i attended a local Hebrew Roots congregation this past Sabbath. First, i am not a part of the Hebrew roots movement as defined by Hebrew Roots but i am a proponent of the whole of Elohim’s word. Anyway, i went to their Friday evening service, i did not intend to also be present for their Saturday service, but i was. The pastor is very passionate about Hanukkah and as it were, Hanukkah, is the holiday that started me on the path that i am on now. So with great interest i listened and took notes. While i was incarcerated i did lots of reading, in fact besides sleeping, reading was probably the thing i did the most. i also, penned 35 future blog posts. i had numbered them and was planning to put them up in the order they were numbered. However, with my visit this weekend to Everlasting Convenient, i am moving post 15 up 7 spots.

i was limited on my choice of Bibles but i did have two. Well, my celly had one which was an ESV provided by the Gideon’s and i had a NLT Life Application Study Bible i found in the little bookshelf that we had access. In it i was reading Leviticus, about the appointed times of YHWH.

Leviticus 23:1-5
And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘The Appointed Times of YHWH, which you are to proclaim as Holy Gatherings, My Appointed Times, are these:’”

Let me interject something here, look at the language being used, “Holy Gatherings” and “MY Appointed Times.” You will also note that in Exodus 12:48-49 YHWH gives instruction for the foreigner, and the sojourners within the camp who align with YHWH are to participate. He caps His instruction with: “There is ONE Torah (Law) for the native-born and for the stranger who sojourns among you.”

“‘Six days work is done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a Holy Gathering. You do no work, it is a Sabbath to YHWH in all your dwellings. These are the Appointed Times of YHWH, Holy Gatherings which you are to proclaim at their Appointed Times. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, between the evenings, is the Passover to YHWH.”

Note again, these are “MY Appointed Times.” i found it interesting that when i read this having a study Bible with notes i decided to read the note to see how the NLT scholars spinned, this one and here is what they wrote: “God established several national holidays each year for celebration, fellowship, and worship. Much can be learned about people by observing the holidays they celebrate and the way they celebrate them. Take note of your holidays. What do they say about your values? In what ways do your celebrations and holidays reflect your relationship with God?” (Emphasis Added)

Here we have in Leviticus, a clear declaration by YHWY on HIS Appointed Times for Holy Gatherings and the emphasis the scholars chose to make in their foot notes are about your holidays. What a disconnect to what Elohim was stating and in light of Exodus 12:49 and other places i feel we as the church are really missing out on His Appointed Times for our pagan influenced holidays. Not to mention that we as gentile believers are GRAFTED into ISRAEL. They are the root and the root keeps the branches alive.

“But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.” Romans 11:17-18

Just before this Paul writes about how we gentiles are in a sense, causing the Jews to feel jealous. Romans 11:11 “So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.” We do not replace them, we are grafted into them and therefore become part of the remnant of Elohim.

Remnant is by definition, uncommon. What are your uncommon traits? The world, secular, pagan, or Christian, celebrate Christmas with much of the same nonsense. Easter is a close second. These are both man made celebrations for they are not found or directed in Scripture. One could make this same argument for Hanukkah because it is not a gathering that was appointed by YHWH in the Torah. Rather, Hanukkah was birthed out of the Maccabean revolt. It is a celebration of the rededication of the Temple Altar after Antiochus Epiphanies invaded Judaea and sacrificed a pig on the altar in the temple. He also tried to change times, and seasons, the Holy Gatherings. This was predicted in Daniel, Antiochus was a type of Anti-Messiah, this will happen again. In Revelation we are told in the twelfth chapter seventeenth verse, “Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of Elohim and hold to the testimony of Yahoshua. And he stood on the sand of the sea.”

The New Testament Church is called to be different. In the world but not of the world. The Church is called to be different. The center candle of the Hanukkah Menorah is known as the servant candle, which lights the other candles. The eight days of Hanukkah are significant in remembering the faithfulness of Elohim. One could even say the servanthood of Messiah Yahoshua. The Church is called to be different. The rededication of the Altar in the Temple, restoration, new birth, we the Church and individually are the living Temple of Adonai Yahoshua. Hanukkah should be a time within the church and the family of rededication of our hearts to Yahoshua. It should be a time in which we serve as the center candle, lighting those around us. As Messiah served.

We are the light of the world, a city on a hill, called out of the world, and grafted into Israel. Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, a.k.a. Feast of Dedication. Did you know that Yahoshua Himself, celebrated and was a part of the Feast of Dedication? John 10:22 “At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Yahoshua was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.” Isn’t it our goal as followers of Yahoshua, to be like Him?

Imagine, if the fulfillment of Romans, in making the chosen people of Elohim jealous, is to celebrate the feasts, to honor the Sabbath, to rejoice in and rest in the Messiah of Israel, whom they rejected. It would stir jealousy if we honored YHWH of the Bible more if we actually honored Him as He lined out rather than the man made religion, with a Messiah the Jewish people easily dismiss as not their Messiah. Yet, it is their Messiah, Yahoshua, was and is their Messiah. The Father, YHWH, is the Elohim of Israel and we are grafted into Israel. Therefore, we should not ignore the root because we grow because of the root.

Should we honor our holidays or should we honor His Appointed Times, His Holy Gatherings? And if we are to celebrate human tradition or a holiday created by man, shouldn’t that holiday and or tradition not look like anything the world has to offer but be separate, holy, sacred? The Feast of Dedication, Hanukkah, a feast Yahoshua Himself honored seems like a pretty good place to start.

You are loved,
cj