Thursday, February 28, 2019

Holidays; Holy and Pagan: Sabbath Day


The Sabbath Day


Sabbath is the very first date set on God’s Calendar (Lev. 23:1-3). Unlike the other celebrations on His Calendar, this one is a weekly observance rather than an annual one. But the main issue at hand is, which is the true Sabbath, Saturday or Sunday? Whose right, the Jew or the Christian? Which day do we observe? Was it changed from Saturday to Sunday? If so can we prove it?


Sabbath: Saturday or Sunday?


“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy…”  God never changed Sabbath to Sunday.  Christianity did, and there are documented confessions of them knowingly doing so. Here are confessions from a few of such Christian denominations:


Roman Catholic:  “But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday.  The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.” Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism 3rd ed., p.174.
“Question: Which is the Sabbath day?                       
“Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day.
“Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
“Answer: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.” Martin J. Scott, Things Catholics Are Asked About (1927), pg. 136.


Anglican/Episcopal:  “We have made the change from the seventh day to the first day, from Saturday to Sunday, on the authority of the Catholic Church.”  Bishop Seymore, Why We Keep Sunday.


Baptist:  “There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath Day, but that Sabbath Day was not Sunday.  It will be said, however, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week… Where can the record of such a transaction be found?  Not in the New Testament absolutely not.


“To me it seems unaccountable that Jesus, during the three years’ intercourse with His disciples, often conversing with them upon the Sabbath question… never alluded to any transference of the day; also, that during forty days of His resurrection life, no such thing was initiated.


“Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history… But what a pity it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!”  Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, a paper read before a New York ministers’ conference, Nov. 13, 1893, reported in New York Examiner, Nov. 16, 1893.


Free Will Baptist (the denomination I was raised and educated in): “The Sabbath. This is one day in seven, which, from the creation of the world, God has set apart for scared rest and holy service. Under the former dispensation, the seventh day of the week, as commemorative of the work of creation, was set apart as the Sabbath. Under the gospel, the first day of the week, in commemoration of the resurrection of Christ, and by authority of the apostles, is observed as the Christian Sabbath. On this day all men are required to refrain from secular labor, and devote themselves to the worship and service of God.” – Article xiv (1834/1868)


This statement of faith and practice is predicated on the false notion that Biblically the first day of the week is 12am Sunday as reckoned by a western Gregorian secular reckoning of time when Scripturally and Hebraically the first day of the week is Saturday sundown, the traditional time Jews for centuries celebrated the conclusion of the Sabbath and what was meant by Scripture when it speaks of Believers meeting on the first day of the week.


Secondly, nowhere in Scripture does the Messiah tell His followers to observe Sunday as the Sabbath to commemorate His resurrection. Sunday Sabbath is fully and man-made religious invention and institution regardless of the well intendedness of it.


Southern Baptist: The first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercise of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. Activities on the Lord’s Day should be commensurate with the Christian conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.” – Articles of Faith


The misconception here is in the phrase, “the Lord’s Day.” In context the “Lord’s Day” is a well-known Hebraic euphemism for the Saturday Sabbath, in which the Lord rested from all His labor in creation, as well as Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement).


Congregationalist:  “…The Christian Sabbath [Sunday] is not in the Scriptures, and was not by the primitive Church called the Sabbath.”  Timothy Dwight, Theology: Explained and Defended (1823), Ser. 107, vol. 3, pg. 258.


Lutheran:  “The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intentions of the apostles to establish a Divine command in this respect, far from them, and from the early apostolic Church, to transfer the laws of Sabbath to Sunday.”  Dr. Augustus Neander, The History of the Christian Religion and Church Henry John Rose, tr. (1843), pg. 186.


“… churches err in their teaching, for Scripture has in no way ordained the first day of the week in place of the Sabbath.  There is simply no law in the New Testament to that effect.”  John Theodore Muller, Sabbath or Sunday, pp. 15, 16.


Methodist: “… there is no passage telling Christians to keep that day (Sunday), or to transfer the Jewish Sabbath to that day (Sunday).”  Harris Franklin Rall, Christian Advocate, July 2, 1942, p. 26


Presbyterian:  “The Sabbath is a part of the Decalogue – the Ten Commandments.  This alone forever settles the question as to the perpetuity of the institution…  Until, therefore, it can be shown that the whole moral law has been repealed, the Sabbath will stand…  The teaching of Christ confirms the perpetuity of the Sabbath.”  T.C. Blake, DD., Theology Condensed, pp. 474, 475.


GOD gave names to all the days of the week in Genesis 1-2.  They are day 1, 2, 3,4,5,6 and Shabbat.  However, you may be thinking, “Well Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday, that’s why we go to church on Sunday and keep Sunday instead of Saturday, to commemorate the resurrection.”  I do not know who made that up, but Yeshua rose on Saturday, the true Sabbath.  John 20:1 says that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb “early, when it was still dark” when the “first of the week cometh” that would be Saturday night sundown.  Remember we Jews reckon a day as from sunset to sunset.  Therefore, this would mean Yeshua rose sometime on Saturday.  Nowhere in the Renewed Covenant did Elohim (God) or Messiah say to change Sabbath to Sunday.  You may be wondering, “Well doesn’t it say in Acts 20:7 that they met on the first day of the week?  Well, of course it does.  We Jews end the Sabbath and usher in a new week by holding a service called the Havdalah service on Saturday night right before sunset.  This has been our way for thousands of years. In Acts 20 Paul participated in the Saturday evening Havdallah service and preached so long that a man named Eutychus fell asleep stilling on the edge of an open third story window and fell out and died. Paul went and raised him up from the dead and he continued speaking into early Sunday morning. It should also be noted that after the death of Yeshua his disciples kept this Havdallah tradition of meaning on Saturday night (John 20:19). Also, this Havdalah service was a perfect opportunity for Gentiles to fellowship with Jewish Believers because, if these Gentiles were slaves or otherwise employed in the Gentile world, they likely would not be able to have Sabbath day itself off seeing as the Roman world observed Sunday as their day of rest and thus these Gentile believers would have to work on Saturday, the Biblical and Jewish Sabbath.


Sabbath precedes Sinai and the Giving of the Torah (Gen.2, Exd. 16, 31:14, Mark 2:27), it’s a matter of the Created order that governs mankind and not just Jews and Israel. Yeshua never broke the Sabbath, only the man made impediments regarding Sabbath. Yeshua’s custom was to be in synagogue on the Sabbath (Luke 4:16) and in Matthew 24:20, the last days warning implies His followers should still keep the Saturday Sabbath and in Matthew 5:17-20 clearly says that no part of the Torah been abolished.


If Sabbath has been done away with then why is it brought back in the millennium (Isa. 56:3, 58:13)? Bottom line, it wasn’t, Exd. 31:13 declares that the Sabbath is an Eternal sign of the Covenant between God and His People.


Besides Sunday worship has its roots in paganism, the worship of the sun god.  Ezekiel 8:16-18, actually deals with the ancient “Easter (Ishtar)” sunrise service, and sun worship.  A pagan act in ADOANI’s Temple of all places!  What blasphemy!   Now is it wrong to worship The LORD on Sunday?  No, we can and should worship Him every day of the week.  Just do not go worshiping God on Sunday and call it, or pass it off as the Sabbath.


It should be quickly noted here that the word “Easter” in Acts 12:4 in the King James Version was incorrectly translated the Greek for Passover as pagan holiday Easter. The New King James Corrects this error.


“It is all too common to take a rather sloppy attitude about matters of faith and observance. It is often said, “It doesn’t matter which day we keep the Sabbath, as long as we keep ‘a Sabbath.’” Or someone might say, “Our seder isn’t on the seder night, but at least we are doing a seder.” This kind of loose and casual attitude toward God’s commandments is sometimes misconstrued as being more ‘spiritual’ in that it is more concerned with the intent of the law then with the actual details. But this is arrogance in the extreme. Who are we to determine the intent of God’s laws? Who are we to disregard the specific details of His commandments on the basis that we deem them irrelevant? Should we expect Him to bend His schedule to meet ours? If we can make the appointment whenever it is convenient for us, then it is really not God’s appointed time.” – First Fruits of Zion


One Sunday I was out at the mall and to a local eating establishment with my family.  I saw so many well-dressed people with either gold crosses hanging from their necks, some women with khaki or denim skirts with their hair penned up (most likely Pentecostal), and many Christians out and about eating, shopping, etc.
Now they consider Sunday as their Sabbath.  They use the same “Old Testament” Scriptures that we Jews do, so they supposedly have the same laws for Sabbath as we Jews do.

Deuteronomy 5 (King James Version)
 12Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.
 13Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work:
 14But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.
 15And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore, the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath Day.

These Christians profane their own Sabbath! If they go out to eat and shop on Sunday afternoon they are making a “Manservant and or a Maidservant, and a Stranger” work for them! They exchange money, which is also a prohibition on the Sabbath!

Moreover, according to the “New Testament” they are supposed to provoke us Jews to jealousy (Rom. 11:11)! Well, as a Jew, what I saw that day sure did not make me want to be a Christian! A Religion that profanes their own holy day!?

Sad to say, but at times I have more honor and respect for a flat out pagan than I do for “in name only” Christians.  Pagans are true to who they are and what they believe. Many in Christianity have many double standards and hypocrisy in carrying out their faith.

I have never got a sufficient answer backed by Scriptures to justify their actions.

Either they try to “spiritualize” the literal commandment of resting and letting others rest on the Sabbath, by saying, “Oh, I keep Sabbath in my heart,” or “Jesus is my Sabbath rest, so I can do whatever on the Sabbath.”  I have even heard, “We are not under the law anymore, but grace.” Okay, so why bother observing Sabbath at all!? I have even had the reaction of a deer caught in the headlights staring with a face that screamed remorseful conviction in the mode of silence.

Modern day Christians can call and observe whatever day they want as the Sabbath, but whatever day they choose to universally observe, do what the Bible says concerning that day and do not be a hypocrite.

“Jewish” Holidays


Leviticus chapter 23 gives us a rundown of the Feast of the LORD. Notice I didn’t say “Jewish” Holidays. Because they are not Jewish Holidays but as the Scripture explicitly states, they are the LORD’s Feast days, meaning anyone who worships the God of Israel can observe these Holy Days. Now the whole topic and a detailed expose’ of these Biblical Feasts are for another book altogether but allow me to briefly show how these feast were still kept by the Apostles even after Yeshua left this earth.


If the Torah has been done away with at the advent of Messiah Yeshua then we would expect that His apostles would have abandoned such obsolete observances. But we already see that they kept the true Saturday Sabbath, which is the first Holy Day on the Leviticus 23 list.

It should go without saying that it was obvious they kept Passover because this is when Yeshua died on the cross. We read they kept the Passover Seder (dinner) and this is what has become known as in Christianity as the Lord’s Supper or Communion (Matt. 26).


Acts 20:6 alludes to the Apostles still recognizing and keeping Passover.


In Matthew 17 we read an often misunderstood declaration by Peter:


Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. – Matt. 17:4 KJV


This occurred at what is called the Mount of Transfiguration when Yeshua’s appearance changed form and Moses and Elijah appeared with him in the sight of Peter, James and John. This took place at the Feast of Tabernacles and Jewish tradition was that every of age male must have a Tabernacle, a flimsy outdoor shelter in which to celebrate the Feast. Peter, out of his bewilderment and zeal wanted to erect three tabernacles and celebrate the Feast with Yeshua, Moses and Elijah.


John 7 speaks of Yeshua celebrating and participating in the Feast of Tabernacles.


Acts chapter 2 we well know is Pentecost, again a Feast of the LORD found in Leviticus 23 and we see that even after Yeshua’s death, burial, resurrection and ascension that His followers continued to celebrate the Feast commanded in the Torah and a great thing happened! The Holy Spirit showed up in a very powerful way! Acts 20:16, and I Cor. 16:8 we see Paul still observing this Feast.


Acts 27:9 speaks of the “Fast” referring to the observance of the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement was also called by Jews as, “The Day” and is sited in Hebrews 10:25 and not to forsake to keep and observe it.

Paul told the Colossians not to allow anyone to put them down because they still kept the Feasts of the Lord and other Torah observances and practices.


Therefore, do not let anyone pass judgment on you in matters of food or drink, or in respect to a festival or new moon or Shabbat.  These are a foreshadowing of things to come, but the reality is Messiah. – Col. 2:16-17 TLV


This passages has obviously been taken grossly out of context and Christianity says this means the Feasts no longer matter, but Paul is actually saying that we should keep Sabbath and the Feasts and the New Moon celebration because they are prophetic shadows of future events.





Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Holidays; Holy and Pagan: God's Calendar


So let’s see what’s in God’s “Day-Timer.”


Leviticus 23 (KJV)


23 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.
Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.
These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's passover.
And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the Lord.
13 And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.
14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord.
17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals; they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the Lord.
18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the Lord.
19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.
21 And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
22 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the Lord your God.
23 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.
26 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
27 Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.
28 And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God.
29 For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.
30 And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.
31 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
33 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
34 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord.
35 On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.
37 These are the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, everything upon his day:
38 Beside the sabbaths of the Lord, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the Lord.
39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.
40 And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.
41 And ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
42 Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:
43 That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
44 And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord.

Feast of the LORD breakdown in Leviticus 23


·       V. 1-3 SABBATH (WEEKLY)
·       V. 4-14 PESACH (PASSOVER, FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD, FIRST FRUITS) SPRING: NISSAN/MARCH-APRIL: EXD. 21:1-51; MATT. 26:17-30; MARK 14:12-26; LUKE 22:1-38; JOHN 13:1-20
·       V. 15-22 COUNTING OF THE OMER, SHAVU'OT (PENTECOST) SPRING: SIVAN/MAY-JUNE: EXD. 19; ACTS 2:1-47
·       V. 23-25 YOM TERUAH/ROSH HASHANNAH (FEAST OF TRUMPETS): FALL/AUTUMN: TISHRI/SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER: NUM. 29:1-6, I THESS. 4:16
·       TEN DAYS OF AWE
·       V. 26-32 YOM KIPPUR (DAY OF ATONEMENTS): FALL/AUTUMN: TISHRI/SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER: LEV. 16:1-34; HEB. 9:11-10:22; 13:11-12
·       V. 33-44 SUKKOT (FEAST OF TABERNACLES): FALL/AUTUMN: TISHRI/SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER: JOHN 7:2-9:5

Other Biblical Holidays


·       CHANUKAH (FEAST OF DEDICATION) WINTER: KISLEV/NOVEMBER-DECEMBER: 1-4 MACCABEES; JOHN 10
·       PURIM (FEAST OF LOTS - FEAST OF ESTHER): LATE WINTER-EARLY SPRING: ADAR/FEBRUARY-MARCH: BOOK OF ESTHER

Holidays as History

The Jewish people are some of the most unique people on earth. Much of what we do runs contrary to the majority of other cultures. We seem backward to the outside world.


One of the things that separate us from the rest of the world is our Holidays. Unlike other cultures our holidays are founded on Agriculture and Seasons, Historical events, facts and Divine Commands of God; not legends and fairy tales or pagan lore. Sure some stories are seasoned with legend but for the purpose of a moral lesson, we do not base our Holy Days on these legends.


Maurice Samuel once said, “For others, a knowledge of the history of their people is a civic duty, while for the Jews it is a sacred duty.


As Jews we believe that history is His-Story, we believe that all of it is scared.


“Our people have survived some atrocious incidents ever committed against humanity. We have been exiled, expelled, excluded. We have been victims of mass murder. One might think that we would want to forget our history. Who wants to remember one tragic event after another? But the Jewish response has been the exact opposite… By embracing what happened in our past, we believe can affect the future…. Our past is a crucial part of our inner lives, as individuals and as a people. Do not forget the past. It is an important lens through which to understand the present.”  -- Rabbi Lori Forman, “Sacred Intentions”


As a well-known saying goes, “Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.”


We do not commemorate man spun lore, events that supposedly came to pass by the hand of Babylonian, Assyrian, Nordic god’s or any other gods for that matter. We do not tell our children lies that will cause them to be disillusioned or mistrust adults when they get older, nor to perpetuate such lies to the next generation regarding a god like fat man that takes account of one’s moral activities year by years and reward the child according to his or her collective good or bad behavior. We do not reenact pagan sexual intercourse of the pagan earth gods using symbolic phallic symbols in spring, we do not tell lies to our people regarding giant humanoid rabbits who lay multi-colored eggs in hiding all around, nor about little men in green suits who promise gold if captured. We do not scare our children by telling them of witches and demons nor given them instruction on how to pacify or ward off their supposed presence during the fall of the year. We do not fill our children with lies, made up heroes, false hope and superstitions. No, we celebrate real heroes, real people, and real events good and bad by the Hand of, or permitted to happen by a very real God.

Every week from Friday night sundown to Saturday night sundown we commemorate Creation and how God rested when HE completed it.


At Passover we celebrate our Freedom from slavery and our Exodus out of Egypt and our journey to the Land of Promise both physically and spiritually.


On Shavu’ot we celebrate the Harvest, God’s bountiful provisions; we also commemorate the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai and the Giving of the Ruach Ha Kodesh, the Holy Spirit.


Yom Teruah, we blow the Shofar and remember Creation, Abraham, Isaac and the sacrificial Ram that took Isaacs place.


Yom Kippur we empty ourselves, confess our sin and surrender afresh for another year.


At Sukkot we remember how our ancestors dwelt in tents in the wilderness, we remember the temporal nature of this world and the eternality of the next. We also recognize the birth of our Messiah at this time.


Purim we celebrate Esther’s bravery and her salvation our or people from genocide.


During Chanukah we celebrate the Maccabees recapture and cleansing of the Temple our Messiah would later stand in and we look forward to the 3rd Temple to be rebuilt upon Messiah’s return.


And throughout the year there are other minor celebrations and fasts to mark events in Jewish history, not fairy tales.


One day all the Nations will see the futility and lies of their pagan gods and their holy days and see the reality of the God if Israel.


Jer. 16:19-21 O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods? Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD.

On the secular Gregorian calendar we have such holiday observances as:
·       New Year’s Day
·       Groundhog’s Day
·       Valentine’s Day
·       April Fool’s Day
·       Saint Patrick’s Day
·       Easter
·       May Day
·       Thanksgiving
·       Halloween
·       Christmas
·       Among many others…

Many of these holidays we have been told have Christian origins and meaning, but as we shall see, in reality, have origins in Babylon and have evolved through Roman and Nordic/Saxon culture and eras until they have been modernized, watered down and secularized until they have become the observances we are familiar with today, yet they still have the same underlying meaning, intention and rituals as when they were first instituted in ancient times. So the names of the gods may have changed but their function and the stories and rituals they represent have basically remained the same.

We will see that both God’s calendar and satan’s calendar are agricultural and religious in nature, but vastly different in its observances and whom it honors.
Yule is the Winter Solstice. Midsummer also called Litha, is the Summer Solstice. Mabon is the Autumn Equinox and Ostara is the Spring Equinox.

You Can’t Redeem That Which is Pagan

Job 14:4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.

To use an old analogy; if you take a pile of crap, spray it with perfume, gift wrap it, put it in a pretty box with an iridescent curly bow, it’s still just a pile of crap. This is no different with the western Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter, or Catholics pantheon of saints, or their altars and many of their ritual objects. They are nothing but old pagan Babylonian and Roman things with a quick paint job and a name change.

Below is a section of the 613 commandments regarding anyone attempting to make something pagan, “holy (set-apart)” unto the God of Israel.

Negative Commandment 11
You shall not build a "Matzevah" - a "pillar"

Deuteronomy 16:22 "Do not erect a pillar"
A "Matzevah" is a structure usually built for idol-worship. We are not allowed to construct a "Matzevah" even if we intend to serve HaShem (The LORD) with it.
(These were ancient phallic symbols)
Negative Commandment 12
You shall not have kneeling stones

Leviticus 26:1 "Nor shall you install a kneeling stone in your land, to bow down upon it"
Idol-worshipers often placed a special decorated stone before their idol and then use it to kneel upon while they prayed to their idols.
We are forbidden to have such a stone, even if we intend to worship HaShem (The LORD) on it.
(Any one for substantiation crackers and Jesus juice?)
Negative Commandment 13
You shall not plant an "Asherah" - "a beautiful tree"

Deuteronomy 16:21 "Do not plant for yourself an Asherah of any tree near the altar of the Lord thy God"
The "Asherah" is a tree that is planted near the house of idol- worship in order to make the area more beautiful. (Asherah was another name for Ishtar)
We are forbidden to plant trees near the altar of the Temple - the Beit HaMikdash.
The Torah wants our service of HaShem (The LORD) to be holy and special.
It should, in no way, resemble any form of idol-worship.
Because of this, there were no trees planted on the Temple site.
(Again, usually representory of a phallus) 
As with the "Matzevah" (Negative Mitzvah 11) and the "kneeling stone" (Negative Mitzvah 12), so, too, the "Asherah" is not to be used, even if our intention is for the service of HaShem (The LORD).
These are not allowed because they are connected with idol worship.
Positive Commandment 185
Destroying Idol-Worship

Deuteronomy 12:2 "And destroy all those places"
HaShem (The LORD) does not want the Jewish people to worship idols.
He wants us to remove them from our presence and totally destroy them.
We are commanded to destroy all those places where idols are worshiped: Eretz Yisrael is a holy land. Therefore, special efforts must be made to clear it of idol worship entirely
(If we are Torah Observant believers our homes are like a little slice of Israel. Anyone for a Ojai board, and those idols disguised as souvenirs you got from Africa or Hawaii burning party?)
Negative Commandment 25
You shall not profit from idol worship

Deuteronomy 7:26 "Do not bring any offensive idol into your house"
We are not allowed to derive benefit from any type of idol- worship.
We must stay far removed from its practice, its places of worship and everything connected to it.
(If you’re coming out of paganism, don’t donate or sell your old X-mas, Easter or Halloween costumes and decorations; just burn or chuck’em in the trash.)
Negative Commandment 22
You shall not benefit from the decorations of idols

Deuteronomy 7:25 "Do not desire the silver or the gold that is on them"
We are not allowed to make use of, or benefit from, valuables that once decorated statues or idols.
Negative Commandment 30
You shall not imitate the customs or practices of other nations

Leviticus 20:23 "You shall not walk in the practices of the nation"
In this Negative Mitzvah (Commandment), the Torah cautions us not to adopt or imitate non-Jewish customs and traditions.
By fulfilling this Negative Mitzvah (Commandment) we are able to constantly stress the unique qualities of the Jewish people and the rich beauty of our traditions.
(For example: Don’t participate in Easter egg hunts, or Trick-or-treating. We are God’s people, we have plenty of Holidays 10x’s better than the pagan worlds and they are real and not fairy tales) – From Chabad.org (all parenthesis mine)


Exd. 19:5-6 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

Deut. 7:6 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

Deut. 14:2 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

Deut. 26:18-19 And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken.

Deut. 28:9 The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.

Titus 2:14-15 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

1Peter 2:9, 10 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: Which in time past [were] not a people, but [are] now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.


It is abundantly clear that we are a holy, set-apart, unique people, and original that should not and cannot be imitated. So to speak, we are the ones who set the trends, not the ones who follow them.


Be proud; stand tall because God has called you to be different. Sure your get looks and stares and even ridicule, but these are complements in disguise!


Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Matt. 5:11-12 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

John 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

Rom. 12:14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.


Again:


Rom. 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.


We cannot redeem that which is pagan… But why would we want to anyway!?

Now before your head starts spinning and wonder, “How can I live by another calendar that’s so foreign and opposite to me?” We live in exile and in a secular society. We have to operate our daily lives by the 24 hour, 7 day a week Gregorian solar calendar. But Judaism and Messianic Judaism has calendars that marry the two, and so you can live by the calendar we all know, but within those days are marked the Hebrew day, date and holiday observance. You can easily get one of these calendars at: www.messianicjewish.net