.
Exodus 19:17 And Moshe brought the people out of the
camp to meet with Elohim, and they stood at the foot of
the mountain.
Exodus 19:19 And when the blast of the rams horn
sounded long and became louder and louder, Moshe spoke,
and Elohim answered him by voice.
Exodus 20:18 And all the people saw the thunders, the
lightning flashes, the sound of the rams horn, and the

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mountain smoking. And the people saw it, and they
trembled and stood at a distance,

The first expressed purpose of the shofar is to announce the

arrival of the bridegroom! And again at the end, the sound of
the shofar will announce the arrival of the perfect bridegroom
who has come for his spotless bride:

1 Thessalonians 4:16 Because the Master Himself shall

come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of a
chief messenger, and with the trumpet of Elohim, and the
dead in messiah shall rise first.
Matthew 24:31 And He shall send His messengers with a
great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together
His chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the
heavens to the other.
1 Corinthians 15:52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an
eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and
the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed.
Revelation 1:10 I came to be in the Spirit on the Day of
, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,

The day of , also known as "Yom Teruah" or the "Feast of

Trumpets", is the set apart time, the exact date of which no
man knows, and will be the day on which the messiah returns
for his spotless bride. The sound of the shofar is a call to
assemble, a call to arms. It is the sound which announces the
coronation of a king.

2 Samuel 15:10 But Absalom sent spies throughout all the

tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as you hear the sound of
the rams horn, then you shall say, Absalom is sovereign
in Hebron!

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2 Kings 9:13 And they hurried, and each one took his
garment and put it under him on the top of the steps. And
they blew a rams horn, saying, Yehu reigns!
2Ki 9:14 Thus Yehu son of Yehoshaphat, son of Nimshi,
conspired against Yoram now Yoram had been guarding
Ramoth Gilead, he and all Israel, against Hazael sovereign
of Aram.

The sound of a shofar is also a warning.

Ezekiel 33:5 He heard the sound of the rams horn, but

he did not take warning, his blood is on himself. But he
who takes warning shall deliver his being.

The shofar was blown first in this ceremony as a call to

assemble. Then the last trump, to announce the arrival of the
bridegroom. And finally in celebration! We guard ourselves to
be ready at the sound of the shofar for the return of messiah
who comes not as a lamb but as a newly coronated king and
bridegroom to his Father's chosen people, clothed in white
linen.

What is White Linen?

The groom is wearing a white linen suit, as is the best man,

symbolic of the role he has played as helper and messenger.

White garments, especially linen, are symbolic of righteous

acts and cleanness.

Ecclesiastes 9:8 Let your garments be white at all times,

and let your head lack no oil.

We are told many times throughout the scriptures, as well as

in the new testament, of the importance and significance of

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white linen. We are told that messiah will return in white
linen:

Daniel 7:9 I was looking until thrones were set up, and
the Ancient of Days was seated. His garment was white as
snow, and the hair of His head was like clean wool, His
throne was flames of fire, its wheels burning fire.
Matthew 17:2 and He was transformed before them, and
His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as
white as the light.
Matthew 28:3 And his appearance was like lightning, and
his garments as white as snow.
Mark 9:3 And His garments became glittering,
exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on
Earth is able to whiten.
Luke 9:29 And it came to be, as He prayed, the
appearance of His face changed, and His garment dazzling
white.

And that his spotless bride will be arrayed in fine white linen.

Isaiah 61:10 I greatly rejoice in , my being exults in my

Elohim. For He has put garments of deliverance on me, He
has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a
bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride
adorns herself with her jewels.

Revelation 3:4 Nevertheless, you have a few names in

Sardis who have not defiled their garments. And they shall
walk with Me in white, because they are worthy.
Revelation 3:5 He who overcomes shall be dressed in
white robes, and I shall by no means blot out his name
from the Book of Life, but I shall confess his name before
My Father and before His messengers.

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Revelation 19:14 And the armies in the heaven, dressed in
fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.
Revelation 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him
praise, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His
wife prepared herself.
Revelation 19:8 And to her it was given to be dressed in
fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the
righteousness of the set-apart ones.
Revelation 19:9 And he said to me, Write, Blessed are
those who have been called to the marriage supper of the
Lamb! And he said to me, These are the true words of
Elohim.

That last verse calls to mind the seeming harshness of the

verses printed on the wedding invitation:

Matthew 22:11 And when the sovereign came in to view

the guests, he saw there a man who had not put on a
wedding garment,
Matthew 22:12 and he said to him, Friend, how did you
come in here not having a wedding garment? And he was
speechless.
Matthew 22:13 Then the sovereign said to the servants,
Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him
out into the outer darkness there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.

No doubt many were offended by this and that's the reason

they are not with us here today. The importance for the
appropriate garment is not only for this wedding here today,
but for the wedding of the messiah to his bride. To his bride
ONLY was it given to be dressed in fine linen. Those who are
inappropriately attired, who do not bear the fine linen which is
the righteousness of the saints, they will not be called his bride
and there will be much weeping and gnashing of teeth. Those

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who were offended by the invitation are very likely to be
offended when messiah comes for his spotless bride. Those
verses seemed the most appropriate to be included on the
invitation for a teaching wedding. Lets examine messiah's
return in the parable of the ten virgins.

Matthew 25:1 Then the reign of the heavens shall be

compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went
out to meet the bridegroom.

There are ten tribes of Israel scattered across the face of the
Earth. His bride is among them.

Matthew 25:2 And five of them were wise, and five

foolish.

Some of those who were scattered were wise, defined by the

bible as being obedient to His Word, and some are foolish in
their disobedience.

Matthew 25:3 Those who were foolish, having taken

their lamps, took no oil with them,

Though they had access to the truth, there was no light in

those who were foolish because of their disobedience. They
chose not to be a light to the nations.

Matthew 25:4 but the wise took oil in their containers

with their lamps.

The obedient sit ready to accompany the groom, shining their

light for all to see.

Matthew 25:5 Now while the bridegroom took time, they

all slumbered and slept.

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Took two days' time, preparing the chuppah (the New City,
the dwelling place) for his bride. The ten tribes all slept
among the nations, waiting to be awakened.

Matthew 25:6 And at midnight a cry was heard, See,

the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him!

The sound of the shofar! Here comes the groom!

Matthew 25:7 Then all those maidens rose up and

trimmed their lamps.

They make themselves ready for the groom, to the best of

their knowledge and ability.

Matthew 25:8 And the foolish said to the wise, Give us

of your oil, because our lamps are going out.

We are unprepared, help us!

Matthew 25:9 But the wise answered, saying, No,

indeed, there would not be enough for us and you. Instead,
go to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.

Solomon tells us to buy wisdom and not to sell it.

Matthew 25:10 And while they went to buy, the

bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with
him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut.

And so they went to learn wisdom, to acquire light, but it was

too late. Those who had prepared themselves against the
appointed time went in with the bridegroom.

Matthew 25:11 And later the other maidens also came,

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saying, Master, Master, open up for us!
Matthew 25:12 But he answering, said, Truly, I say to
you, I do not know you.

"YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS"

Matthew 25:13 Watch therefore, because you do not

know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Adam is
coming,

We keep a remembrance of the appointed times. Though we

do not know the year in which messiah will return, we remain
ready, obedient, and with our lamps full of oil for the world to
see our light. We should each examine ourselves very closely
because this is the only thing that matters in this life. Are we
ready to present ourselves as a spotless bride? Do we have
enough oil?

Matthew 7:20 So then, by their fruits you shall know

them
Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, Master,
Master, shall enter into the reign of the heavens, but he
who is doing the desire of My Father in the heavens.
Matthew 7:22 Many shall say to Me in that day, Master,
Master, have we not prophesied in Your Name, and cast
out demons in Your Name, and done many mighty works
in Your Name?
Matthew 7:23 And then I shall declare to them, I never
knew you, depart from Me, you who work lawlessness!

It is not enough to simply call on him, holding a lamp burning

down with little oil. What is the lawlessness being spoken of
by messiah? It would do us well to know. But that message is
also hidden behind the veil.

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 What is the Veil?

Throughout scripture, the veil represents hidden and protected

wisdom and understanding, and the revelation of power and
glory when the veil is removed.

The glory of had been seen by Moshe and it was reflected

in his face, so he had to hide his face from the assembly:

Exodus 34:29 And it came to be, when Moshe came down

from Mount Sinai, while the two tablets of the Witness
were in Moshes hand when he came down from the
mountain, that Moshe did not know that the skin of his
face shone since he had spoken with Him.
Exodus 34:30 And Aharon and all the children of Israel
looked at Moshe and saw the skin of his face shone, and
they were afraid to come near him.
Exodus 34:33 And when Moshe ended speaking with
them, he put a veil on his face.
Exodus 34:34 But whenever Moshe went in before to
speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came
out. And when he came out he spoke to the children of
Israel what he had been commanded,
Exodus 34:35 and the children of Israel would see the face
of Moshe, that the skin of Moshes face shone, and Moshe
would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to
speak with Him.

They were unable to handle the power and glory which shown
in Moshe's face. We are never told how long he wore that
veil, it may have been years.

Likewise in the tabernacle, the veil was constructed to contain

the glory of above the ark from being seen by the people,
who would have rejected it for its purity and been fearful to

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draw near.

Exodus 26:31 And you shall make a veil of blue and

purple and scarlet material, and fine woven linen, the
work of a skilled workman, made with kerubim.
Exodus 26:32 And you shall put it on the four columns of
acacia wood overlaid with gold, their hooks of gold, upon
four sockets of silver.
Exodus 26:33 And you shall hang the veil from the
hooks, and shall bring the ark of the Witness there, behind
the veil. And the veil shall make a separation for you
between the Set-apart and the Most Set-apart Place.

Those things in the covenant which was read by Moshe at the

base of Mt. Sinai are behind the same veil today, and because
of that people do not see.

2 Colossians 3:14 But their minds were hardened, for to

this day, when the old covenant is being read, that same
veil remains, not lifted, because in messiah it is taken
away.
2 Colossians 3:15 But to this day, when Moshe is being
read, a veil lies on their heart.
2 Colossians 3:16 And when one turns to the Master, the
veil is taken away.

When we examine the covenant through the lens of messiah,

the veil is rent in two and we receive wisdom. Only through
the death of messiah do we understand the covenant. The veil
was taken away.

Matthew 27:51 And see, the veil of the Dwelling Place was
torn in two from top to bottom, and the Earth was shaken,
and the rocks were split,

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It is only when we diligently search for Him with our whole
heart and our whole soul that He will be found of us and will
lift the veil from before our eyes. Things hidden behind the
veil are not easily seen but are spiritually discerned. These
things are hidden from the nations and are set-apart to Him,
only revealed through study and seeking.

The bride is wearing a veil. It covered her face leading up to

the ceremony, representative of our former ignorance, but was
lifted by the Father (by her father) because she had made
herself ready before the appointed time. The veil had been
lifted before the blast of the shofar which called the
bridegroom. It is our fervent prayer that all of His people will
have the veil taken away before the great and terrible day of
, and will have the wisdom to present themselves as the
spotless bride before the bridegroom.

What Else?

Genesis 18:10 And He said, I shall certainly return to

you according to the time of life, and see, Sarah your wife
is to have a son! And Sarah was listening in the tent door
which was behind him.

Isaac was called the child of promise. His birth was a

miracle. Sarah was 90 years old. Abraham was 100. There
are many parallels between the life and circumstances of Isaac
and that of messiah. His father Abraham told his chief
servant, Eliezer (which means the Creator's helper in
Hebrew), to go to his people and to find a wife for his son.
The woman who was to be a wife for his son would make
herself known to him at the appointed time.

We are not aware how old Isaac was when his father Abraham
took him to be sacrificed on the mountain. Josephus says 25

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(certainly not a child!) (1 Antiquities 13:2), but the bible is
unclear. Abraham knew that the child of promise would not
be allowed to die or to remain dead because it was through his
line which all the nations of the Earth would be blessed.

Genesis 22:8 And Abraham said, My son, Elohim does

provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering. And
the two of them went together.

We all know how the story ends. Isaac was spared. But
Elohim would one day provide for Himself the lamb for the
offering. Messiah is not seen again until the third day, and
returns for his bride, just as Moshe was told to prepare the
children of Israel against the third day at the base of Mt. Sinai.
After being spared on the altar, the next time we hear of Isaac
is when he is coming out to meet his bride. (Genesis 24:62)
Compare this to messiah being offered as the Pasach, and then
not being seen again until he is coming to meet his bride.

There is much more we could say. A book could be written on

the subject of the messiah and his bride. But we have done
what we could to illustrate this prophecy through this wedding
here today.

Proverbs 20:12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye,

has made both of them.

It is our fervent prayer that you will be given the eyes to see
and the ears to hear, and that you remember well the call of
the shofar. It will be heard again one day very soon, on the
first day of the seventh month.

Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from the

heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, lest you share
in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.

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This is the chuppah which I built in the two days preceding
the wedding.

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 Appendix A
Month of Abib Passion Week

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 Appendix B
The Harvest in Modern Israel

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 Appendix C

The Hillel Calendar

Modern Judaism uses the Hillel calendar to plan the feasts and
festivals of Leviticus 23. The Hillel calendar is not the
calendar of the bible, but was devised in the fourth century CE
as a way to standardize the leap years, which are genuinely
necessary in some years to make the calendar accurate, a
process called intercalation. As you will recall from Chapter
1, there are two factors necessary to determine the new year.
The first is the equinox which takes place in the time of year
when the barley is abib, and the second is the new moon. If
the new moon arrives and the equinox is still several days
away, it is necessary to add an extra month to maintain a
correct calendar. Otherwise, you would be declaring the new
year to start not in the spring but in the winter, and the barley
would not be ripe enough even to harvest, let alone transport
to Yerushalayim for the feast. The Hillel calendar bypasses
these events entirely, neglecting the signs of the heavenly
luminaries. Instead, it arbitrarily adds a thirteenth intercalary
month seven out of every 19 years. These intercalary months
are added every 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th, and 19th years
of the 19 year cycle.

Compare the Hillel calendar to the Babylonian calendar. The

Babylonian calendar arbitrarily adds a thirteenth intercalary
month seven out of every 19 years. These intercalary months
are added every 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th, and 19th years
of the 19 year cycle. Does that sound familiar?

Simply put, any calendar which is based not upon the signs
spoken of in Genesis and Exodus should not be used to keep
the moedim spoken of in Leviticus. There is nothing wrong

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with having other calendars. The calendar of a culture helps
that culture to maintain order, commerce, and a proper
schedule. But you cannot use one calendar to make
appointments on another, especially if you have made no
effort to synchronize them!
Although the tribe of Judah was removed from exile in
Babylon, seventy years was enough time for many of the
Babylonian traditions, words, festivals, and pieces of its
culture to rub off on the Judaites. Many of the Jewish
traditions which cannot be found in Torah can be traced back
to their time in captivity in Babylon, being pieces of the
Babylonian culture which were brought out by the returning
Jews. The Babylonian talmud, which book came out of
Babylon with the returning two tribes, records many of these
Babylonian traditions. Any culture which values its traditions
over truth needs to reexamine its priorities, go back to its
roots, and learn the ways that existed before it was perverted
by the traditions which are ADMITTED by those keeping
them to be of foreign or alien origin. Look at the chart on
the next page to determine whether or not there are other
similarities between the Hillel and Babylonian Calendars.

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 Pagan Names of the Months

It should also be mentioned that it was Babylonian custom to

begin the year in the month of Tisritum (Tishrei), after the
equinox in the fall.

In addition to the similarities between the Babylonian and

Hillel calendars, there is another similarity which must be
brought before the attention of my readers. The Babylonian
sabbath was counted every seven days from the new moon,
and fell on the seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first and twenty-
eighth days of the lunar month. According to the
Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics 2003 regarding the
Babylonian sabbath, the lunation period of 29 or 30 days

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consisted of three seven day weeks, the final week of 8 or 9
days, breaking the continuous 7 day cycle awaiting the new
moon. Like the Hillel calendar, the lunar sabbath is right out
of Babylon.

It is very important to note that there is not actually a

command for intercalary months, only an implied need. We
are never told in the bible of a thirteenth month being added to
provide an accurate season for the month of Abib to conform
to both lunar and solar standards. However, without the
addition of a thirteenth month, not arbitrarily according to a
pagan mathematical system, but according to the witnesses of
the sun in equinox and the new moon, the calendar would be
thrown off quite badly; as much as a month per year. Another
good example of intercalation would be the addition of
February 29th every four years on the Gregorian calendar.
This has very few exceptions, though some are necessary to
keep correct calendation. For example, the year 2100 will not
be a leap year.

Until the time of the exile, the bible records several of the
proper names of the months. While not all of them are
known, here is a list of the months which are known, as well
as their biblical references.

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 Hebrew Names of the Months

Several names of the unknown months are supplied by

Josephus in his Antiquities of the Jews, in Hebrew, as well
as in Egyptian, Macedonian and Greek, but I am loathe to put
them here and mix what is quite possibly tradition with the
truth of the Word.

Months with the * mark next to them appear in books of the

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bible which were written after the return of the southern tribes
from Babylonian captivity and very likely reflect the
traditions which were brought out of Babylon.

The words Chisleu, Tebeth, Sebat, and Adar do

appear in the bible, but only after the return of the exiled.
Some scholars fight against the canonization of the book of
Esther, for reasons including the fact that words such as
Adar and Tebeth appear only in that book. The name
does not appear once in the book of Esther. The celebration of
Purim is mentioned in Esther and nowhere else. The word
Nisan [H5212] is used regarding the first month
(instead of Abib) in the post-exile books of Esther and
Nehemia. The names of these months are suspected to be of
foreign origin and likely came out of Babylon with the two
returning tribes. The second book of Maccabees suggests the
same.

2 Maccabees 15:37 But to celebrate the thirteenth day of

the month of Adar, called, in the Syrian language, the day
before Mardochias' day.

So the names of the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th months as they are
given in the later bible canon is open to question, yet the
Hebrew word does appear and until proven otherwise, the
book of Esther is included in the biblical canon.

**The third month, possibly named Tsach, was named as the

third month inscribed on a sixth-century clay jar excavated
from Tel Arad. It is included here because the word tsach
[H6703] is mentioned in Isaiah 18:4.

Isaiah 18:4 For thus said to me, I am still, and I

watch in My dwelling place like dazzling heat in sunshine,
like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

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Some would render the word dazzling, and thus the verse,
according to the Hebrew, to say:

Isaiah 18:4 For thus said to me, I am still and I

watch in My dwelling place in the heat in the month of
Tsach in sunshine, like a cloud of dew on the heat of
harvest.

As is shown on the chart in Appendix B, and as it is said

throughout scripture, the wheat harvest is indeed in the third
month of the biblical year and is likely the harvest mentioned
in the above verse.

Esther 8:9 names the third month Sivan instead of Tsach. But
again, this is very likely the difference between pre- and post-
exile writings and traditions.

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 Appendix D
Tithe
The subject of tithe today is much debated, even among Torah
keepers, and there are those for and against tithing. The most
common argument presented by those against is a tired and
frequently-heard argument, We don't have to do that
anymore. It almost reeks of the same Christian attitude of,
That old law was done away with. It comes down to this,
which I would say to the Christian and the Torah keeper alike.
If you love me then keep my commandments. (John 14:15)
It shouldn't be a matter of have to, it should be a matter of
want to. If you are in covenant, then you desire to do all
that was given to you to do, all that is possible given the
circumstances of the time and place where you live. I've
heard many times, We don't have to keep those old feast
days. Well, if you're going into it with that attitude then
there's little argument against you. But if your heart is
circumcised and you are open to new truth, your question will
be, What ELSE can I do to please ?

Tithe is one way that you can please Him. Remember, none of
the commandments were written out of vanity or to increase
the word-count on the tablets. They're all for blessings,
they're all for life! Just as you bless someone by giving, so
you are also blessed.

Another common argument against tithing is that there is no

longer a Levitical priesthood and we cannot properly give a
tithe. Only half of that statement is correct. There is no longer
a Levitical priesthood, neither is there a need for one. The
first mention of tithe in the bible occurred at least five
hundred years before the Levitical priesthood existed.

Genesis 14:20 And blessed be the Most High El who has

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delivered your enemies into your hand. And he gave him
a tenth of all.

Abram gave to Melchizedek (King of Righteousness), the

king of Salem (which became Jerusalem) a tenth of all the
spoils. The next mention of tithe is at least 450 years before
the Levitical priesthood existed.

Genesis 28:22 then this stone which I have set as a

standing column shall be Elohims house, and of all that
You give me, I shall certainly give a tenth to You.

How is it that Abram knew to give a tenth of the spoils to the

King of Righteousness? How is it that his grandson, Jacob
knew to do likewise? Did they complain or give reasons such
as The Levitical priesthood doesn't exist yet! Certainly not.
If two of the patriarchs, Abram and his grandson Jacob are
both recorded as giving a tithe even before the Levitical
priesthood or before any record of any command given to do
so, then it must have existed as a statute from the beginning.
Abram was called a friend of . Would you not also like
to do what Abram did?

The word tithe comes from an old-English word which

means tenth-part. The Hebrew word for tenth-part is
ma-asar [H4643] , which actually contains the Hebrew
word for ten, which is asar [H6235] . These two
words are obviously connected. In fact, the word tithe is a
meaningless translation of a word which has long been lost to
antiquity. We should say rather that we are to give a tenth,
as the Hebrew word implies by its very definition.

A tenth of what, then? Of everything! In the verse which

records that Abram gave a tenth of all to Melchizedek, that
word all is kol [H3605] , meaning every, whole,

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whatsoever, altogether. Abram didn't give just a tithe of
the grain or the oil or the wine, but ALL.

Think of tithe as the first tenth-part which belongs to as

soon as it is available. To Him belongs the first fruits, the
ray-sheeth, the first born, the first tenth.

Here are some examples of the things which were to be tithed,

as described in the bible.

Leviticus 27:30 And all the tithe of the land of the seed
of the land or of the fruit of the tree belongs to . It is
set-apart to .

Deuteronomy 14:22 You shall tithe without fail all the

yield of your grain that the field brings forth year by year.

2 Chronicles 31:5 And as the word spread, the children of

Israel brought large quantities of the first-fruits of grain
and wine, and oil and honey, and of all the increase of the
field. And they brought in the tithe of all, a large amount.

2 Chronicles 31:6 And the children of Israel and Yehudah,

those who dwelt in the cities of Yehudah, brought the tithe
of cattle and sheep. Even the tithe of set-apart gifts which
were set apart to their Elohim were brought in, and
they gave heaps, heaps.

Deuteronomy 12:17 You are not allowed to eat within

your gates the tithe of your grain, or of your new wine, or
of your oil, or of the firstlings of your herd or your flock,
or of any of your offerings which you vow, or of your
voluntary offerings, or of the contribution of your hand.

Deuteronomy 14:23 And you shall eat before your

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Elohim, in the place where He chooses to make His Name
dwell, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your
oil, and of the firstlings of your herds and your sheep, so
that you learn to fear your Elohim always.

To those who still say that tithe is not for today, consider this
very pointed accusation.

Malachi 3:8 Would a man rob Elohim? Yet you are

robbing Me! But you said, In what have we robbed You?
In the tithe and the offering!

We certainly don't want to be accused of robbing Elohim! We

should give to Him the first tenth of all that we receive, as
they did in the bible. What did they give Him? A small and
incomplete list would include seed, fruit, grain, wine, oil,
honey, cattle, sheep, and all the increase of the field.

A common escape is, But I'm not a farmer! Tithe was just
produce and cattle and sheep! Well that's not true at all.
We've already shown that what Abram gave to Melchizedek
was a tenth of everything, and that Jacob promised to give a
tenth of all to as well.

If you are not a farmer, what can you give? You can give a
tenth of your increase, as you are instructed to do.

Deuteronomy 8:11 Be on guard, lest you forget your

Elohim by not guarding His commands, and His right-
rulings, and His laws which I command you today,
Deuteronomy 8:12 lest you eat and shall be satisfied, and
build lovely houses and shall dwell in them,
Deuteronomy 8:13 and your herds and your flocks
increase, and your silver and your gold are increased, and
all that you have is increased,

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Deuteronomy 8:17 you then shall say in your heart, My
power and the strength of my hand have made for me this
wealth!
Deuteronomy 8:18 But you shall remember your
Elohim, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, in
order to establish His covenant which He swore to your
fathers, as it is today.

If you are not a farmer, you are still capable of being increased
in silver and gold and possessions. You are still capable of
being increased in family.

Exodus 13:2 Set apart to Me all the first-born, the one

opening the womb among the children of Israel, among
man and among beast, it is Mine.

Remember that the firsts of all things belong to , both of

man and beast, and produce, and fabric, and gold and silver. If
you are not giving that first tenth to then you are robbing
Him of what is His, according to Malachi 3:8. If we are still
supposed to dedicate our first-born to Him, then under whose
authority were we to stop giving tithes?

Though Christianity would have you throw out the rest of

that old law, they sure do want you to give your tithe to the
church! Of all the Torah, they say that the verses regarding
tithe are still for today. Tithe was never supposed to be given
to the church. Tithe is for the legitimate priesthood, either
THE Melchizedek priest or the members of the Levitical
priesthood, when that organization existed.

There is mention in 1 Corinthians 16 and in 2 Corinthians 8 of

a collection taken up for the various assemblies. But as Rav
Sha'ul (the apostle Paul) himself says, this is not a command
to give tithe but a supplication for freely-given gifts for these

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assemblies, many of whom were under the difficulties
associated with persecution from all sides in the first century;
both from the Romans for their Hebrew faith and from the
Jews for their messianic faith. Remember all the times that
rav Sha'ul himself was beaten and left for dead, not to mention
others who were martyred for their beliefs.

The reasons for tithe are these. The priesthood, both the
Melchizedek and the Levite, had no other jobs other than to
minister to Elohim and to teach men in the ways of the Word.
They were not priests and farmers, or priests and vintners or
coopers or breeders of stock. They had no inheritance in the
lands.

Numbers 18:23 because the Levites shall do the service of

the Tent of Meeting, so they themselves bear their
crookedness. A law forever, throughout your generations:
that among the children of Israel they are to have no
inheritance,
Numbers 18:24 but the tithes of the children of Israel,
which they present as a contribution to , I have given
to the Levites as an inheritance. That is why I have said to
them, Among the children of Israel they have no
inheritance.

Without the tithes, the priests and Levites would have no

wealth of garments or possessions, or even food to eat. The
purpose of the tithe was to support entire communities of
Levites, disbursed throughout the nation of Israel, who did
nothing but minister to Elohim. It was given to them because
the tithe already belongs to .

All business owners are familiar with the remission of sales

tax. It works like this. When you go into business, you fill
out paperwork with the state registering your business as a

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legal entity within that state, responsible for collecting sales
and use tax on the goods/services being offered. Imagine a
state which charges 10% sales tax. At the end of the
remission period, you MUST write a check to the state for
10% of your total taxable sales. This already belongs to them
because you collected it in the name of the state for the sole
purpose of remitting that money to the state. If you do not
remit this 10%, you are stealing from the entity to whom that
10% belongs! Though that money is in your business
account, it is not yours. It belongs to the state. It would be
silly to say that for some arbitrary reason, though you still
collected that money, the remission of sales and use tax has
been done away with and you no longer have to obey that old
law. You are bound by your agreement to the state to remit
those funds. To put it another way, there has never been an
acceptable authority to change the laws which were agreed to
at the time of the signing of the contract. These laws are still
on the books, we might say.

So it is with tithe. The first 10% belongs to . Your

responsibility is to properly remit that amount to the proper
place. You are bound by your agreement as a member of the
chosen people of to remit those funds to the appropriate
place.

Offerings exist above and beyond tithes. If you wish to make

an offering of money or food, that is completely up to you.
Only, be careful not to give a gift to the adversary and call it
an offering to Elohim. Offerings, as with tithes, should be
given with discrimination. Make sure you are not presuming
to do what is right in your own eyes, offering a blessing
before hasatan, casting pearls before swine or bread to the
little dogs. (Matthew 7:6)

I had a question come before me not long ago. A friend was

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wondering if he had to tithe from his entire weekly wages
(before FICA) or only from the amount deposited into his
account. My question was this: how can you give of
something that you do not have? When you receive an
income, tithe from it. Some of the money held from my
friend's check is going to come back to him in the form of
social security payments (maybe), when he reaches retirement
age. He can tithe 10% of those checks because that income is
going to him for the first time. My friend's followup question:
So do I tithe before or after rent, utilities, food? The answer is
very simple. Once you have money in your hands, or in your
account, it is yours. Just as you cannot tithe of grain
destroyed in a hailstorm, only that which was gathered into
the storehouse, you tithe of your income accordingly. The
ray-sheeth, the first-fruits of that increase already belongs to
.

Entire books can and have been written regarding the identity
and truths of the Melchizedek priesthood. I will recommend
some resources in Appendix F but I won't go into that
teaching here. Suffice to say, the Levitical order existed and
functioned (more or less according to Torah) for only about
1500 years. Before the Levites existed Melchizedek. After the
Levites exists Melchizedek. The remnant is never left without
a High Priest.

There are two forms of illegitimate priesthood, no matter how

they're able to be explained by the parties who hold them up.
The first is the priesthood which was installed some time
before messiah. Yocanon (John) the Immerser was the
legitimate High Priest, not the Roman-appointed priest
spoken of in the new testament commentary as Caiaphas.
When Rome took over Israel in the inter-testamental time
recorded in the books of the Maccabees, the emperor and his
local prefects and magistrates appointed members of their

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own choosing, often of influential and deeply-pocketed
Jewish families, to be priests. Caiaphas was of that ilk. That
priesthood was illegitimate and does not represent the things
which the genuine Levitical priesthood represented.

The second false priesthood came about with the advent of the
Christian church. Those who fancied themselves teachers
appointed themselves to be priests, cardinals, bishops and
popes. A need is certainly understood to adopt some type of
hierarchy for organizational purposes, even within a pagan
organization. I have no words against that. The problem with
this bunch is that they inserted themselves as the few to whom
the tithes belonged after the downfall of the temple and the
Levitical system. They were little more than looters, running
to fill the gaps in the system, and pick up the pieces which
were left, for their own benefit. The bible records another
period of history when priests were allowed to come from the
general population.

1 Kings 12:31 And he made the house of high places, and

made priests from all sorts of people, who were not of the
sons of Levi.

This was done in the midst of two other great forms of

apostasy. First, Jeroboam set up two golden calves to be
worshiped as elohim, one in Beth El and the other at Dan.
Then, he devised a feast day of his own heart, to be celebrated
on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, which day you will
notice does not appear in Leviticus 23 or as a chapter in this
book. In the same way, the Christian church set up before
itself false images, illegitimate priests, and celebrations of
their own heart. They worship Him according to their own
hearts, traditions and presumptuousness.

Deuteronomy 12:4 Do not do so to your Elohim,

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In Appendix E, there will be a brief discussion of the
replacement celebrations and appointed times which man has
devised of his own heart.

Just as it was wrong for Jeroboam to appoint his own elohim,

his own priests and his own holidays, it was wrong for the
Christian church to do it as well. They claim these things
upon their own authority, which, itself, is illegitimate
according to the Word. While they have every right to ask
their duped parishioners for money for the upkeep of their
pagan temples, they have absolutely no right to the tithes of
the children of Israel. It is astounding to me that they do not
also require your first-born. It must be that the church is
unaware of the true meaning of the offering of the ray-
sheeth.

In any case, the tithes of the children of Israel are to go to the

legitimate priesthood which ministers to the Elohim of the
children of Israel. That much should be clear.

Hebrews 7 discusses in great detail the transfer of the Levitcal

priesthood back into the order of the Melchizedek priesthood,
as it was in the beginning. When messiah rose from the dead,
he became the Melchizedek. The High Priest of the order to
the Elohim of the children of Israel. It is to him that all of our
tithes belong.

How can it be, you say, that the messiah, now in the kingdom
of heaven and preparing a place for us, has any need of our
tithes? Put quite plainly, he doesn't. Just as the offerings
which were turned into smoke on the altar before , there is
no actual need in the spiritual realm. None at all. The need is
for our obedience. If Torah had commanded that we do these
things standing on our head, then that would have been the
appropriate way. I'm not trying to be facetious, but that's what

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this boils down to - blind obedience. It doesn't matter if the
truth is uncomfortable. It doesn't matter if you understand the
reasons. The reasons are there and you cannot come as a child
in obedience if you're standing back and looking for them.
The minute you think you understand the reasons, you have
just blinded yourself to any further information on the subject.
I have friends who go on about the spirit of the law, entirely
oblivious to their sin because they stopped learning long ago.
So why does messiah demand our tithes? For the same reason
as the Levites were guaranteed the tithes, for the care and
maintenance of those who, according to the Word, are to
receive blessings for their obedience. I touched on this in
Chapter 5 regarding First Fruits, which is all about tithe and
should be read in conjunction with this appendix.

Tithes today, the first-fruits of our increase to the Melchizedek

priest, go to the nation of priests, the Covenant and Torah
keepers who are the children of Israel. We are told that we are
to be a nation of priests.

Exodus 19:6 and you shall be to Me a reign of priests and

a set-apart nation. Those are the words which you are to
speak to the children of Israel.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood,

a set-apart nation, a people for a possession, that you
should proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of
darkness into His marvelous light,

Revelation 1:6 and has made us sovereigns and priests to

His Elohim and Father, to Him be esteem and rule forever
and ever. Omayne.

Before we continue, consider the following. Did an

unchanging Elohim change His nation of priests from the

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Hebrews to the Christians, or is everybody in the new
testament commentary simply quoting the unchanging Torah?

Anyway, as a nation of priests, our job is to bring the Word to

the nations. Christianity uses the phrase good news, but
they forget to deliver about 90% of the good news, only
talking about messiah and forgetting about the promise of the
children of Israel being brought back into Covenant from the
four corners of the Earth. To us falls the responsibility to
teach the strangers and aliens about the Word and to offer
them the opportunity to join in with the promises of the
Covenant. No other nation receives the covenant unless they
are included among the seed of Abraham. Inclusion by blood
isn't good enough. Esau was included as the seed of Abraham
by blood, but he is said to have despised his birthright and it
went instead to the more deserving. As you wouldn't give
tithe to Esau, you shouldn't give tithe to those who are not in
covenant.

You cannot give blessings to those who have chosen curses. It

would be presumptuous to try. The curses they have chosen
and receive according to their disobedience have come as a
fulfilled promise of Himself. Who are you to change
those curses to blessings if the recipient has asked for curses
and the Creator has given them, each according to the
Covenant?

Just as Bala'am tried to curse the children of Israel and failed,

so you will fail if you try to bless those who are cursed.
Instead, your tithe can bless those who have chosen the
blessings of the Creator, each according to the Covenant.

Finding a place for tithe can be a daunting task. It should go

somewhere where it can do the most good, either for the
widows and orphans as we are commanded to do in the third

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and sixth years:

Deuteronomy 26:12 When you have completed tithing all

the tithe of your increase in the third year, which is the
year of tithing, and have given it to the Levite, to the
stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, and they have
eaten within your gates and have been satisfied,

Or to teachers who you feel are doing their best to teach the
Word according to the Word and not to the traditions of men.
Some excellent resources are listed in Appendix F of worthy
teachers and organizations who could use your tithe.

Matthew 25:35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food, I

was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and
you took Me in,
Matthew 25:36 was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick
and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.
Matthew 25:37 Then the righteous shall answer Him,
saying, Master, when did we see You hungry and we fed
You, or thirsty and gave You to drink?
Matthew 25:38 And when did we see You a stranger and
took You in, or naked and clothed You?
Matthew 25:39 And when did we see You sick, or in
prison, and we came to You?
Matthew 25:40 And the Sovereign shall answer and say
to them, Truly, I say to you, in so far as you did it to one
of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.

Tithes are food, drink, shelter, clothing. These things are

given to the sovereign when we give those things to the least
of his brothers. Who are his brothers?

Matthew 12:48 But He answering, said to the one who

spoke to Him, Who is My mother and who are My

396
brothers?
Matthew 12:49 And having stretched out His hand toward
His taught ones, He said, See My mother and My
brothers!
Matthew 12:50 For whoever does the desire of My
Father who is in the heavens is My brother and sister and
mother.

Simply put, if you give tithe to one who does not keep Torah,
who does not do the desire of the Father, then you may as well
flush it down the toilet for all the good it is going to do.
That's what messiah is saying. Do not bless those who are not
worthy of blessings. Instead, bless the name of by giving
to those who are faithful to guard the commandments. In this
way, those who guard the commandments will be blessed,
which is fulfillment of the prophecy of the Word! You have
the opportunity to act out the Word in your life by your
obedience to the commandments as well as your obedience in
tithe, to bless those who also obey. What is this if not
brotherhood? We are the children of Israel, our successes are
community successes. And our failures are community
failures. If you are giving to those outside the community, you
are attempting to bless the unrighteous and you are not
helping the community.

Tithe can also be used to further the Word. Study materials,

videos, books, bibles, are all used to learn and to teach the
Word and as such are tithe-worthy. Often times, you can
support the ministry or the teachings of an individual or
organization by purchasing their books, DVDs, or teachings
online. In this way, you can help to further a cause which is
deserving of the assistance you're giving them for their time
and efforts, as well as learning information yourself which can
be disseminated among your own assembly. I have purchased
many books, bibles, videos and even software with tithe.

397
Anything that you can use to study the Word and add to your
knowledge is worth your tithe.

To answer the question, Do we have to tithe today? I would

answer you this. Why wouldn't you want to? For the same
reason that we circumcise and immerse and keep the Sabbath
and the moedim, though we do not earn our salvation by these
things, why would we not want to do every single thing which
we are told in the Word to do?

Exodus 20:6 but showing kindness to thousands, to those

who love Me and guard My commands.

If you do not currently practice tithing, I encourage you to

start and experience the multitude of blessings promised for
obedience to the Word. If you already tithe and do not receive
noticeable blessings, then consider tithing to another
person/organization. Remember, you will not be blessed for
holding up an organization which pits itself against the Word
or holds its traditions in high esteem. Tithing has done
wonderful things for me personally. I have been blessed not
only in wealth but in all aspects of my life. I would agree
with those who say that material wealth is not all that there is
to blessings. And yet we are promised an increase of all
things, including gold and silver, if we trust the Word. Was
Job not so blessed?

Throughout the scriptures, whether it be restitution for theft or

the amount to add to redeem an offering, we see the phrase
add the fifth part.
Leviticus 6:5 or all that about which he swore falsely. He
shall repay its total value, add the fifth-part to it, and give
it to whom it belongs, on the day of his guilt offering.

Leviticus 22:14 And when a man eats the set-apart

398
offering by mistake, then he shall give a set-apart offering
to the priest, and add the fifth-part to it.

Leviticus 27:13 But if he indeed redeems it, then he shall

add the fifth-part to your evaluation.

Usually, this is taken to mean "add another 20% to", either of

whatever was stolen, or of that value in money. However, here
is another reckoning: A thing is broken into four parts, each
called a quarter. A quarter of a dollar, a quarter of a gallon,
etc. If you're counting out parts, you would count: 1 part, 2
parts, 3 parts, 4 parts. To add a fifth part would be to add
another quarter, or 25% of the original value. Upon further
study, although the phrase "tenth part" or "tenth deal" is often
used, we are never instructed to "add a tenth part", as we are
instructed here in Leviticus to "add a fifth part." A tenth part
and a fourth part, would of course mean 10% and 25%,
respectively. Most translations provide the phrase one fifth,
but this may be in error.

399
 Appendix E
Non-Biblical Feasts/Festivals/Holidays
We are given a very clear and concise list of those days which
we are told are 's feasts and festivals. Anything not
appearing on that list of genuine and acceptable holidays
should be avoided like the plague, because plagues are
promised for those not adhering to the Word. That list begins
and ends in Leviticus 23.

Leviticus 23:2 Speak to the children of Israel, and say to

them, The appointed times of , which you are to
proclaim as set-apart gatherings, My appointed times, are
these:

As the end was known and declared from the beginning

(Isaiah 46:10), it is not possible that a new feast day or
holiday could have been sanctioned by without first
having declared it by the Word. The moedim of Leviticus 23
were reminded to the children of Israel in the wilderness, but
they existed from the beginning along with the Sabbath and
the rest of the Covenant. Existing from the beginning and
lasting until the vanishing point, or until the end. If there
had been anything new other than what existed in the
beginning, those new things would have been added to the list
of moedim in Leviticus 23. We are told not to add to or take
away from the Word. Modern religion has taken away the
Sabbath, the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, First
Fruits, Shavuot, Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot, and
has added such moedim as the Sunday/Lunar sabbath,
christmas, easter, thanksgiving, halloween, purim and
hannukah.. These things are not acceptable before . They
are abominations and lies and reek of paganism, and we are
told not to worship Him in that way.

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1 Kings 12:33 So he offered upon the altar which he had
made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even
in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and
ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered
upon the altar, and burnt incense.

Jeroboam committed many atrocities as the sovereign of the

ten northern tribes. He built golden calves to be worshiped as
elohim, he sanctified priests who were not Levites, and he
created feasts of his own heart. For the remainder of the
history of the northern tribes, from the time of Jeroboam until
they were carried away into Assyria, the evil of each of the
subsequent ruler was measured against the evil of Jeroboam.
His wickedness was the yard stick for unrighteousness just as
David's righteousness was the yard stick for good. Every king
was said to have followed either the good that was done by
David or the evil which was done by Jeroboam What were
Jeroboams sins? Presumption. Pride. Disobedience to Torah.
Jeroboam invented the phrases Well that's not what it means
to me! and Well, He knows my heart! Yes, He does. And it
is wicked.

The golden calf in the wilderness was not created as a god, but
as a representative of . It was worshiped as the
intermediary between the people and their creator.

Exodus 32:5 And Aharon saw and built an altar before it.
And Aharon called out and said, Tomorrow is a festival
to .

Notice he didn't say that it was a festival to satan, or to Ba'al

or even to the calf itself, but to. His was the same sin as
Jeroboam, that of presumption. He presumed to go his own
way and to bow down before in a way devised of his own
heart. This was certainly learned from the Egyptians, who

401
had a history of bowing down to bovine gods. It is precisely
that, the mixing of good and evil, that Torah warns against.
Do not add evil, do not take away good from the Word. Do
not wear a garment of linen and wool, do not sow a field of
two types of seed. Do not work a piece of land with beasts of
burden unequally yoked. Do not intermarry among tribes. Do
not mix the clean with the unclean. This is entirely referential
to the reaping of the fields in the end time. will not treat
the wicked as righteous, and he will not treat the righteous as
wicked. We are to be separate and we will be known by our
fruit. We will be distinguished by the marks upon our hands
and our foreheads; marked either with the Torah and the
testimony of messiah, which are the Sabbath and the moedim
of , or by the traditions of men and the mark of the
adversary - disobedience.

Discernment is not defined as knowing the difference

between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference
between right and almost right.

Esther 9:27 the Yehudim established and imposed it upon

themselves and upon their seed and all who should join
them, that without fail they should observe these two days
every year, according to their writing and at their
appointed time,

I include Purim as a non-biblical holiday because the people

themselves established and imposed it upon themselves. This
was not established or imposed by in Leviticus 23, and
we are not bound by the oaths of the people who impose this
upon themselves. If you look at Purim today, it is more of a
Jewish halloween party than anything else. All you have to do
is look up purim costume on the internet and you'll see
exactly what I'm talking about. It may have started out noble
enough, but it has degenerated into worthless tradition. Its not

402
worth cleaning up and bringing back because, again, it doesn't
exist in Leviticus 23 in the first place.

I'm not going to speak of the other traditional religious

holidays and soil this book with their mention. I have set
before you descriptions of those days which are found in
Leviticus 23 and should be kept. Anything other than those
days listed in that chapter should be avoided entirely. Not
only active participation such as decoration and gathering, but
even the acceptance of gifts and the wishing of good tidings at
those times of year. These are not harmless traditions. They
should not be practiced alongside the moedim of , nor
should their teachings come from your mouth.

For more information about the origins of christmas and

easter, I encourage you to watch Passion for Truth's video
entitled Truth or Tradition. See the internet for teachings on
the evils of the other non-sanctioned festivals.

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 Appendix F
Contact Information and Resources
To contact Beit Tefillah Publishing, write to:
[email protected]

We look forward to any and all correspondence, notes,

criticisms, ideas, corrections or questions that you may have.
If we do not have printed materials or videos on the subject in
question, we may be able to recommend the teaching of
another organization. It is your responsibility to test
everything in this book and in all books against the Word
before you apply its messages to your life.

Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Simply, no. Yet when was the last time you agreed 100% with
somebody about something? I don't even agree with myself
that often! The following (incomplete) list is composed of
organizations and teachers who have benefited my family on
our journey out of Babylon, and who we feel can help many
more in their own walks. It must be said that we do not agree
entirely with every single teaching of every single
organization on this list. In fact, we strongly disagree with
some of the things put out by these teachers. But as iron
sharpens iron, we all learn from each other and pass along
loving reproof where it is warranted. If there is a topic or
teaching which we especially recommend or have mentioned
in this book, it will appear under the contact information for
the organization responsible for that teaching. For those of
you who have been in the Word for a while, many of these
teachings are second nature to you by now and will have little
additional value. You can only hear about the pagan origins
of christmas and easter so many times before you can quote
the facts for yourself.

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Beit Tefillah Publishing
www.facebook.com/beittefillahpublishing/
[email protected]
-The Moedim of Leviticus 23
-Exit Babylon: A Road Map Out
-The Shemitah: How We Prepared For It

Torah to the Tribes

http://www.torahtothetribes.com/
-Melchizedek teaching

Yeshiva HaNateev
http://www.yeshivahanateev.org/
-Weekly Torah Portions

Qadesh La Yahweh Press

The Sabbath and Jubilee Cycle
http://www.yahweh.org/publications/sjc/sabjub.pdf

Annals of Sennecherib
https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared
/docs/oip2.pdf

Passion for Truth

https://passionfortruth.com/
- Truth or Tradition
- Identity Crisis

119 Ministries
http://119ministries.com/
- The Pauline Paradox
- Tithing: Is it for Today?
- Error of Dispensationalism
- The Sabbath

Joseph Dumond
http://sightedmoon.com/

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- Remembering the Sabbatical Years of 2016

Daniel Strong
http://torahofmessiah.org/

Paul Nisan
http://torahlifeministries.org

Nehemia Gordon
http://www.karaite-korner.org/

Set Apart People

http://www.setapartpeople.com/

Stellarium Astronomy software

www.stellarium.org

eSword
http://www.e-sword.net/

Location of the Temple study

Ken Klein Productions
Jerusalem and the Lost Temple of the Jews
http://www.kenkleinproductions.net/

Messianic Lamb Radio

http://www.messianiclambradio.com/

Mazzaroth Study:
Joseph A Seiss
The Gospel in the Stars

E.W. Bullinger
The Witness of the Stars

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 Also available from Beit Tefillah Publishing
on Amazon in both printed and Kindle formats:

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Be sure to look for future publications by Beit Tefillah and like us
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Shalom!

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