Chapter Four
WHY
Does Almighty God Say,
"Your
Feast Days My Soul Hates!"?
Why would
God say such a thing? Why would He
tell His people that He abhors
and despises the New
Moons, and Sabbaths -- including the annual Feast
Days? Is there more to this enigmatic prophecy of the
end-times than meets the eye at
first glance? What
has been done to the annual Holy
Days and New Moons
that warrants such a declaration?
Almighty God declares in His Word, "The New Moons,
the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies -- I cannot endure iniquity and the
sacred meeting. Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; they
are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them" (Isaiah 1:13-14).
Why in the world would God say such a thing about the New Moons and
Annual Festivals which He Himself appointed for Israel to observe?
Furthermore, He says through the prophet Amos, "I
hate, I despise your feast days, and I do not savor your sacred assemblies.
. . " (Amos 5:21-26).
Isn't this strange? Why would
God feel this way?
The prophet Isaiah quotes God as saying, "Stop
bringing meaningless offerings! New
Moons, Sabbaths and convocations -- I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your New Moons, festivals and your appointed
feasts my soul hates. They have become
a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you;
even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen" (Isa.1:13-15, NIV).
There must be something about the way most of God's
people, who claim to celebrate His holy days, do it that is not pleasing in the
sight of God. What is it? God calls them "evil assemblies,"
and says that they are a "burden" to Him, and He is weary of bearing
them. He says that His very
"SOUL" HATES THEM!
The rest of this chapter points out that there is
something hypocritical and wicked about the way many of God's people conduct
their lives, and then celebrate His holy festivals. God thunders, "Your hands are full of blood; wash and make
yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds
out of my sight! Stop doing wrong,
learn to do right! Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed. Defend the
cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. 'Come now, let us reason together,' says the LORD. 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they
shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like
wool. If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be
devoured by the sword.' For the mouth
of the LORD has spoken" (Isa.1:15-20, NIV).
Does God Hate His
Own Holy Days?
Just what it is that God abhors about the way His people
celebrate His holy days? It seems so
strange -- people just take for granted that they are righteous in God's sight,
and assume that they are observing His holy days properly.
Many people just assume they have a good relationship
with God, but all the time they are living in a dreamland -- a spiritual
fantasy-land of make-believe.
In the last chapter of Isaiah's prophecy, God explains
further about what He hates concerning the offerings and celebrations of His
people -- notice! "But whoever
sacrifices a bull is like one who kills a man, and whoever offers a lamb, like
one who breaks a dog's neck; whoever makes a grain offering is like one who
presents pig's blood, and whoever burns memorial incense, like one who worships
an idol. They have CHOSEN THEIR OWN
WAYS, and their souls delight in their ABOMINATIONS" (Isa.66:3, NIV).
What is God saying here?
It is simple. His people have
PERVERTED HIS TRUTH, and corrupted His laws, and their religious practices are
closely akin to PAGANISM -- whether they know or realize it or not! Their worship practices are related to
idolatry. They have chosen their OWN
ways -- instead of God's clear commandments.
And the result is that they do things that God hates and detests!
This is very serious in God's sight -- not something to
take lightly, or to brush off. God
says: "So I also will choose HARSH
treatment for them and will bring upon them WHAT THEY DREAD" (v.4). What most
religious people dread is suffering the pangs and sorrows and anguish inflicted
by the wrath of a jealous, holy God! -- the Great Tribulation and the Lake of
Gehenna fire -- and unless God's people "get real" with their faith
and obedience, and repent of their sins, which causes God to even hate their
"New Moons, Sabbaths, and Sacred Assemblies" -- that is exactly what
they are going to have to experience with unmitigated horror and undiminished
pain and agony -- the results of their callous disregard of His divine laws and
commandments!
"But how have we disobeyed God?" many wonder,
and, "How is it that the way we observe the annual holy days is wrong and
displeasing to God?"
There are many ways the Christians -- and the Jews -- have
both forsaken the original laws and commandments of God!
But
why does God even say He hates something about the way many of His people
observe His holy days -- which He calls THEIR New Moons, Sabbaths, and
Festivals?
The Oracles of God
The apostle Paul declared boldly: "What advantage, then, is there is
being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First
of all, THEY have been entrusted with the very words of God" (Romans 3:1-2, NIV).
The Jews have preserved the very oracles -- the very
words -- of God, even though some of them haven't believed in the Messiah or
held to the true faith. They still
preserved the Old Testament Scriptures, and the knowledge of the laws,
commandments, and words of God faithfully.
They have preserved the knowledge of the sacred calendar, as well. However, as Paul declared, even though they preserved
the oracles of God, THEY HAVE NOT OBEYED THEM!
Paul wrote, "Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles
of God. For what if some did not
believe? Will their unbelief make the
faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly
not! Indeed, let God be true but every
man a liar" (Rom.3:3-4).
But in spite of the fact the Jews have preserved the
oracles of God, the Scriptures still declare that they have not obeyed
them! What happened? Where did the Jews, and others who follow
their lead, go wrong? WHY does God
Himself say that He "hates" their New Moons, Sabbaths, and annual
Festivals and sacred assemblies?
"Destroyed for
Lack of Knowledge"
God warns in the prophecy of Hosea, "Now let no man
contend, or rebuke another; for your people are like those who contend [argue,
fight] with the priest. Therefore you
shall stumble in the day; the prophet [minister] also shall stumble with you in
the night; and I will destroy your mother.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have REJECTED KNOWLEDGE, I also
will reject you from being a PRIEST for Me" (Hosea 4:4-6).
It would seem that for some reason the people of God --
including the Jews, and their descendants today -- the Rabbis and their
followers -- as well as Christians and ministers of the various churches of God
-- have become guilty of great sin, in the sight of God. What have they done? They have rejected the knowledge of GOD
-- the truth of the Torah, and the Scriptures!
They have all been guilty of replacing God's law and His truth with
their own TRADITIONS, and commandments of MEN!
Because
they have forsaken God and His laws, He says through Hosea: "I will also cause all her mirth to
cease, her feast days, her New Moons, her Sabbaths -- all her appointed
feasts" (Hosea 2:11). But
why is God so upset? Why is He so
angry?
Jeremiah,
looking into this end time generation, as well as describing previous
generations of God's people, begins to describe the sin of God's people. He declared under divine inspiration:
"Even the stork in the heavens knows her
appointed times;
and the turtledove, the swift, and the
swallow observe the
time of their coming. But My people do not know the
judgment of the LORD. How can you say, 'We are wise,
and the law of the LORD is with us'? Look, the false pen
of the scribe certainly
works falsehood. The wise men
are ashamed, they are dismayed and
taken. Behold, they
have rejected the word of the LORD; so what wisdom
do they have?" (Jeremiah 8:7-9).
The Hebrew word for "appointed times," here, is
moadim. It is the very word used
for God's "festivals," which are also called "appointed
times" (Lev.23:4). This
Scripture is warning us that even migratory birds know the appointed times for
their migrations, but God's people have forgotten and rejected their own
"appointed times" to meet with God on HIS Holy Days, and New Moons!
Why? Because
their religious leaders have led them astray!
Christian ministers have led
Christians astray -- and Jewish rabbis and leaders have led the Jewish people
astray!
Malachi makes this perfectly plain. He declares, in the final book of the Old
Testament:
"'For the lips of a priest should keep
knowledge, and people
should seek the law from his mouth; for he is
the messenger
of the LORD of hosts. But you [you priests and rabbis] have
departed from the way;
you have CAUSED MANY TO
STUMBLE at the law; you have corrupted the covenant of
Levi,' says the LORD of hosts. 'Therefore I also have made
you contemptible and base before all the
people, because you
have not kept My ways
but have shown PARTIALITY IN THE
LAW'" (Malachi 2:7-9).
How have the priests and rabbis caused many to stumble at
God's Law? Don't they teach the law of
God? What about the Orthodox
rabbis? Don't they teach us God's
laws? Haven't they preserved the
"oracles" of God? Don't they
obey them? Haven't they preserved the
holy calendar, and the knowledge of all God's annual holy days, and when they
are to be observed? -- at the "appointed times"?
Those are very important questions! Most people who observe God's annual holy
days, as God commanded, tell us that the JEWS preserved the calendar and the
knowledge of the Holy Days! I, too,
once believed this to be true -- and assumed it was essentially true. But now new evidence has come to light
exposing the TRUTH! The Jewish rabbis have committed an egregious error,
causing MANY people to observe the WRONG DAYS as if they were "God's holy
days"!
Isn't it time we look into this matter carefully?
The apostle JUDE tells us in no uncertain terms:
"Beloved, while I was very diligent to
write to you concerning
our common salvation, I found it necessary to
write to you
exhorting you to CONTEND EARNESTLY for the faith
which
was once for all delivered to the
saints. For certain men have
crept in unnoticed . . . ungodly men, who turn the grace of our
God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God
and our Lord
Jesus Christ" (Jude 3-4).
Brethren, and people of God, let's face it! IF the Jews have made errors and mistakes
concerning the HOLY CALENDAR, then we must determine what they were, and
correct them, if we are to observe God's annual holy days at the right time,
and on the God-appointed and God-sanctioned days!
Rather than take it for granted, as thousands and
millions do, that the Jews have correctly preserved the Hebrew calendar, down
through the ages, let's examine this issue -- this question -- once and for all
-- without fear, favor or prejudice!
The WARNINGS of
Jesus Christ
In
the time of Jesus Christ, the Jewish religious leaders were already departing
from the Torah and laws of God. The Pharisees,
the religious leaders most highly respected and followed by the masses, were
already adding many additional rules and restrictions regarding holy day and
Sabbath day observance, dietary rules and personal cleanliness laws. At one point they accosted Jesus and asked
Him why His disciples didn't wash their hands according to the "traditions
of the elders" before eating (Matt.15:1-2).
Jesus saw through their smokescreen of hypocrisy, and
responded, saying: "Why do you
also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honor your
father and your mother; and, He who curses father or mother, let him be put to
death. But you say, 'Whatever profit
you might have received from me is a gift to God' -- then he need not honor his
father or mother. Thus you have made
the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition" (Matt.15:3-7).
Christ went on, saying of the Pharisees, and their
religion of strict rules and burdensome regulations, called the
"traditions of men":
"Every plant which My heavenly Father
has not planted
will be uprooted. Let them alone. They
are blind leaders
of the blind. And if the blind
leads the blind, both will
fall into a ditch" (Matt.15:13-14).
In the gospel of Mark, who mentions either the same or a
similar encounter, Jesus said to the Pharisees of that time:
"Well did Isaiah prophesy of you
hypocrites, as it is written:
'This people honors Me with their lips, but
their heart is far
from Me.
And IN VAIN do they WORSHIP Me, teaching
as doctrines the commandments of
men.' For laying aside the
commandment of God, you hold the tradition
of men -- the
washing of pitchers and cups, and many other
such things
you do.
He said to them, All too well you reject the command-
ment of God, that you
may keep your TRADITION" (Mark 7:6-9).
Have the Jews added more "traditions" to the
laws of God, since the time of Jesus Christ and the first century? What about the calendar of the Jews,
preserved down through the centuries?
Have ungodly and unholy "traditions" been incorporated into
the very calendar itself, the calendar the Jews follow today, and which they
use to determine the beginnings days -- or New Moons -- of each month of the
year, and the dates for the annual holy days of Passover, Pentecost, Rosh
Hashanah, Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles), and
Shemini Atzeret (the Eighth Day)?
If the Jews at some point in history DID change the
calendar in some basic, tangible way, then that would be VERY SERIOUS IN GOD'S
SIGHT!
What
does the record of history tell us?
What about the Jewish or Hebrew calendar which we have today? How and when did it originate? How accurate is it?
A Brief Review of
the Jewish Calendar
According to the record of history, the Jewish Temple was
destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Roman armies under Titus and Vespacian. The Jewish nation was destroyed in the Bar
Kochba rebellion in 135 A.D. The Jews
were driven into exile, into every nation under heaven. They were banished from Jerusalem, and the
Jewish Sanhedrin was abolished. The
Jewish leaders, in the lands of Arabs, survived with many of the Jewish people,
and managed to keep their religious faith intact. But in those trying years, the calendar became a serious problem,
because widely scattered Jewish people no longer had a central authority to
sight the New Moons, and to report the correct days of the Holy Days. Different systems began to develop.
To put an end to this confusion, Rabbi Hillel II, in 358
A.D., made public the secret calendar calculations carefully maintained from
ancient antiquity, and he and his colleagues decreed the "fixed" or
"permanent" Hebrew calendar, based on those ancient
calculations. So far, so good. By this means, they managed to maintain the
unity of the Jewish faith through the unified observance of the Holy Days, no
matter where Jews resided around the world.
So far, so good.
This was an honorable achievement and desire. With the threat of persecution driving the Sanhedrin "out of
business," as it were, it was necessary for the Jews to resort to unusual
and remarkable methods to preserve their unity and the unity of their faith and
holy days, so all could observe the holy days and New Moons at the same time.
"Ay, There's
the Rub"
If this were all the Jewish leaders did at that time, we
would have no problem, today. But having
done this, Hillel II and his compatriots went a huge step further. They added to the calendar rules NEW RULES
dealing with and permitting "postponements" to the calendar.
People have on occasion mentioned to me that they have
noticed in some years that the Feast seemed to occur later than normal. That is, the full moon of Tishri, which
normally falls on Tishri 15, in some years occurs a day or two BEFORE the 15th
of Tishri, according to the Jewish calendar!
This was caused, of course, by adherence to the
"postponements."
But are these postponements really valid in the eyes of
God? Where they ever allowed or
sanctioned during the time of Christ, or the second Temple period? Or do they fall into the category of
those "traditions of men" which were added by the Rabbis, which
actually negate and nullify the LAWS of God Himself?
Did the Jewish leaders under Hillel II actually cause a
CHANGE in the law of God CONTRARY to God's original instructions? Was this a case of men "thinking to
change times and laws" (Dan.7:25, KJV)?
For
years, I could not answer this question.
I did not know the answer.
Therefore, with no proof to the contrary, I assumed that the Jewish
authorities may have been allowed to add the postponements. So I gave the Jewish rabbis -- and Hillel II
-- the benefit of the doubt.
But now I have learned that such was definitely not the
case at all! In actual fact, they
usurped God's authority, and replaced it with their own "rabbinical"
authority! They changed God's laws by
inserting their “postponements.”
Would Jesus Christ have "approved" of these
postponements, added to and changing the Jewish calendar, from 358 A.D. till
the present time?
The answer should be obvious! He did not approve of the ridiculous Jewish restraints on the
Sabbath day, and all their minutiae rulings about its observance, during the
first century (Mark 2:1-28, John 5:1-18). He
rejected their "traditions of men" instituted to be a
"hedge" around the Sabbath, but making it a burdensome yoke instead!
How much less would He have "approved" of
the new laws and restrictions they added three hundred years later!
These new rulings to hedge about the Sabbath -- the
postponement of "Dechiah a" -- causing Holy Days to be delayed a
whole day due to Jewish "traditions" on how to keep the Sabbath --
were not inspired of God, and were not followed during Temple times, and in the
time of Christ and the apostles!
Clearly, then, the changes wrought in the calendar in the
days of Hillel II concerning the postponement of "Dechiah a" were an
innovation not supported by Scripture, nor were they observed in Temple or
Biblical times. They constituted a
DEPARTURE FROM THE LAW of Almighty God!
They were unholy, unwarranted, and sacrilegious! Because of them, millions have been keeping
God's annual Holy Days on the wrong day, for centuries, and even down to
this present time!
No
wonder God says He hates them!
No wonder He says:
"The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the
calling of assemblies
-- I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred
meeting. Your New
Moons and your appointed
feasts My soul hates; they are a
trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing
them" (Isaiah 1:13-14).
"I hate, I despise your feast days,
and I do not savor your sacred assemblies" (Amos 5:21-26).
The word for "hates" in this verse is sane in
Hebrew, and means "to hate (personally); enemy, foe, be hateful,
odious." Vine's Complete
Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words declares that "sane
represents an emotion ranging from intense 'hatred' to the much weaker 'set
against' . . . The strong sense of the word typifies the emotion of jealousy,
and therefore, sane is the feeling Joseph's brothers experienced because
their father preferred him (Gen.37:4; cf. v.11). This 'hatred' increased when Joseph
reported his dreams (Gen.37:8).
Obviously, the word covers emotion ranging from 'bitter disdain' to
outright hatred" (p.105).
The Septuagint renders this passage:
"I cannot bear your new moons, and your
sabbaths, and the
great day; your fasting, and rest from work,
your new moons
also, and your feasts my soul hates: ye have become loath-
some to me" (Isa.1:13-14, LXX).
Why would God say such a thing about the new moons and
holy days celebrated by His people? Why
would He call His own people "loathsome"? That is very strong language!
Are we beginning to get the picture -- a clear
understanding of what happened, and where the Jewish leadership went wrong in
358 A.D.? Although the Jewish calendar
calculations were preserved by the Jews, they themselves have at times
disregarded them, time and time again, because of the inserted postponements!
Because of Dechiah a, the Jewish calendar of modern times
is seriously flawed. In some years, it
throws both the fall and spring Holy Days off by as much as two days! People have often noticed that when
observing the Feast of Tabernacles, for example, that it sometimes seems the
full moon is already past when the Feast begins! Likewise, at Passover, which should occur on the full moon, it
sometimes occurs one or two days after the full moon!
Is this "kosher" in the sight of God?
Tragedy of Comedies
For example, in the year 2001 A.D., according to the U.S.
Naval Observatory, the New Moon for the month of Nisan occurs on March 25, at
01 hours, 21 minutes, Universal Time (Greenwich Meridian, in England). This is based on the Roman day, which begins
at midnight. The New Moon would not
become visible until about 24 hours later.
This would place the first day of Nisan, the first month of the new
year, on March 27th!
However, the Jewish "New Moon" on their fixed
calendar places Nisan 1st on Sunday, March 25, beginning hours before the
conjunction of the moon and earth -- and TWO DAYS BEFORE THE VISIBLE NEW MOON!
The New Moon from which we are to determine the beginning
of EACH MONTH is NOT the "astronomical New Moon." Rather, it is the first sighting of the thin
new CRESCENT of the moon FROM JERUSALEM!
As the U.S. Naval Observatory says, "The ancient Hebrew calendar
was also based on actual lunar crescent sightings" ("Crescent Moon
Visibility and the Islamic Calendar, p.1).
Says the Naval Observatory, "The date and time of
each New Moon can be computed exactly but the time that the Moon first becomes
visible after the New Moon depends on many factors and cannot be predicted with
certainty." This authority goes
on:
"In the first two days after the New Moon, the young crescent
Moon
appears very low
in the western sky after sunset, and must be viewed
through bright
twilight. It sets shortly after
sunset. The sighting of
the lunar
crescent within one day of New Moon is usually difficult.
The crescent at
this time is quite thin, has a low surface brightness, and
can easily be
lost in the twilight. Generally, the
lunar crescent will
become visible
to suitably located, experienced observers with good
sky conditions
ABOUT ONE DAY AFTER the New Moon. However,
the time that
the crescent actually becomes visible varies quite a bit
from one month
to another. The record for an
early sighting of a lunar
crescent, with a
telescope, is 12.1 hours after New Moon; for naked-eye
sightings, the
record is 15.5 hours from New Moon. These are exceptional
observations and
crescent sightings this early in the lunar month should
not be expected
as the norm" (ibid.).
Therefore,
the earliest we should normally expect to be able to see a thin visible
crescent of the New Moon would be about ONE DAY -- that is, 24 hours -- after
the moment of conjunction. If we use
this figure as our basis for approximating the visible New Moons in
advance, we find that the New Moons based on the calculated Jewish
calendar are very often a day off!
Why? What happened?
History shows, and the Jews confess, that the Jewish
religious authorities departed from an observational calendar, in 358 A.D., and
adopted a "mean value for the lunation cycle" (using a standard
figure from month to month). They
departed from the visible crescent New Moon to the use of a tabular (calculated)
New Moon or molad. In other
words, they "averaged" the length of time between New Moons, instead
of using the actual astronomical New Moon conjunctions. This has led to their so-called "New Moons"
sometimes being a DAY BEFORE the visible crescent could possibly be seen, in
some cases, and a DAY LATE in other cases!
"So
what?" you may ask. Well, this is
why the current Jewish calendar is messed up and in error often when it comes to
determining the molads or New Moons!
The Jewish calendar makes no pretense of accurately figuring each
month's New Moon! The calendar
makers CONFESS they merely used a "statistical mean" or
"average"!
Do
we begin to see the picture? And the
matter of the "postponements" make this problem even WORSE!
Could God possibly be pleased when His children
celebrate His Holy Day on the wrong day?
Or one day too late? Absolutely
NOT!
What if Israel had observed PASSOVER
a DAY TOO LATE because of human traditions the year they came out of
Egypt? ALL THEIR FIRSTBORN WOULD HAVE
DIED IN THE PLAGUE OF THE FIRSTBORN!
What if they observed it a day TOO
EARLY? Same thing -- DEATH!
In
another example, in the year 2002, another problem crops up. According to the Naval Observatory in
Washington, D.C., the actual time of the Molad is May 12, 10 hours, 45
minutes. Again, correcting this for the
Hebrew calendar, if we add 24 hours, as the length of time between conjunction
and first likely visible sighting, and add two hours for Jerusalem time, giving
us May 13, 12 hours, 45 minutes.
Therefore, the New Moon should be postponed till the following day,
making Sivan 1 to fall on May 13. This
puts Pentecost on May 18th.
However, in this case, the Jewish calendar has the New
Moon one day early -- on May 12 -- even though the actual Molad falls
after noon -- in violation of their own Calendar Rules! As a result, this maneuver consequently puts
Sivan 6, the Holy Day of Shavuot or Pentecost, one day early!
As
it turns out, a careful study of the calendar, and the Molads for each month of
the years, has revealed an astonishing thing.
By the creation of their postponements, based on "Dechiah a,"
and related innovations, the present Jewish calendar many times has the New
Moon of each month occurring one day LATER than it should, and sometimes the
reverse is true -- and they put the New Moon one day too early!
The calculated Jewish calendar may have served its
purpose, down through the centuries, to keep the far-flung Jewish communities
unified in observing the annual holy days at the same time. But it erred in adding unscriptural and
unjustified POSTPONEMENTS, AND CREATED A "MESS," when it comes to
figuring the monthly New Moons!
In
effect, it has sacrificed TRUTH for the appearance of "unity"! But "unity" IN ERROR is not unity
with GOD!
Because
of the calendar changes caused by the un-Biblical rules of postponements for
the sake of human traditions, the result is that the Jewish rabbis have altered
the calendar's New Moon dates, and as a result their New Moons are often either
TOO EARLY, or TOO LATE -- a truly "revolting development" in God's
sight! Their "New Moons" are
often a day too early or a day too late, compared to the first visible crescent
of the New Moon.
As the old saying goes, "The king has no
clothes!"
Remember,
all these facts are easily provable, just by checking the astronomical New
Moons at the Naval Observatory, or any other official source, and then adding 2
hours to allow for the difference in time between Jerusalem and Universal time,
and then adding 24 hours to allow for the time between actual conjunction and
the first faint visible crescent of the New Moon!
Again
-- what does Almighty GOD think of all this?
God's Word tells us:
"A road may seem right to a man, but
in the end it is
a road to death" (Prov.14:12, Tanakh).
God Himself instructs Israel -- "You shall not
add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it"
(Deut.4:2,
Tanakh).
How far human beings have departed from and gone beyond
the Word of the living God!
Are You Confused?
Sadly, many people are intimidated by the very thought of
the "calendar." They assume
it is highly complex, and that simple folk can't understand it. So they don't want to even think about it --
much less, study into it! However, God's
truth is never too complicated. It was
never meant to be too complex. An old
saying in science says, "KISS," which means, "Keep It Simple,
Stupid!"
Paul the apostle says, "For God is NOT the author of
confusion but of peace" (I Corinthians 14:33).
God further says in His Word that we are to take nothing for granted,
but commands us: "TEST ALL
THINGS; hold fast what is good" (I Thess.5:21).
Many people, perhaps, think that they are unable to
"prove" or "test" the calendar. It is too erudite and sophisticated. But such is not the case at all.
The basic principles a CHILD can be taught, and understand! All it takes is a little patience,
instruction, and a willingness to LEARN!
Most of the great laws of science, can be reduced to
simple equations. The laws of motion,
the laws of thermodynamics, the principle of gravity, even the famous E = mc2
of Albert Einstein states a basically simple premise, the energy of an object
equals its mass times the speed of light squared.
Even so, God's calendar was not meant to be confusing,
complex, or difficult! But with the additions
of Dechiah a and resultant innovations to "fix" the calendar, in 358
A.D., the resultant calendar does become complicated. However, once we remove the man-made postponements, it becomes
very simple once again!
How
did we get into such a pickle? How did
the Jewish leaders make such a "mess," in 358 A.D., when they could
have preserved the true calendar without making any arbitrary changes? The answer lies in one word: ATTITUDE!
Where Men Always Go
Astray
God says in His Word:
"Whatsoever I command you, be careful to observe it: you shall not add to it nor take away
from it" (Deuteronomy 12:32; KJV, See also Deut.4:1-2).
Human nature, however, seems impelled to rebel. Paul tells us about the unregenerate heart
of man: "Because the CARNAL MIND
is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can
be" (Rom.8:7). Jeremiah
adds: "The heart is deceitful
above all things, and desperately wicked:
Who can know it?" (Jer.17:9).
Solomon wrote in wisdom:
"There is a way that SEEMS right to a man, but its end is the way
of DEATH" (Prov.14:12). This
precept is so important that God inspired it to be repeated word for word in Proverbs 16:25!
But doing what may "seem right" isn't doing
what IS "right"! And although
making certain changes to the calendar by adding "postponements" to
accommodate religious sensitivities about the weekly Sabbath may have SEEMED
right to Hillel II and his colleagues, that did not make it right at all! The end result, God says, is DEATH! And DEATH is the wages -- the payment earned
-- for SIN (Romans 6:23). And
what is "SIN"? "Sin is
the transgression of the LAW" of God (I John 3:4, KJV).
To nullify God's law, to reject God's law, for the sake of a few human
TRADITIONS, is SIN -- lawlessness!
Isn't it time we study these matters fully, and become
fully convinced in our own minds -- and determine to obey God in ALL things, no
matter what the cost, humanly speaking?
God commands: "Be diligent
to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for
they will increase to more ungodliness.
And their message will spread like cancer" (II Tim.2:15-17).
As an old adage goes, "Close only counts in
horseshoes and hand grenades"!
People who observe the wrong day, in ignorance, can be forgiven. But to refuse to repent, and change, when
proven wrong -- that is tantamount to willful and deliberate SIN! It is very serious presumptuous transgression
of God's Law, His holy Word!
Remember, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of
knowledge," Solomon wrote (Proverbs 1:7), "but fools despise wisdom and
instruction."
"Repent -- Or
Perish!"
"Therefore to him who knows to do good and does not
do it, to him it is sin" (James 4:17).
Jesus Christ warned:
"Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered that will not
be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in
the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be
proclaimed on the housetops" (Luke 12:1-2).
Isn't it time we stop following the treacherous teachings
of hypocrites, and serve God in sincerity and truth? As Jesus said,
"You worship what you do not know; we
know what we
worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming,
and now is, when the TRUE WORSHIPERS will
worship
the Father in spirit and truth; for
the Father is seeking such
to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him
must worship in spirit and truth"
(John 4:22-24).
The time has come to repent, and to obey God and serve
Him and Him alone in sincerity, in spirit and in truth -- according to the truth of His Word.
How important is repentance and true obedience?
"And Jesus answered and said to them, Do
you suppose
that these Galileans [whose blood Pilate had
mingled with
their sacrifices] were worse sinners than all
other Galileans,
because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless
you REPENT, you will all
likewise perish."
The time has come to REPENT of tinkering and tampering
with the Holy Calendar of Almighty God, which He gave to His people! Yeshua the Messiah went on, saying:
"Or
those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed
them, do you think that these were worse
sinners than all other
men who dwell in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but UNLESS
YOU REPENT, you will all likewise PERISH"
(Luke 13:3-5).
It is a shame that so many of God's people are so
deceived, and bewitched, and so ignorant -- so trusting of their religious
leaders that they will follow them into the jaws of death and the gates of
Hell, before they would ever think of questioning them or their teachings!
It is up to each one of us to prove these things, and
then do what is RIGHT! Don't let men --
human leaders -- make excuses for sins, and lead you astray!
God says, "Bringing oblations is futile, incense is
offensive to me. New moon and sabbath,
proclaiming of solemnities, assemblies with iniquity, I cannot abide. YOUR new moons and fixed seasons fill me
with LOATHING; they are become a burden to me. I cannot endure them. And
when you lift up your hands, I will turn my eyes away from you; though you pray
at length, I will not listen. Your
hands are stained with crime -- WASH YOURSELVES CLEAN; put your evil doings
away from my sight. CEASE TO DO EVIL;
learn to do good. Devote yourselves to
justice; aid the wronged. Uphold the
rights of the orphan; defend the cause of the widow.
“Come, let us reach an understanding, -- says the
LORD. Be your sins like crimson, they can
turn snow-white; be they red as dyed wool, they can become like fleece. If, then, you agree and give heed, you will
eat the good things of the earth; but if you REFUSE and DISOBEY, you will be
DEVOURED [by] the sword. -- For it was
the LORD who spoke” (Isaiah 1:13-20, Tanakh).
This is the truth of God. Jesus Christ, Yeshua the Messiah, Himself told us just how
important the TRUTH is, for He said: "If you hold to my teaching, you are
really my disciples. Then you will
KNOW THE TRUTH, and the truth will set
you free" (John 8:32). Is it
not high time that we cleanse our hands of all the filth of error and
lawlessness, and man-made human traditions, which ignore the Laws of God? Is it not high time that we turn to the LORD
our God, in sincerity and in truth, and worship Him according to HIS WORD and
His commandments, faithfully, loyally, and whole-heartedly?
These matters are indeed serious business. As Paul said to the Athenians, "In the
past God overlooked such ignorance, but NOW he commands all people
everywhere to REPENT. For he has set a
day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed"
(Acts 17:30-31, NIV).
God challenges us, "PROVE ALL THINGS; hold fast that
which is GOOD" (I Thess.5:21). God
declares many are going to be deceived and led astray, and lose out on
salvation, during these last days, "because they did not receive the
love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that
they should believe the lie" (II Thess.2:10-11).
Do you LOVE the truth?