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Rabbi Henry's 2013 Xmass ramblings

12/14/2013

5 Comments

 
I would like to challenge you this year a little differently with another seasonal episode of “Rabbi Henry’s Christmas ramblings”.  So instead of the traditional approach, I would like to start with a question.

I am asking someone out there in blog land to share with me just one Biblical reason why I should celebrate “Christmas” instead of the Feasts found in Lev 23.

In the meantime, let me remind you of what the Scripture says in regards to celebrating His appointed times and seasons. Buckle up and let’s get rolling.

Leviticus 23

1The LORD spoke again to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD’S appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these:

These are the Lord’s appointed times and seasons. They are not Jewish holidays. They were given as prophetic appointments that were to be kept by the Messiah in specific detail. The mandate to keep them was not negotiable.

14b
It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

The days of the Lord are perpetual; they do not end as long as this earth exists. They are to be continually observed by our future progeny wherever we live.

21‘On this same day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work. It is to be a perpetual statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.

The Lord says it again in verse 21.

31“You shall do no work at all. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

And one last time in verse 41

41‘You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations;

I encourage you to read the entire chapter to get the context of each promise and the instructions involved for each holy day. This is not the intent of this little blog. My goal is to point out that these holy days have not been abrogated and substituted by the man- made hollow day called “Christmas”.  Read some of my other blogs on the origins of “Christmas” at the Sha’ar website.

So, let’s review. The holy days are appointments to be kept by Israel; they are perpetual for all of our generations and in all of our dwellings. These holy days were given by the Lord and Yeshua fulfilled them. Very good, now we’re getting somewhere. So my next question is, why would anyone want to substitute these prophetic memorials for something that is man-made and empty?

Just think of all of the wonderful “Christmas” traditions that I am missing out on, Yule logs, mistletoe, trees, presents, debt, Nativity scenes, cantatas, Santa, elves, Rudolph, caroling, lights, wreaths, holly, wise men, drummer boys, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas cheer, Wasale, fruit cake, Midnight Mass, shepherds, and we don’t get to fight the war against “Christmas” with Bill O’Reilly. Oy! I am exhausted, and I don’t even celebrate this foolishness. Where is the Word of the Lord in any of this?

The Levitical feasts were commanded by the Lord; “Christmas” is not. Especially when we consider that every sane person knows that Yeshua was not born on Dec 25th. For one to not see that this is a man-made celebration is to show a tremendous amount of intellectual and emotional dishonesty.

If it were so important for me to celebrate Dec 25th as the day of the Messiah’s birth, why then is it not mentioned anywhere in the Scriptures. On the other hand, each and every Biblical feast has a very specific time and date.

I find it curious that in the book of Zechariah chapter 14 says…

16Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 17And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. 18If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the LORD smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 19This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.

The Feast of Booths, also known as Sukkoth, is one of the Lev 23 feasts. This Scripture is speaking about the end time. What is being said here is that in the end time we will all go to Jerusalem to celebrate the Biblical Feast of Booths. This holy day is a prophetic display that shows us that the Lord dwelt among men for 40 years in the wilderness while they lived in booths. He took care of Israel’s needs; they saw Him daily in a pillar of fire by night and cloud of smoke in the day. When Yeshua came, again we saw that the Lord dwelt among men, and in the end times He will dwell among men as well.

This day is so important as a memorial that Zechariah says if men don’t go to celebrate it then no rain will fall on their land. I don’t see the mention of “Christmas” being celebrated in the end times especially on December 25th.

Another point I would like to make is that the Biblical feasts are not just for the children of Abraham.

Ex 12:

48“But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it. 49“The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who sojourns among you.”

It was the Lord’s desire to reconcile the whole world back unto Himself through the nation of Israel, which would bring forth the Messiah. This passage is a foreshadowing of that plan. The Passover lamb was not just for Israel – it was for all who would.

No matter how we slice it, the December 25th Christmas hollow day is the Roman pagan celebration of the birth of the sun (not the “Son”) in the person of Saturn. This has found its way into protestant “Christianity” via Catholicism, which sprinkled holy water on this day and called it “Christian”. There is a plethora of information out there that supports this historically, So I will avoid rehashing the details as I have covered it in past blogs.

My goal is to call you to the Scripture to remind you what is Biblical and what is men’s traditions.

Yeshua warns the Pharisees in Mt. chapter 7.

“Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?” 6And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

      ‘This people honors Me with their lips,

      But their heart is far away from Me.

7      ‘But in vain do they worship Me,

      Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’

8“Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”

9He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.

Is Christmas – and the traditions that are part of it – any different? If Yeshua would not allow the religious Jews to make this mistake, why then are we allowed to? 

Now it’s your turn to give me an answer.

5 Comments
Ken Goss
12/17/2013 09:51:11 pm

Shalom Rabbi Henry, As usual you are right about "believers" who do not celebrate the appointed times but celebrate Christmas, and other traditional holidays. I don't believe the "church" is ever going to change it's traditions until the return of Yeshua. David Stern in his Jewish New Testament commentary actually says that he believes that it's okay for Christians to celebrate Christmas, easter and Sunday Sabbath as long as it "honors" the LORD! (page 558) Mr.Stern says that the principles of Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8 govern:those who wish to celebrate, may; those who prefer not to, may not- so long as it builds up the Messianic Community. That sounds very "messy" to me! I do celebrate the Appointed Times, I don't put up a Christmas tree or have an easter egg hunt in my neighborhood, but I do use this time of the year to share the Love of Messiah Yeshua, to share the Good News, and pray that Adonai will change hearts and draw people to Himself. One good thing about this season is that people are more open to hearing about Yeshua, are more giving and it brings families together, at least for the season. I want to know what is the Messianic community doing to bring people to Yeshua? I know you have a heart for the lost but a lot of Messianics do not and can't get their act together any more than the church. A lot of people don't want to hear the Truth and I believe they can't hear the truth unless the Ruach Hakodesh opens their ears and their eyes, wakes them from the dead! We just have to keep praying for them and loving them! Love you, Ken

Reply
Dorina Moriarty
2/3/2014 01:49:03 am

Ken's response is worthy of merit as it keys into the most important focus here and that is to give honor to The Lord.
Rabbi, if you are asking in terms of 'instead of' as a choice to pick one of the other, then I might add that the term here implies
preference and changes everything as the fulfillment of Christ in the Gospel did.
Also then, are you asking the question from your perspective as a letter abiding Torah observant Jew or one that is operative
in the Holy Spirit and gleans from the OT foreshadowing to the revelation of the fulfillment of Messiah, thus celebrating God's
Word not by man's tradition, whereas the gospel says..Colossians 2:16-17 tells us, “Therefore do not let anyone judge you
by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. The understanding
here is whether or not a Christian celebrates the Levitical feast days of Israel today would be a matter of conscience for the individual Christian.
We mustn't look to them as an acquired means to salvation but realize what they taught us; i.e, as God created The Sabbath for man and not man for the sabbath, I believe that He too fashioned the feasts for the purpose of telling us a story..the story of redemption..Story of Messiah who's an ever abiding Presence who welcomes us to "sup with" Him in an ongoing fellowship thru The Holy Spirit & not just rigidly at formal functions. Scriptures warn of certain Christians who attempted to revert to the Mosaic regime for salvation. As a result, they were “severed from Christ” and “fallen away from grace” (Galatians 3:26-27; 5:4).
There exists no Jew nor Gentile but coming together as one body One faith one baptism.
Certainly it would be beneficial to study them and if it leads someone to a greater understanding and appreciation for Christ’s death and resurrection and the future promise of His coming.
Whatever honored 'feast' we're choosing to focus on, it is Christ we're celebrating, the manifestation of the feasts; The One who came to fulfill the prophetic significance of each of them. He is The Door, The Way, Truth and Life as well as Our Passover Lamb; His Sinless life, our Unleavened Bread. He IS the firstborn of righteousness and we are witnessing the reaping of a great harvest as His Spirit being Poured on All Flesh.
As the Hebrew word for manger actually means 'sukkah' even a jail cell can become a tabernacle with the Living Presence of The Risen Lord in It. Wherever The Lord Jesus is is a gathering feast when the body comes together in sanctified unity to worship and honor and uphold Him. In the fellowship of believers and corporate worship—we have unity. Where's the unity of the brethren when to celebrate or not and which way is already causing a divisive faction? And, Does He Want us bound to repetitive rituals because we 'have to' ?!
That is why I dance at every possible event and not bound in any particular fellowship because I can celebrate Yeshua/Jesus at any appointed time as led by The Holy Spirit in Whom I am Free without factions divisions or rancor toward faith following brothers & sisters. Holy Spirit is my teacher and The Lord my Chief Shepherd. I delight in His leadings without restrain and He always satisfies me and supplies all my needs & just what is best for me. He leads me in paths of righteous and because I Love Him & acknowledges His Name.He rescues & protect me. I call upon Him, and He answers me; He's with me in trouble, delivers and honors me. He has shown me His Salvation. Psalm 91:14-16.
Personally I 'prefer' to be in the company of 'Wise Men'. Can we go for another question?!
Sincere Warm Regards, Dorina M.


Reply
Dorina Moriarty
2/3/2014 01:49:52 am

Reply
Stuart Dauermann / Alan Levy link
2/7/2014 09:07:09 pm

TOWARD MAKING CHRISTMAS ONCE AGAIN A JEWISH HOLIDAY: http://www.messianicjudaism.me/agenda/2012/12/21/toward-making-christmas-once-again-a-jewish-holiday/
Alan Levy's Response:
WHEN YESHUA/JESUS WAS BORN AND WHAT NOT TO DO ABOUT IT:
http://www.messianicjudaism.me/agenda/2012/12/24/when-yeshuajesus-was-born-and-what-not-to-do-about-it/#comment-2762
ON MESSIANIC JUDAISM:
http://www.messianicjudaism.me/agenda/2012/07/14/re-masculinizing-the-messianic-jewish-movement-some-lessons-from-the-jewish-world/#comment-2771

Reply
Jeremy link
12/7/2015 09:57:57 am

Christianity requires one to pray through an intermediary and to recognize a man as G-d. These, along with Christmas, are form of idolatry and cannot be merged with G-d's Torah. Christianity and Christmas are wrong. www.kiruvnow.com

Reply



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    Rabbi Henry Morse's ministry has taken him all over the world. He is an accomplished speaker, author, trained acrobat, and physical comedian. In addition to the active and growing congregation in Stoughton, MA, he and his wife Cherri helped launch a messianic congregation in Hilo Hawaii in 2011.

    benafuchi@aol.com

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