Author: FCC Admin

Cult Followings

Why are we such suckers?

Video with slides below through Rumble.

Audio only via Spotify below.

Cult Followings

Why are we such suckers?

My car selling story

FTX currency – young man with immense disposable wealth, no flags from agencies, people taking the money gladly

Elizabeth Holmes – young college dropout shows up with technology that exceeds science fiction with no peer review papers, gets billions in financing.

Church leaders, pundits and political figures that tell us what we want to hear and then we fall for them to the point that we can’t see their blatant flaws.

Why does this keep happening? Same as the garden – the serpent deceives.

But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. (1Th 5:21-22)

This isn’t just for religious stuff. We have to be diligent in all things, brothers and sisters. Deception is very strong and very alluring. What we think isn’t spiritual always ends up being spiritual. Elizabeth Holmes defrauded immense people and caused others to have physical harm with faulty medical tests. Friedman defrauded financial houses and caused people’s pensions and 401ks to get decimated. Religious cult leaders enrich themselves and abuse authority given to them by their followers. Political leaders who don’t have ethics or a conscience don’t care if they harm the universe as long as they get re-elected. All of these things are incredibly sinful with devastating consequences.

In the end times, there will be false prophets who perform miracles to get people to follow them. At the present time, we as a society keep following false prophets without the miracles. Think about that for a while.

Are You Worshiping False Gods?

If you found out you were accidentally worshiping false gods, would you make a change?

Video with slides below from Rumble.

Audio only below via Spotify.

Pat Robertson admitting Christmas is pagan on live TV below.

If you found out you were accidentally worshiping false gods, would you make a change?

Christianity universally accepts the Ten Commandments as foundational. These were the ten words spoken by Elohim (Yahweh) directly to the people at Mount Sinai, they were written in stone, placed in the ark, and are the bedrock of a civilized and faithful society that fears the true God. The first four commandments show us how Yahweh wants to be worshiped and specifically does not want to be worshiped. Let’s take a look at the first three:

  1. “You shall have no other elohim before Me. “
  2. “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, YHVH your Elohim, am a jealous Elohim, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”
  3. “You shall not take the name of YHVH your Elohim in vain, for YHVH will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.” (Exo 20:3-7)

For those who may be hearing me for the first time, I use the Hebrew Names for God (Yahweh) and Jesus (Yeshua) while also using the Hebrew word for God, which is Elohim. It’s more precise and I find it to be more respectful but I also use the traditional words so people don’t get lost in translation.

So what action could we possibly be doing that breaks these commandments? Have you ever thought about it? While we cherish the 10 commandments, we normally only focus on the last 5 of them. But these are the top 3, and Yahweh led off with the most important commandments, if they could be ranked. He even includes that He’s a jealous God, meaning that He’s not inclined for us to share our devotion with another.

To be blunt, the celebration of Christmas breaks all three of these commandments. I know that sounds almost blasphemous to many Christians, but it’s the reality. Christians have been coming to this truth for decades and we used to have to direct everyone to the Encyclopedia or a couple books like The Two Babylons or Too Long in the Sun to show that Christmas is actually a pagan holiday. But a couple years ago Pat Robertson, the famous Southern Baptist Minister, actually let the cat out of the bag in a TV interview and affirmed the truth, that Christmas is a pagan holiday. If you go to firstcenturychristianty.net, the website for this ministry and where this podcast is posted, his video will be embedded below this one so you can watch it for yourself. And let there no longer be any doubt, this holiday has nothing to do with the actual birth of the Son of God or of the true worship of Yahweh.

So I’m going to work from the bottom up on how Christmas breaks the commandments. You see, when somebody tells us “Christmas is pagan” and then we look it up and discover it’s true, we have to make a change. Classically trained theologians and ministers, like Pat Robertson, know that December 25 and it’s observances are pagan but they don’t tell their congregations. That, brothers and sisters, is taking God’s Name in vain. Taking His Name in vain means to misrepresent Him. Teaching that this religious observance is somehow scriptural or sanctioned by Yahweh is lying about scripture, which breaks the third commandment cleanly. Watch that Pat Robertson video and realize how cavalierly he is breaking the third commandment. Shamelessly. And all those ministers out there who know the truth are doing the same thing.

The second commandment is broken through idolatry. I’m sorry, but dragging evergreen trees into our houses, setting them up in a place of prominence, and placing gifts under them as if they are the providers, is idolatry. The evergreen tree was used in pagan religions as a symbol of life during winter, when everything else dies off. Jeremiah 10 actually mocks this practice, even to the detail of decorating the wood with silver and gold, which is what tinsel does. Jeremiah 10 is referencing idolatry more like statues, but the description is so similar to what is done with a Christmas tree that it’s uncanny. The idolatry goes even further with all the ornaments, elves, and a false god called Santa who’s made out to be all knowing and the judge of all the living. I could go on, but you all get the drift.

The first commandment is broken by the entire practice of mixing pagan worship practices with Christianity. This is THE sin Israel kept getting smote for over and over. It’s completely prohibited to have any false god stuff in the sight of the true God, Yahweh. Making up our own holidays in the name of God would be bad enough, but Christmas is almost completely adopted from pagan sun-worshiping religions of antiquity. The twelve days of Christmas come directly from Roman polytheism, the yule log is pagan, the timing is pagan as it is celebrated when the sun looks to be far off and returning for another year to give life. And the date of December 25 has nothing to do with the God of the Bible at all.

Yeshua, our Messiah, told us to do something very specific to remember Him. And we know exactly when that is. The night before Passover every year, we are to get together to remember His sacrifice by washing each other’s feet and having bread and wine. He literally said to do that in memory of Him. His birth is pretty hard to deduce from the scriptures. One has to look at when John the Baptist was conceived and then born and then add six months. We generally come up to Yeshua being born in the fall. If we were to observe His birth, it would have been recorded specifically and the date would have been on the Hebrew calendar, not the Roman calendar.  But it’s not.

So, brothers and sisters, I encourage you to listen to Pat Robertson tell us the truth about Christmas and then share in my shock when he and the hostess of the show say it’s OK. It’s not OK. It’s contrary to the commandments and the very sin that Israel was guilty of many, many times. And this year, take it to heart. Be convicted and stop this practice today.

Antisemitism Makes No Sense

Antisemitism makes no sense from either a practical or a religious perspective.

Slide 1 – celebrities exposing themselves with actual antisemitic views. This has not made sense to me from my youth. Our country respects freedom of religion and, until my conversion (if that’s what we call it) to being a Messianic believer, I was rather oblivious to anything Jewish. But from a secular view only, this group of human beings generally makes society better and keeps to themselves. It blows me away that this small group of people keep coming up at all, let alone in a negative light. And that’s not from any religious perspective at all. When we look at any demographic and see a group of people who have a good work ethic, value education, want to be self-sufficient, and then even make society better with scientific advances, then we should have a favorable view of that group of people. Now, let’s get into the religious aspect of this briefly Slide 2 – Christians, whether we be Messianic or otherwise, are grafted into a branch that already existed. We are adopted into the family of God. Christianity is not a new religion but a continuation of the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We serve the same God as Moses and our entire foundation is the Tanakh, the Old Testament. I could go on, and on, and on, because this is one of the key concepts I realized when I read the bible for the first time. Slide 3 – The first believers were Jews. And when I say that, I mean for YEARS the first believers were predominately Jews. We start with this 8K, but we Gentiles only got one apostle, Paul, and a little of Peter. The rest got the 12. I know I’m oversimplifying, but it was a long time before the faith went to the Gentiles (us) and when it did, we started showing up at synagogue. To such a degree that Paul had to make a trip back to Jerusalem to have the grand council decide what to do with us. And the end of that decision includes us attending synagogue and hearing Torah every Shabbat. And then we have Paul’s letter to the Romans covering how this was dealt with as the faith grew and became more appealing to gentiles – but we are not to ever get arrogant toward the branches. Slide 4 – New covenant is with Judah and Israel. For it to apply to us, we have to be adopted children of God. We have to be grafted in. That means we don’t replace Israel, but join them, and look forward to a future Messianic Kingdom. Slide 5 – The crucifixion was very unique in that both Gentiles and Jews were responsible for Yeshua’s death. That’s two-fold, we are all responsible for His death and we all can benefit, whether Gentile or Jew. God so love the world, the whole world, that He gave His only begotten Son. Remember that. The death is for the whole world, but those who accept Him as Messiah, the Son of God, have the opportunity of salvation by being adopted children of God and heirs according to the promise. I don’t see where antisemitism has any place in this formula. Shalom.

Did Yeshua Really Say We Can’t Have Teachers?

In Matthew 23: 6-11, Yeshua said to call no man “teacher”, among other things. Was He being literal here? Are we really prohibited from having teachers and leaders?

Video with slides below. Courtesy of Rumble

Audio only below. Courtesy of Spotify

A common misconception that comes up with those of us who have come out of mainstream Christianity, and very often with those who have been in oppressive ministries like the former WCG, is to reject ministers, preachers, and leadership altogether. I see this a lot among my brothers and I entertained a variation of this for quite a few years myself. I’ll explain at the end how I realized my own error.

Slide 2 “And they love the place of honor at banquets, and the seats of honor in the synagogues, and personal greetings in the marketplaces, and being called Rabbi by the people. But as for you, do not be called Rabbi; for only One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters. And do not call anyone on earth your father; for only One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called leaders; for only One is your Leader, that is, Messiah. But the greatest of you shall be your servant.” (Mat 23:6-11)

I know what you’re saying. “But Chris, it says right there not to call anyone a rabbi or a teacher or a leader. You’re all washed up.” Except He also says not to call anyone your father but we know that can’t be true because we have to call our parents mother and father.

Here’s an earlier version of a message I gave at Sukkot this year on reading the Bible. How to Read the Bible – First Century Christianity Part of that message addresses taking the bible too literally. I’m no fan of titles or hierarchal leadership systems in church settings, but the reality here is that Yeshua is not being completely literal here. We have to read through the entire passage to understand what He’s getting at. He is making sure His disciples know they are to be servants and not lords over the people because they were about to become some of the most influential leaders and teachers in history. He was telling them to be like Moses – servant leaders – and to explicitly NOT be like the haughty religious leaders of their day.

So it sounds like I’m contradicting scripture here, so I guess I better get to the proof texts.

The only person in the NT to be called Rabbi, meaning the literal word Rabbi, is Yeshua. But the other word for teacher is G1320 Didaskos (different from Rabbi) but is when He says not to be any teachers, He uses this word. The reason we know He’s not being literal is because this exact word  used later to describe teachers in the Church of God.

Slide 3 And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Messiah; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Messiah. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is, Messiah, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. (Eph 4:11-16)

For the record, the word for teachers here is the same word that Yeshua said to not call anyone. And this is but one of many passages I could use to show teachers and leaders in the first century church. Clearly He didn’t mean for there to be no teachers. That would be preposterous because His disciples, which are the equivalent of talmidim and mean students, became Apostles and then went off to teach the world about the Son of God. This passage defines a lot of leadership roles in the NT assembly. What are the reasons for these leaders? To build unity, protect against false teachings, increase knowledge in the Son of God, and allow for the body to grow in love. Yeshua was not railing against having leadership and teachers, He was railing against the widespread misuse of these offices. The proper usage of these offices is to build each other up in love, not try to tear people down and spread division. In fact, these offices exist to deal with the miscreants who bring division and strange teachings.

Earlier I mentioned I would let you know how I realized my error in rejecting leadership. This story is two-fold. The first reason is the brutal reality that it just doesn’t work. Somebody has to take the lead if anything is going to get done. We only get to have assemblies because peopl step up to lead them. We only get to have Sukkot sites because people step up to do the work to host them. I was in an assembly for many years that “had no leader” but in practice they had one, everybody knew who it was, and if he hadn’t taken the lead to organize and get the basic stuff done, it would not have happened. When we went off on our own, I became the same guy. I was constantly eschewing official leadership but it made doing stuff very difficult because I technically did not have the authority to spend the group’s money or sign contracts. And then I realized there’s nothing wrong accepting the gifts Yahweh has given us. In fact NOT using them risks committing the unpardonable sin! The fact that people misused authority in the past is not a reason to reject it. It’s a reason to not abuse it and use it properly.

The passage above says these gifts and offices are for the equipping of the saints. I like to give the message about how to read scripture when I go to sukkot to fulfill this mission. That message let’s people know some simple things that will help the bible become a lot clearer. At Sukkot, I also demonstrated software to teach us how to read Hebrew and how to get the Masoretic Text on our computers. Why? Because it took me 20 years to get to the maturity of the faith and I want it to take less time for you. I want to empower you to get to the knowledge of the truth on your own time and in your own way. I trust the Ruach ha Kodesh, the Holy Spirit, to lead us into all truth. You may be interested in different topics that I have ever been interested in, so if I can help you to get on that path quicker and more accurately, then I believe I have used my gifts well.

My example for this are the men who trained me to speak and teach. They were secure enough in their faith to let me learn while doing and I want to keep that tradition going. Because that’s the maturity of the faith.  

Yeshua Our Mediator

The most important information in the history of mankind is that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Son of God and the Mediator between us and God.

Video with slides below courtesy of Rumble.

Audio only below courtesy of Spotify.

Today is the Sabbath before we break for Sukkot. By now I hope all the calendars are done observing Yom Kippur, but you never know. Yom Kippur is incredibly important to Christianity. It’s a shame that only a small percentage of those of us who accept Yeshua as the Messiah observe. The New Testament has an entire book devoted to Yeshua being our Mediator, which is the Book of Hebrews. The most important piece of information any human can know and believe is that Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of God, and died for the sins of anyone who accepts this. This is the only information that is the gateway to eternal life through either the resurrection of the dead or through being caught up in the air when Yeshua returns. Everything we do in our walk with Yahweh and His Son is based on this truth. Today, before we break, let’s refresh on this truth.

Slide 2 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and mankind, the man Messiah Yeshua, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed as a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. (1Ti 2:5-7)

Still slide 2 For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the violations that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. (Heb 9:15)

Paul didn’t write the book of Hebrews so here are our two witnesses. This concept of a mediator. However, Paul writes that he was appointed a preacher and an apostle to teach the gentiles this specific truth. That’s very significant because we are the beneficiaries of his teachings. Through Paul, Yahweh evangelized the western Roman empire of the truth of the Messiah. Paul was a very unique individual, born and trained for such a time as that. He was a gifted Rabbi, trained by Gamaliel himself, but was also a full Roman citizen so he could travel freely and operate anywhere within the Roman Empire. He knew several languages fluently, specifically Greek, so he could teach the Messiah to the world. This starts with the Torah.

Slide 3 Then YHVH Elohim said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all the livestock, and more than any animal of the field; On your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life; and I will make enemies of you and the woman, and of your offspring and her Descendant; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel.” (Gen 3:14-15)

In our way of thinking, we accept the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, as scripture and applicable to our lives and faith. The Torah, also called the Law or the Pentateuch, is the foundation of all scripture and truth. This right here is a prophecy of Yeshua. It was a mystery how a descendant of the woman could damage the serpent until Yeshua came born of Mary. Mary, a virgin, impregnated miraculously to give birth to the Son of God.

Slide 4 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Yeshua. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Ruach haKodesh will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason also the holy Child will be called the Son of God.” (Luk 1:30-35)

The Name of the Messiah is Yeshua, which means salvation. This is from, among other places, Isaiah 52. In verse 7 it says how delightful the feet are of those who announce Salvation, which is a prophecy of John the Baptist who came as an Elijah ahead of Yeshua to announce His arrival. And then at the end of Isaiah 52 and into chapter 53, it prophecies Yeshua’s crucifixion and death, calling Him Yahweh’s Servant in 52:13.

Yeshua is Yahweh’s Servant. Let this sink in. Here in the middle of the message is probably the most important topic:

Slide 5 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing, but will raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” (Joh 6:38-40)

Yeshua’s will could have been different than Yahweh’s. But the way, Yeshua is the Name of the Son of God, Yahweh is God’s Name. Yeshua was and is an independent being. The message of the Gospel is that the Son of God came down and fully, 100%, submitted to Yahweh. That He died sinless, murdered by both the Gentiles and the Jews, brutally, and was resurrected by Yahweh three days and three nights later. By us accepting that God sent His only begotten Son, we have the chance at eternal life. By accepting that Yahweh made a way for mankind to be reconciled to Him, a way that is foolishness to most, understanding this truth, and deciding to obey, we have the chance to enter into eternity with Yahweh and Yeshua. And how was this accomplished?

Slide 6 “The God of our fathers raised up Yeshua, whom you put to death by hanging Him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Ruach ha Kodesh, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” But when they heard this, they became infuriated and nearly decided to execute them. (Act 5:30-33)

Do you see how this is the most important information in all of humanity? Peter and the apostles were granted the Holy Spirit to be able to stand in front of those with the power to kill them and testify that Yeshua died innocently, on a cross even, the execution method of the pagans and a curse to hang an Israelite on a tree. That it was the God of their fathers, who are now our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Yeshua who did this. And that through Yeshua’s death and resurrection repentance is possible as is the forgiveness of sins. They were standing before the very people who had killed Yeshua two months prior and were telling them the very information they killed Yeshua to stop. And how do they start?

Slide 7 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”(Act 5:29)

This is the verse prior to their testimony and they told the High Priest Himself that they had to obey God rather than men, meaning them. This is incredible because up until this point. The Kohen Gadol, the High Priest, was the mediator between God and men and these brothers were telling him that was no more.

Slide 8 Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord set up, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law; who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “SEE,” He says, “THAT YOU MAKE all things BY THE PATTERN WHICH WAS SHOWN TO YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN.” But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, to the extent that He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. (Heb 8:1-6)

We have a new High Priest with a new covenant established in the heavenly tabernacle. This is a better covenant. But we don’t get to get carried away with this. Because we can’t understand the New Covenant without understanding the Old Covenant.

Slide 9 For in finding fault with the people, He says, “BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL BRING ABOUT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND THE HOUSE OF JUDAH, NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS ON THE DAY I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO BRING THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DID NOT CARE ABOUT THEM, SAYS THE LORD. “FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT WHICH I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, DECLARES THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. (Heb 8:8-10)

This is a quote from Jeremiah 31 but it’s prefaced with finding fault with the people. Boy did Yahweh find fault with them when they decided to crucify His Son. The Torah establishes and defines sin. It defines proper behavior for the children of God. The Old Covenant did work, by the way. The sins were atoned for with the blood of bulls and goats, but it was in a cyclical fashion. It was repeated annually. Yeshua’s death atoned for sin for all time, looking back and forward, which is why the curtain was torn at his death. It signified that all the sins heaped upon that curtain were finally atoned for AND there is a new way to Yahweh, a new High Priest. The people who obeyed and the priests who served honorably did well. We can’t read this to come to the notion that Yahweh gave the Israelites something bad, or strung them along. That’s a reprehensible thought. And we know that sin remains today, which is the transgression of the law. And we know at the end, all will be measured against the law. But this was part of the story. This is the plan of salvation. And those who came before will be judged based on the information of their day.

Slide 10 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Messiah—this Yeshua whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what are we to do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Yeshua Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Ruach ha Kodesh. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” (Act 2:36-39)

Brothers and sisters, Yahweh’s plan was laid out from the beginning. From Genesis 3 where Eve’s descendant was declared to bruise the serpent on the head until the crucifixion of our Lord, until His ascension, until the Gospel going forth from Zion, until His return, and until the end, when we enter the olam ha ba, it all has to come to pass. So let’s enjoy ourselves at Sukkot, fellowshipping with our believing and obedient brethren. Let’s enjoy meeting in larger groups, good teachings, music, dancing, food, and festival. But do so in the Name of our Mediator, Yeshua the Messiah.

Preparing for Yom Kippur

The fast is a blessing. Let’s pray for our nations to repent and return to God.

Video with slides below care of Rumble

Audio only care of Spotify

Yom Kippur preparation

Read Leviticus 16.

Slide 2 But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of YHVH burned against the sons of Israel. (Jos 7:1)

At the culmination of the 40 years in the wilderness, the Israelites crossed the Jordan. During the wandering, they did not keep the High Days. This is evidenced by them not being circumcised, which was a requisite for keeping Pesach. They also didn’t have the land or economy to support the annual high days, which were centered around agriculture, particularly the spring days. When we read the Torah and see the phrase “when you enter the land”, we need to take that literally. When they entered the land was literally the beginning of a lot of Torah observance.

After the crossing, the campaign to take Canaan by force commenced at the walled city of Jericho. The city walls came down miraculously and the defeat was comprehensive. They only had one rule – nobody was to enrich themselves from this battle. All the spoils belonged to YHVH. One man broke the ban and brought destruction on Israel. They lost their next battle and 36 men died. Because of the sin of one man. YHVH even told Joshua that Israel had sinned, not “one guy in Israel” sinned. The breaking of the ban by one was to be accountable by all.

Slide 3 “Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness.” (Lev 16:21)

Once the nation entered the land, they began to keep the national festivals. The day Atonement, Yom Kippur is perhaps the most unique of these days. Each day has a purpose, and some of them are hard to figure out. But not this one. This day was the annual day for the entire nation’s sins to be accounted for. National sins. A day for the entire nation to cease any activity whatsoever and the High Priest was to acknowledge all the sins of the nation and of himself. Everybody is a sinner was not a new concept in the New Testament.

This day is unique and special for many reasons. My favorite is the leveling of the playing field. Each person in the nation had to do exactly the same thing for this day to be perfect. Anybody who did any work on this day would be destroyed by YHVH. The commandment for rich or poor, male or female, tall or short, was exactly the same: do nothing. And then comes in the humbling of ourselves. This is equated to a complete fast for 24 hours. No food or water for those who can do that for 24 hours. And while fasting, the High Priest had very specific stuff to do, which we won’t get into today.

The foreshadowing here of Yeshua’s death on the cross is immense. The believers had to look on helpless as Yeshua bore our transgressions innocently. They could do nothing to stop it or help. He had to die, alone and helpless, at the hands of both Jews and Gentiles, to convict the entire world of sin and give us the mechanism for reconciliation. He paid the penalty for the sins of all who will accept Him as Messiah.

The doing nothing and fasting is what we’ll be doing Tuesday night through Wednesday night. Preparing for this is pretty simple. If you drink coffee or caffein daily, you should be stepping that down now. Most people never go without food and or water in their lives, except for some blood test fasting which is just 12 hours. Going without for 24 hours sounds daunting at first, but it’s not that hard at all. What I find to be very hard is the doing nothing. The doing nothing is really “no work” but it’s kind of the same thing. Many will shut off their electronics for 24 hours and only read printed material. But it’s really hard to not do stuff.

We will get together at the end of the fast, when we are the most vulnerable. And then we will break the fast together at the park at sunset with some simple foods, prepared well in advance, so nobody does any work at all.

Do you all ever wonder how many times ancient Israel actually kept Yom Kippur properly? After the conquest of Canaan, they became very disobedient very quickly. The book of Maccabees records Judah keeping a Sabbatical year once, but I don’t know of any record of them keeping a Jubilee in scripture. That means it’s not recorded that they were continuously faithful for 50 straight years. However, after the Maccabean restoration of Judea, we assume there were many years of obedience leading up to the New Testament. I believe these are called the years of silence because there isn’t much of anything recorded for this time period with respect to Israel.

Slide 4 When considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even the fast was already over, Paul began to admonish them, and said to them, “Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be with damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” (Act 27:9-10)

“The fast” is Yom Kippur. Earlier when I pondered if the ancient Israelites kept the fast reliably I was talking about the very ancient Israelites. We know the Jews kept this faithfully before the first century and until this day because of the records of other nations and how the gentile leaders of Christianity purposely worked to stamp true worship practices out of the faith once delivered.

The fast, or Yom Kippur, is a wonderful observance while being a commandment. It shows us that we are all sinners and we are all connected and on the same plane of existence. When we all do what Yahweh proscribed simultaneously, there is power and there is holiness. When we stray, and each does their own thing, is when we become divided and profaned. Yom Kippur is a day for individual sins that comprise the sins of a nation. Today, in the west, there is very little concept of sin or repentance. And this is where I want to shift gears now.

When I mentioned the sin Israel committed at Jericho earlier, I want you to remember that it was just one guy who sinned. That sin was imputed on the entire nation. How many people invaded Jericho when the wall came down? Fifty thousand? A hundred thousand? Hundreds of thousands? And one guy sinned. That means a whole lot of people did not sin. This is an enormous contrast to today. Today, our society either has lost or is losing the concept of sin at all. I listened to a show on Fox the other day where they were lamenting the incredible rise of violence in the US. They were attributing it to people being mentally ill and not getting treatment. While true, the rise of violence against our neighbors is rooted in this nation turning away from God at all. While the people lamenting this problem were all conservatives, and I’m pretty sure Christians of some stripe, they never made the connection of the rise in violent crime to a radical decrease in the fear of God and the universal concept of loving one’s neighbor as oneself. It is written that lawlessness will increase before the end and whether this is the end or not, lawlessness is definitely on the rise.  

Our popular music, television shows, movies, and video games have been increasingly violent and irreverent over the decades. Our media only cares about sensational ideas because if it bleeds, it leads. This week we had a horrific hurricane in Florida. The FL governor is a republican and our president is a democrat and for the first time in many, many years they were united on the crisis and complimentary to each other. And then the media tried to get them to fight each other. Can you imagine covering hundreds of billions of dollars of damage, the potential for immense loss of life, and the “reporter’s” mindset being to create political discord. This is shocking behavior that illustrates a depraved mind. The country stopped keeping track of the divorce rate because it became higher than the not-divorced rate and now people live in any sort of relationship at all and nobody thinks a thing of it. What’s one big cause of this? Prosperity. When a nation is prosperous and at rest is when temptation kicks in. We’ve been on this march toward lawlessness for many decades because we lack adversity.

Slide 5 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which YHVH had said to the sons of Israel, “You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon held fast to these in love. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to YHVH his God, as the heart of David his father had been. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites. Solomon did what was evil in the sight of YHVH, and did not follow YHVH fully, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon. Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. (1Ki 11:1-8)

This is a vicious cycle that runs through all societies. King David was a warrior king. He was not allowed to build the temple because he had shed so much blood in battle. It was passed to his heir, Solomon. David had defeated everybody and made Israel enormously wealthy. David had the one slipup that he paid for, but was a faithful man until death, leaving Israel safe, secure, and wealthy. Solomon had to manage that wealth and build the temple. But the wealth brought in temptation. Solomon married women he was forbidden to marry through the Torah because they would lead to follow false gods and, sure enough, they did. Israel’s prosperity led to its accepting of sin and it’s ultimate demise. When the sin comes from the top, what happens to the people? They follow suit and those who don’t become increasingly marginalized. When those idols went up, how often do you think the nation kept Yom Kippur at all? Or properly? The temple was awesome and new, and the people fell astray before those who built it even died.

While this cycle tends to be the cause, or a cause, of the demise of most civilizations, it happened very rapidly to Israel. They fell almost every time they had peace. Our nation is so wealthy and powerful that we can have peace here at home while fighting multiple wars abroad, as we have been doing for more than 20 years now. Much like the Roman Empire and the British Empire, both of which collapsed under their own weight.

Slide 6 Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to plunderers? Was it not YHVH, against whom we have sinned, And in whose ways they were not willing to walk, And whose law they did not obey? So He poured out on him the heat of His anger And the fierceness of battle; And it set him aflame all around, Yet he did not recognize it; And it burned him, but he paid no attention.(Isa 42:24-25)

Isaiah saying “we” even though he was not guilty. Expand. Everybody is a sinner but even those of us striving for righteousness bear responsibility for our nation’s sins. Just like the guy who took the stuff at Jericho, we all pay for the sins of our nation.

In the olam ha ba, there will be no more sin. This cycle will be over. But until then, we will still watch the scenario play out. Our nation is in steep decline. Most would say it’s because we don’t have the right policies. But the truth is that it’s because we don’t have the right heart. We as a nation don’t fear Yahweh anymore. We as a nation disregard the sacrifice of His Son and don’t even think of sin much anymore. But at sunset Tuesday this week, those of us who do think of these things will begin the observance of Yom Kippur. We will cease from all our works and fast for 24 hours. We’ll meet sometime during that time period for our holy convocation. And lets remember our nation, and the world, during this time, and pray for all to come to repentance.

Prophecy Outline for Messianics

Do you want to know when the Gog and Magog war is? When is the final battle of this age? Please give this a watch and learn some simple truths that have escaped Christianity for a really long time!

Video with slides below (recommended for this one!)

Audio only below.

Prophecy Outline for Messianics

I don’t spend a lot of time on prophecy studies outside of the outline of the Holy Days. My philosophy here is that if we keep Torah while believing in Yeshua, then the details of prophecy will work themselves out. Perhaps it’s an oversimplification, but if we are doing the Master’s will, does it really matter when He returns? Isn’t that the point of the parable?

However, prophecy is what brings a lot of people to the faith once delivered. Let’s face it, when we read what’s going to happen to the disobedient and pagans, it’s a big motivator to get ourselves on the right side of history. Moses reminded the people of what was going to happen to them when (not if) they disobeyed. Yahweh used other nations to smite Israel repeatedly. Yahweh also destroyed the entire earth once before because of sin. So understanding the stakes, the eternal stakes, is a really good motivator for getting right with Yahweh and Yeshua.

Prophecy is another of our beliefs that needs to be adjusted once we come out of Babylon. One of the key topics we break with most everyone else is on the state of the dead, for example. Most of Christianity, Judaism, and even the world today think that there is no such thing as death. Their when our bodies cease to contain us, we translate into some other type of non-corporeal or semi-corporeal life. We accept that death is the opposite of life. We did not exist prior to our births, we live a mortal life, and then we sleep in the grave awaiting resurrection. It’s rather bizarre that most of Christianity has shed belief in the resurrection when it is such a core belief of Yeshua, who died and was resurrected to prove it (among other things), and then the rest of the apostles.

The resurrection of the dead is an enormously important part of prophecy.

Slide 2 “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” (Joh 5:28-29)

“Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.” (Dan 12:1-4)

Yeshua is actually referencing the prophet Daniel in John 5:29. In fact, I use John 5:29 as kind of a benchmark for Bible translations. You’ll notice this says “resurrection of judgment” rather than the KJV “resurrection of damnation”. This is a key distinction because those in this category are not even automatically condemned, let alone damned. The resurrection of judgment is just that, a decision time. I’ll get into that a little later. I’m starting with these verses because this is the broadest outline for Messianic prophecy: that the resurrection of the dead is real. All mankind will live again, but in the future. And then we get some more information about the resurrection in Revelation. We learn there are two.

Slide Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Messiah for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Messiah and will reign with Him for a thousand years. (Rev 20:4-6)

It’s Revelation 20 where we learn there is a gap of 1000 years between the resurrection of life and the resurrection of judgment. This 1000 years is also something that Christianity has discarded along the way and I don’t believe Judaism has ever adopted. This 1000 year period is called “the millennium” and we who believe it and take it literally are in the minority, despite it being a very crucial point in history: 1000 years for mankind to have a shot without Satan’s interference.

At this point in this message, I’d like you to stop listening, watching, or reading and read Ezekiel 37 and 38, then Revelation 20, in that order and all at once. If you don’t do it first, you’ll likely end up stopping and doing it anyhow. This is because the timing laid out in plain scripture is contrary to almost everything those who put out eschatological messages ever put out and I want you to see these things for yourselves, not because some guy with a mic told you.

Now we’re back. The book of Revelation is the most Jewish of the NT books. John assumes that the reader is fluid with the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, or what we call the Old Testament. Roughly 70% of the verses in Revelation either cite or make allusion to some verse in the Tanakh. And if you did the exercise, you’ll see what I’m talking about. The Book of Revelation is akin to a PhD. paper. I know I’m beating a dead horse here, but it builds upon the elementary school level understanding of scripture, all the way through high school, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees. In the same way that an Algebra book assumes the student understands basic math and number lines, the Book of Revelation assumes the readers know their bibles. So when folks start in Revelation with only an understanding of the New Testament, it can take one in wild directions.

Let’s run down Revelation 20 with Ezekiel 37 and 38 in mind.

It’s hard to see but Revelation 20 is on top and Ezekiel 37 on the bottom. When John, Paul, Yeshua, and anyone else in the first century talked about the resurrection of the dead, they were referencing Ezekiel 37. Now that we know there are two resurrections that bookend the millennium, we know Ezekiel 37 to be the first. John is assuming we know Ezekiel 37 when he references the first resurrection in Revelation 20:1-6. In what’s called “the resurrection chapter” 1st Corinthians 15, we get an order of resurrections that also compliments the order put forth here. In verses 42-49 of 1 Cor 15, Paul explains that the resurrected saints get a spiritual body that will never die. This is exactly what’s depicted in detail in Ezekiel 37’s resurrection.

The Two Sticks

Much ado is made in our circles about one-house versus two-house. What is known is that after the return from Exile, the term Jew applied to any of the tribes that kept the Torah and maintained their identity as children of Yahweh. I know, I know, Jew is derived from Judah, but language is not static nor is it precise. In the New Testament, Paul called himself a Jew, a Benjamite, and an Israelite. Then, as well as know, it’s just common parlance to call those with the bloodline, whether Messianic or non-Messianic, “Jews”. What we have in Ezekiel 37: 15-28 coupled with Revelation 20: 1-6  is proof that both houses have not been reunited yet, they will be, AND we have a time when that will happen, which is after the first resurrection. The first resurrection is when Yahweh gathers all His people from the corners of the earth, reunite the tribes, and set Yeshua as King over all of us.

When is the Gog and Magog War?

Many, many calories have been spent trying to figure out who Gog and Magog are in Christian circles. This is because Christianity desperately wants this war to happen before the return of the Messiah. But when does this war actually happen?

Yes, brothers and sisters, we are at least 1000 years and a day from this war. Ezekiel 37 references the first resurrection where all the saints who have ever lived and those whom Yahweh wills are resurrected, perfected, and glorified. Then at the end of the 1000 years, Satan goes out to deceive the nations one last times and brings an enormous army to Jerusalem where Yahweh has finally had enough.

Then what?

Slide Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Rev 20:11-15)

Then, after all this, we have the second resurrection. This is when all who have ever lived that were not part of the first resurrection are brought back to life and judged based on their previous lives. The word here for judged G2919 krino which does not mean condemned or executed. It means “decision time”. Judgments can go either way and we can see that there will be names found written in the book of life at this event. Let us pray most of them, if possible.

Choose Wisely

Choose to be found doing Yahweh’s will when Yeshua returns!

Video with slide below.

Audio only below.

Choose Wisely

Great and terrible day of YHVH.

“The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of YHVH comes. And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of YHVH will be delivered; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as YHVH has said, even among the survivors whom YHVH calls.” (Joe 2:31-32)

Explaining the Hebrew Calendar

Holy Day dates – this Sunday at sunset is Yom Teruah, Feat of Trumpets. Lots of meaning. Sounds can be joyful or terrifying. When the Israelites marched around Jericho on the 7th day, then made all the noise with trumpets, that sound was wonderful to the Israelites’ ears. Not so much for those of Jericho.

Holy Day Dates – First Century Christianity

Yeshua says blessed be the one who’s doing His master’s will upon return. Are you looking for the sound of the trumpet? Are you going to be happy when it blows or terrified? Perhaps a little of both? Well, this Sunday begins Yom Teruah, the day of Trumpets, and is widely accepted by both Messianics and Jews alike to be a very significant day in prophecy – the day or hour no man knows. Paul tells us this is the day Yeshua will return and I don’t see a reason to disagree.

Then we have ten days and then Yom Kippur. From the book of Hebrews we know this to be a day for forgiveness of sins committed in ignorance. From the Torah and the Gospels we know Yeshua’s sacrifice is tied to this day as well.

The ten days in the middle are called the days of awe. Many do intense repentance during this time. We don’t have a hint of what happens during these days but it surely is significant because Yahweh does nothing on accident.

Yom Teruah ten days Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is though of to be a day of judgment. We are commanded to do nothing on this day, no eating, no drinking, no work whatsoever. Nothing. So the High Priest could make atonement for the people. Now, in memorial of Yeshua, our new High Priest, making atonement for all who accept Him as Messiah.

Then 5 days later Sukkot, Tabernacle, starts. An absolute party for the children of Yahweh. A time for us to get out of the world for 8 days and fellowship in peace. A memorial of the wilderness time for the Israelites but also for Yeshua, who tabernacled with us.

Then on the 8th day of Sukkot – the day that’s both connected to Sukkot and not – the gateway day, we have a gathering. This is what we consider to be the gateway between this era, the olam haze, and the enternity, the olam ha ba. And we gather each year to have one last hoorah with the assembly before going back to our lives. But on the last Shemini atzaret we won’t go back to our lives. We will enter a new life for eternity, where no evil or sorrow will be found.

The days we keep have rich meaning. I could go on and on with doctrinal meaning and proofs of these days being kept in the New Testament. But instead I’d like to offer an invitation. Please join us. This world is getting tired and starting to come apart. Rahab of Jericho knew what was good for her. She knew Israel was going to take the land and win. So in the late time before the invasion, she chose wisely. She chose Yahweh and her clan was saved, even in the tumult of supernatural war. The good thief on the cross did the same. He knew Yeshua was dying innocently so he chose to acknowledge that, and he will be in the kingdom because of it. As the world hurtles toward the inevitable return of the Messiah, choose wisely. Choose to be found doing His will when He returns. Even if you don’t fully understand it. Make sure you are on the right side now, so you can be on the right side on that final 8th day. Shalom.

The White Throne Judgment

Taking a practical look at the white throne judgment in Revelation 20. What might it look like when those books are actually opened?

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Explaining the Hebrew Calendar

This site is for people who are eager to understand how the early Christians worshiped and what their doctrines were. As we study, we come to realize that Christmas and Easter were not observed by the early church but they kept the holy days of Leviticus 23 and perhaps a couple others. These days are observed on the Bible’s calendar which is not the calendar the world uses today to keep time. Because Yahweh’s holy days (moedim) are observed on a different calendar, they appear to move around on our modern calendar. I’m going to explain the difference in the calendars a bit here so those who are seeking can understand the differences.

Starting with the familiar, our modern calendar is based on the earth’s orbit around the sun. This calendar is called the Gregorian calendar because it was instituted by Pope Gregory XIII and is a modification of the calendar before that called the Julian calendar. The earth takes roughly 365 days to orbit the sun, thus this is determined to be a year.  Every four years we have an extra day, called a leap year, to keep this purely solar calendar from deviating from the seasons over time. These 365 days are then divided up by months. These months each always have the same number of days in them, except February which gets the extra day every four years. As you know, the modern year ends December 31 and the new year starts January 1, which normally coincides with the earth’s tilt being as far from the sun as it will be.

The Hebrew calendar is a lot different.

In Exodus 12, YHVH tells Moses “this shall be the beginning of months for you.” In Hebrew, this is called Rosh Chodesh or the beginning of months. The first month of the Hebrew year is the only one that has a name in the Torah. It’s called Abib. Abib is the budding state of barley, so from this tiny bit of information we know the year starts in the spring at the new moon that happens after the barley is in the abib state.

Numbers 10: 1-10  gives commands about using some very special trumpets. These are not shofrot (the plural of shofar). Shofrot are animal horns that many of us possess and use. These trumpets are chatsoserah, a different word entirely, and they are made of metal. These can only be blown by specific kohenim (priests of the house of Aaron) and ONLY by the command of the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest of the temple. From verse 10, we know that these trumpets sounded the new months, which are new moons. And from this tiny bit of scripture, we get that each month can move around and is manually called by the High Priest. This is a lunar calendar and it isn’t anywhere near as precise as we are accustomed, hence the blowing of the trumpets to alert the people who would then spread the word.

In this system, the Israelites would not know how many days were in a year until the year was done. In fact, they didn’t even know how many days were in a month until the month was done. The months were numbered, not named, and the year would organically have a leap month (a 13th month) periodically because a lunar calendar is about 360 days instead of 365, so they would have to add a month when the barley was not in the abib state at the sighting of the new moon of the 12th month. This is preposterous to us because they would have a year every so often with 390 days vice 365.

For this system to work, we need a priesthood and some specific barley to be referenced. We do not have this today.

As we know, the Israelites were not very good about keeping Torah after the Joshua generation. They ended up being scattered and then Judah taken to Babylon. When they come back from Babylon they bring with them some variations on the calendar. One is calling the first day of the 7th month rosh chodesh. That’s contrary to Exodus 12. They also bring back names for the months that correspond to the Babylonian calendar. And, over time, they begin to make calculations so they can predict the new moon. In practicality, sighting the moon doesn’t work if it’s overcast. And one can count to 29 each month to know it’s about time for a new moon. We have to realize that this system of Torah was a lifestyle, a system that had to be practical for a nation to operate. And, frankly, Israelites were really smart when they put their mind to stuff. For a very good education on the history of the Jewish calendar, please reference CALENDAR, HISTORY OF – JewishEncyclopedia.com.

In the first century they had a temple and there is no argument about the calendar at all in the New Testament. The Kohen Gadol called it and that settled it. And Pesach, Passover, was kept on the 14th day of the month Abib, the Biblical first month of the year, universally. It’s the second century when Christianity started to turn gentile and they wanted to switch Pesach to being based on the spring equinox (solar, not lunar), which does often correlate to the 1st month but is not a biblical precept for calling a new month. This is called the Quartodeciman controversy, where an apostle of John called Polycarp argued for keeping Pesach the way the apostles did while the bishop of Rome argued for basically using the Easter calculation (lunar). Over time, the equinox method took root and is the basis for calculating Easter today, but Easter is not Pesach.

After the temple came down in AD 70, Jews and Messianics got scattered but the Sanhedrin was relocated – not disbanded. The Sanhedrin had already been calculating the new moons so they switched to a mix of calculation and sighting, but it was still the Sanhedrin deciding when year/months began. The last binding decision of the Sanhedrin came in 385 AD when our current calculated calendar was effectively established. (The Sanhedrin was disbanded in 425 AD due to persecution from Rome.) Over the centuries after the temple came down, different places were keeping the calendar in different ways and unity suffered. So they decided to let the calculations they had been using become public knowledge so all who kept Torah could be on the same calendar. This is the same calendar we at this site use to observe the Holy Days of Leviticus 23. It is the same calendar that populates the dates of the Holy Days on your wall calendar. We have one exception, though, and that’s how we reconcile Shavuot/Pentecost, but it is still based on the calculated Jewish calendar. And the reason the dates “move around” on our modern calendars is because the Hebrew calendar is just a different reckoning of time than our purely solar calendar.

Once you get into this walk, you will encounter people who have different calendars. Some have slightly different calendars because they are sighting the moons themselves in parallel with the Hebrew calendar. Some are using NASA to tell when the new moon is. Some use the new moon locally. Some use the new moon in Jerusalem. Some look at some barley in Jerusalem while others look at different barley. In my experience, the calculated calendar is right more than any of the others and we are still in the same situation as those who instituted this calendar – no temple, no priesthood, all of us scattered. In 2014-2015 we had an astronomical anomaly where the moon was red on the First Day of Unleavened Bread and the first day of Sukkot, which are six months apart, two years in a row. For me, this was the end of any debate about the calendars. The calculated calendar was 100% right two years in a row, while the other calendars were all over the map.

It is my advice and recommendation to learn the Torah and follow the Holy Day cycles on the calculated calendar for at least a couple years before trying to challenge the calendar. As we learn quickly in this walk, we learn by doing, not just academic study. Tackling the calendar is better handled once you have kept a few festivals and noticed how nature aligns with what we are doing while also learning the more practical aspects of commandment keeping in large groups of mature first century Christians.

Holy Day Dates – First Century Christianity The upcoming dates to observe Yahwheh’s appointed times.