Is celebrating the biblical feast of Shavuot (aka the Feast of Week or Pentecost) optional for the born-again, redeemed Israelite believer in Yeshua the Messiah in the 21st century?

The short answer is, “NO!” unless one considers the clear commands of the Word of Elohim to be merely suggestions and not commands. “NO!” unless one rejects following the examples of Yeshua, the Apostle Paul and the Book of Acts followers of Yeshua. “NO!” unless one has become so conditioned to following the traditions of men that have made of non-effect the Word of Elohim that they have become blind and deaf to the clear truth of the Scriptures.

You see, we live in an age where the majority of so-called “Bible believers” and church people are more concerned about feelings, popularity, majority consensus, what others think, having fun, being entertained, the lust of the flesh and eyes that most either don’t know what the Word of Elohim says, or don’t care. Oh, they will swear otherwise, but their actions speak louder than their words. Amos the prophet describes this spiritual sickness well when he referred to apostate Israel as suffering from a “famine of the hearing of the words of YHVH,” (Hos 8:11). You see, the word “hearing” in Hebrew is shema, which means not just “to hear,” but “to do and to obey” as well. It seems that nowadays, like then, a lot of folks hear, but few obey.

On May 27, 2012, we will be celebrating the biblical feast of Shavuot (Lev 23:15–22, Acts 2:1; 20:16). On this blog, and on our ministry website (hoshanarabbah.org) we have been promoting our congregation’s and our ministry’s Shavuot celebration to those in our local area (the Pacific Northwest U.S. region). Well, what prompted this blog post was an interesting response I received today from someone who thanked us for the announcement, but was sorry they couldn’t make it to Shavuot because they had a birthday party to attend instead.

So, I submit, once again, the question, is celebrating Shavuot optional? Let me list the reasons why it is not—according to the Word of Elohim—this is not just my opinion!

• Shavuot is a high holy day sabbath when YHVH commands his people to stop whatever they are doing and to meet with him on this day (Lev 23:1,15–21).
• YHVH enacted Shavuot as a statute for his people Israel(Lev 23:21).
• If you’re a follower of and believer in Yeshua then that makes you a son of Abraham (Gal 3:29), and an Israelite (Eph 2:11–19), and so the command to observe Shavuot applies to you. Only the pagan, heathens are exempted from this celebration.
• If you call yourself a Christian, Messianic, or a follower of Yeshua, then you’ll not want to risk being a hypocrite, but rather, you’ll want to do what he did and celebrate all of the biblical feasts including Shavuot. You’ll also want to follow the example of Paul who instructed us to imitate him as he imitated Yeshua by doing what Yeshua did (1 Cor 11:1). To imitate means to do exactly what someone else does. Yeshua celebrated Shavuot (Acts 20:16).
• If you love Yeshua, you will be keeping his commandments (John 14:15) of which Shavuot is one.
• Some believers in Yeshua feel that we only need to do what he directly commanded us to do. Well, he commanded his disciples to tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high, which occurred on the day of Pentecost (Luke 24:49; Acts 2:1–4). Therefore, he was commanding them to celebrate, which  they continued to do as we see from the example of Paul above.
• Finally, if there is any biblical feast that has precedence to be celebrated in our day, it should be the Feast of Pentecost, since, as many of us have been taught in our churches, the NT church was birthed on this day. So, if it was good enough for them, why not for us? And, it seems to me, that if there is any church group out there who should be celebrating Pentecost, it should be Pentecostals, right?

Preparing the Shabbat table — gleaming silver and satin white – is a labor of love.

One of the joys of Shabbat is the appearance and decor of the table upon which Shabbat meals are served. Shabbat meals are usually festive affairs, served in the dining room rather than the kitchen/breakfast nook where the rushed weekday meals are gobbled down.

The Shabbat meal is leisurely, interspersed with song, discussions of Torah topics and other enjoyable and wholesome conversation. It is the venue for children to tell their families what they’ve learned that week at school. It also is the setting for hospitality to guests and friends and a time for family anecdotes, reminiscences and bonding.

However, all emotional and spiritual experiences in this world require a physical framework.

The physical setting for the enhancement and release of the Shabbat meal’s atmosphere is the Shabbat table itself. There is no more direct and telling lesson that can be taught to the members of the household about the importance of Shabbat than the exhibition of the care and taste involved in preparing the Shabbat table. It is a labor of love, and different assignments regarding the table’s preparation can and should be delegated to different members of the family.

It is my personal experience with my children and grandchildren that those who are somewhat reluctant to share the burden of ordinary household chores are far more enthusiastic about fulfilling their obligations when it comes to setting the table for Sabbath.

Beautiful Cloths

The table is first covered with a Shabbat tablecloth. Such tablecloths are usually white, though they can be of any color. There are even special tablecloths with “Shabbat” embroidery or designs.

The concept of a tablecloth is not only one of beauty and practicality. The Shabbat table, which has two loaves of challah (bread) placed on it, is a symbol of the miraculous manna that sustained the Hebrews during their 40-year sojourn in the Sinai Desert after the Exodus from Egypt. While on normal weekdays only one portion of manna fell for each individual, on Fridays two measures of manna fell in the desert, one measure for Friday and one for Shabbat.

This is the origin of having two loaves of challah on the table for Shabbat meals. The manna that fell in the desert was sandwiched between two layers of dew that protected the manna from the sands below and the dust above it. Therefore, our custom is to sandwich the two loaves of challah between the tablecloth and a special cloth cover. The cover is usually decorated with “Shabbat” embroidery. Thus the tablecloth itself becomes a symbol of Hebrew/Israelite/Jewish history and memory.

Shabbat Queen

Before the meal, a goblet is placed on the table that will contain wine for the Kiddush blessing. This blessing refers to remembering Shabbat as a gift to Israel by God, and it sanctifies the meal about to be eaten. The goblet is usually made of silver, though almost any material can be used.

The finest dishes, silverware and tableware are used for Shabbat meals. In many homes, especially in Israel, flowers are placed on the table to add their flash of color. They also reflect the beauty of God’s world, created in six days before He “rested” on the seventh day, Shabbat. And of course, the glow of candlelight on Friday night casts an atmosphere of spirituality over the entire scene.

The Shabbat table, therefore, is more than just a utilitarian table upon which food is placed and eaten. In the words of the prophets of Israel, the Shabbat table becomes “the table that is placed before the Lord.” Shabbat itself is an honored “guest,” likened to a queen, in every Jewish home. Therefore, the table set before such an important and beloved guest must reflect the honor, happiness and satisfaction that the members of the household feel at entertaining such a guest in their home. In all of its beauty and dignity, the carefully set table speaks to us of the greatness and holiness of the Shabbat day itself.

*** * ***

Erev Shabbat Family Blessings

Following our ancestor Jacob in blessing his children, back in Genesis 49, in most homes the Father imparts the blessings (see Genesis 48:20)  on the family every Friday evening):  to his wife, his sons, and his daughters – in return, his wife then blesses him Psalm 1.  Today with many homes being headed by mothers with children, it is incumbent upon the mothers to bless their children and to teach the children to bless her, may they learn to ‘rise up and call her blessed’ Proverbs 31: 27-30.

Candle Lighting, Friday Evening
Baruch atah Adonai Elohenu melech ha alom, asher kidshanu b’mitzvahtav vetzi vonu l’chad leek ner, shel Shabbat. Amayn.

Blessed are you, oh Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us by His commandments and has commanded us to be a light to nations and has given us Yeshua the Messiah, the Light of the World. Amen.

Blessing over the Cup
Baruch atah Adonai Elohenu melech ha alom, borey p’ree ha gaphen. Amayn.

Blessed are thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. Amen.

Blessing over the Bread
Ha motzi le chem min ha eretz. We give thanks to God for bread, Our voices rise in song together, as our joyful prayer is said. Baruch atah Adonai Elohenu melech ha alom, Ha motzi le chem min ha eretz. Amayn.

Blessed are thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from out of the earth. Amen.

The Husband: Blessing our Wives

Father, we thank You for giving us wives of proverbs (31:10-31); and Lord I thank you for the wife that You’ve given me.

May you _______ be blessed as you rise while it is yet night to see about the ways of our household and may you be blessed as you see about the daily care and education of our children.  May your mouth be filled with wisdom and kindness.  May your heart meditate on the power and the glory of the Lord and may your hands perform the mitzvot, as you do the work of Yeshua. Amen.

Father/ Parent: Blessing our Sons
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He cause His face to shine upon you.
May He lift up His countenance upon you and grant you peace.

May you be as Ephraim and Manassah. May the Lord always be with you.
May He bring you home unto the land prepared for you.

(Father adds) May God Bless you and grant you long life.
(Mother adds) May the Lord fulfill our Sabbath prayer for you.

May God make you good husbands and fathers.
(Father) May He prepare and send holy wives for you.

May the Lord protect and defend you. May His spirit fill you with grace.
May our family grow in happiness, please hear our Shabbat prayer. Amen.

Blessing over our Daughters
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He cause His face to shine upon you.
May He lift up His countenance upon you and grant you peace.

May you be as Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel and Leah. May the Lord always be with you.
May He bring you home unto the land prepared for you.

(Father) May God Bless you and grant you long life.
(Mother) May the Lord fulfill our Sabbath prayer for you. May God make you good mothers and wives.
(Father) May He bring you a husband who will love, cherish, and care for you.

May the Lord protect and defend you. May His spirit fill you with grace.
May our family grow in happiness, Father, please hear our Shabbat prayer. Amen.

Barchu / Blessing
Leader: Barchu et Adonai ham vo-rach.
All: Baruch Adonai ham vo-rach le-olam va-ed.
Leader: Blessed be the Lord who is to be praised
All: Blessed be the Lord who is praised for all eternity.

Mechamocha
All: Me-cha mo-cha bah-ay-leem Adonai. Me-cha mo-cha neh-dahr bah-ko-desh.

No-rah te-he-lote O-sey feh-leh, O-sey feh-leh.
All: Who is like You, Oh Lord among the gods? Who is like You, Lord there is none else.

You are awesome in praise, doing wonders, Oh Lord. Who is like You, Oh Lord.

Blessing of Messiah
Leader: Ba-ruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher na-tahn lanoo et deh-rech ha-ya-shoo-ah b’meh-shee-ach Yeshua.

All: Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has given us the way of salvation in Messiah Yeshua.

Ve’sham’roo
Leader: Ve-sham-roo ve-nay Yisrael et ha-shabbat le-dor-otam be-reet olam.

Be-nay oo-va-yan benay Yisrael ot hee le-olam kee she-shet ya-amin a sah Adonai

et ha-sha-ma-yeem v’et ha-eretz oo-va-yom ha-shevee-ee sha-vat vay-een-a-fash

All: The children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath and observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel

forever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased

from His work and rested.

Shema
All: Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad.

Baruch shem ke-vod mal-choo-to lay-olam va-ed.

Yeshua, ha-ma-she-ach, hoo Adonai.

All: Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.

Blessed be His name, whose glorious kingdom is forever and ever.

Yeshua the Messiah, He is Lord.

Aaronic Blessing
Ye-va-recha Adonai ve-yeesh-me-recha. Ya-er Adonai panav e-ley-cha vee-choo-ne-cha. Yeesa Adonai panav e-lay-cha Shalom. B’Shem Yeshua ha-ma-she-ach sar ha-shalom, shalom.

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. In the name of Yeshua the Messiah, the Prince of Peace, Shalom.

Leviticus 12
Hear full message here:http://torahclass.com/old-testament-studies/36-old-testament-studies-leviticus/171-lesson 19-chapter12-13

Women, Blood, and Yeshua’s Atonement

… we found that the Torah compares the type and level of impurity for the new mother with the woman who is in her monthly cycle; in both cases, she is unclean for a set period of time, and is barred from being in the presence of holiness until that time passes and she is immersed.

… there is nothing but mere words to explain a spiritual mystery that might seem like a mechanical process, but it is not. To begin I want to reiterate in the strongest possible terms that unclean is NOT a state that a Believer in Yeshua faces any longer. Ladies, as Believers, you do NOT become ritually impure each month, nor during childbirth. As a result of your trust in Christ, YOU remain holy and clean. In fact, as I have explained, by all I can ascertain from Holy Scripture no Believer can ever be defiled into an unclean condition as long as they ARE a Believer……because Yeshua’s atoning blood is at work at every moment. In our temporal world of time and space Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross is said to be “once and for all”. That is it was a one-time event. In terms of the Torah and the Old Testament and the sacrificial system, one would say that His single sacrificial offering of His own body satisfied all matters where ritual sacrifice was needed for atonement. Yet, in the spiritual world where there is no time and space, it is as though His sacrifice is ongoing. It’s not another and another and another……it’s the same one, continuing, endless, eternal.

Sin…at least in the sense of bad behavior or disobedience or a breaking of the Levitical rules and regulations…..obviously is not at play here in the matter of ritual impurity for the new mother. So we see that we cannot equate the commission of sin with becoming unclean in every case. Yet unclean IS associated with sin. Let me explain: in the same way that some non-Believers……wonderful, caring, loving (but unsaved) people…..can SEEM to be living a nearly perfect life (Gandhi for example), a model life that I wish at times that I lived…..in fact, even if they did not commit any sins their very nature is sinful due to their relationship with Adam and Eve. Christians call this our sin nature, and just as the bad behavior….the commission of identifiable transgressions against the Father….must be atoned for, so must our sin natures be atoned for. That is why it is said that innocent babies who haven’t even had an opportunity to commit disobediences against God, are still in a sinful state……because they carry in their natures the results of the fall of our common earthly ancestors, Adam and Eve.  It is in this sense where sin and unclean meet. Our sin nature will eventually produce uncleanness. Not a thing we can do about that….EXCEPT…..to rely on Yeshua’s atoning work for on our behalf.

BEFORE Christ it was the ‘Olah sacrifice….what we typically call the burnt offering…..that was designed to atone NOT for acts of sinful behavior or disobedience…..but for the Israelites’ sinful, and therefore unclean, natures. …. the ‘Olah and Minchah sacrifices; and in fact these sacrifices had nothing to do with committing trespasses against Yehoveh. It wasn’t until we got to the Hatta’at, the Asham, and the Zevah sacrifices that the Torah began to deal with sins against God and the impurity that sin produces. And notice that it is the ’Olah sacrifice that is required in Leviticus 12 of the new mother…..a sacrifice that has to do with atoning for her sinful nature. And then of course, the Hatta’at is also required because it has to do with purification……that is it is the price that is paid for her moving from an unclean to a clean state….from impure to pure. Jesus pays the price for our moving from unclean to clean (like the Hatta’at), and for moving from clean to holy (like the ‘Olah).

We also saw that a carefully orchestrated process had to occur to bring the new mother back from her uncleanness, to a state of cleanness, and from there to a restored state of holiness. Step one was waiting the required time, 40 days for a boy baby, 80 days for a girl baby. Step two (which we’ll see in later chapters) was a ritual bath….immersion in a Mikvah. This brought her from her defiled state of ritual impurity, uncleanness, back to a state of ritual purity, clean.

And now that she is clean again, she is ELIGIBLE to be made holy. To attain this holy status she must offer two (3, really) sacrifices of atonement…….the ‘Olah and the Hatta’at. If the sacrifices are properly performed she is consecrated and made acceptable to Yehoveh…..and readmitted to the group (the group being Israel) as a holy person. So, in my ladder of holiness analogy, she presumably enters her pregnancy on an upper rung, in a state of holiness. Childbirth knocks her off that ladder and down into a state of uncleanness. Her goal is now to work her way back up that ladder…..from unclean to clean….and then from clean to holy.

The stages of becoming holy works like that with us, today. First, while we begin life as clean, our sin nature will inevitably take us into unclean behaviors and thus we must come OUT from our uncleanness back to a clean state. As St. Paul explains:

 Ephesians 5:5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.     And in

 2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you…..”

That is when we hear Yeshua calling to us, and make the decision that we are going to become a member of the Kingdom of God, forsaking that which is against God……this removes us from the status of the world-at-large and joins us to Israel and her covenants ( this is spiritual true Israel, not physical earthly Israel). Once we are cleansed by Yeshua (as the source of living water), then we can be made holy and acceptable to God by His blood. Now since this a spiritual matter, it all happens rather simultaneously for us….it’s not as though we can discern these separate and distinct steps from unclean, to clean, to holy as we saw here in Leviticus. But the spiritual principle for the process is taught to us here in chapter 12, and in other places in the Torah; how one can go from unclean to holy is broken down into bite-sized chunks that we can see and understand….. which, I maintain, is the primary purpose of Torah; to allow us to see and conceptualize and understand some infinite spiritual principles….chief among these being what sin is and what holiness is….. in a way our finite fleshly minds can grasp.

Don’t ask me how all this happens in each individual…..or when the exact moment is that we move from unclean to clean, and then from clean to holy. I suspect it’s a little different for each individual….but maybe not. Yet, the process has ALWAYS been the same, and the need for a blood sacrifice to take us from the merely clean to the sanctified and holy is required just as it always has been.

In the time before Christ, it was a series of specific sacrifices, performed again and again, to carry out this process; since the advent of Yeshua, it is HIS blood that is required…..not the blood of animals. And, of major importance and Good News for us is that there is no more holiness ladder to climb, fall off, and climb back up again. A Believer remains holy, and generally speaking, NEVER can be in a state of uncleanness….impurity….even if we should come into contact with uncleanness. We most certainly can be in a state of rebellion….which is basically a sustained time of disobedience to Yehoveh….but even THAT doesn’t make us unclean…..or more importantly, we don’t necessarily lose our holy status (but apparently it can lead to losing it).

Let us never forget, however, that while disobedience does not generally cost us our salvation, it most certainly is an important matter to our Lord. If we love Him, why would we ever want to be disobedient to Him. As Paul says in NIV Romans 6:1 “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?”

 Water Purifies … Blood Atones

While we’ll cover aspects of the process of becoming clean from a state of uncleanness at a later time let me point out something that I’ll bring up again later: water is the purifying agent, while blood is the atoning agent. It is water that is used (immersion) to make an unclean person or thing clean, but it is blood that makes a clean person or thing holy.

That is why we are told that when the Roman soldier poked his spear into Jesus’ lifeless body, water poured out along with blood. Jesus called Himself “living water”. Living water was needed to purify, blood was needed to atone. We sing mostly of our Savior’s blood; but in fact His blood would have been of no use to us if He had not (in a spiritual sense) FIRST immersed us in His living water. That small little statement in the NT about the water and blood that poured from His side had great meaning to the Jews who witnessed it because they understand the necessity of both water and blood.

Leviticus 12

Hear full message here:

http://torahclass.com/old-testament-studies/36-old-testament-studies-leviticus/171-lesson-19-chapter12-13

Women, Blood, and Yeshua’s Atonement

… we found that the Torah compares the type and level of impurity for the new mother with the woman who is in her monthly cycle; in both cases, she is unclean for a set period of time, and is barred from being in the presence of holiness until that time passes and she is immersed.

… there is nothing but mere words to explain a spiritual mystery that might seem like a mechanical process, but it is not. To begin I want to reiterate in the strongest possible terms that unclean is NOT a state that a Believer in Yeshua faces any longer. Ladies, as Believers, you do NOT become ritually impure each month, nor during childbirth. As a result of your trust in Christ, YOU remain holy and clean. In fact, as I have explained, by all I can ascertain from Holy Scripture no Believer can ever be defiled into an unclean condition as long as they ARE a Believer……because Yeshua’s atoning blood is at work at every moment. In our temporal world of time and space Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross is said to be “once and for all”. That is it was a one-time event. In terms of the Torah and the Old Testament and the sacrificial system, one would say that His single sacrificial offering of His own body satisfied all matters where ritual sacrifice was needed for atonement. Yet, in the spiritual world where there is no time and space, it is as though His sacrifice is ongoing. It’s not another and another and another……it’s the same one, continuing, endless, eternal.

Sin…at least in the sense of bad behavior or disobedience or a breaking of the Levitical rules and regulations…..obviously is not at play here in the matter of ritual impurity for the new mother. So we see that we cannot equate the commission of sin with becoming unclean in every case. Yet unclean IS associated with sin. Let me explain: in the same way that some non-Believers……wonderful, caring, loving (but unsaved) people…..can SEEM to be living a nearly perfect life (Gandhi for example), a model life that I wish at times that I lived…..in fact, even if they did not commit any sins their very nature is sinful due to their relationship with Adam and Eve. Christians call this our sin nature, and just as the bad behavior….the commission of identifiable transgressions against the Father….must be atoned for, so must our sin natures be atoned for. That is why it is said that innocent babies who haven’t even had an opportunity to commit disobediences against God, are still in a sinful state……because they carry in their natures the results of the fall of our common earthly ancestors, Adam and Eve.  It is in this sense where sin and unclean meet. Our sin nature will eventually produce uncleanness. Not a thing we can do about that….EXCEPT…..to rely on Yeshua’s atoning work for on our behalf.

BEFORE Christ it was the ‘Olah sacrifice….what we typically call the burnt offering…..that was designed to atone NOT for acts of sinful behavior or disobedience…..but for the Israelites’ sinful, and therefore unclean, natures. …. the ‘Olah and Minchah sacrifices; and in fact these sacrifices had nothing to do with committing trespasses against Yehoveh. It wasn’t until we got to the Hatta’at, the Asham, and the Zevah sacrifices that the Torah began to deal with sins against God and the impurity that sin produces. And notice that it is the ’Olah sacrifice that is required in Leviticus 12 of the new mother…..a sacrifice that has to do with atoning for her sinful nature. And then of course, the Hatta’at is also required because it has to do with purification……that is it is the price that is paid for her moving from an unclean to a clean state….from impure to pure. Jesus pays the price for our moving from unclean to clean (like the Hatta’at), and for moving from clean to holy (like the ‘Olah).

We also saw that a carefully orchestrated process had to occur to bring the new mother back from her uncleanness, to a state of cleanness, and from there to a restored state of holiness. Step one was waiting the required time, 40 days for a boy baby, 80 days for a girl baby. Step two (which we’ll see in later chapters) was a ritual bath….immersion in a Mikvah. This brought her from her defiled state of ritual impurity, uncleanness, back to a state of ritual purity, clean.

And now that she is clean again, she is ELIGIBLE to be made holy. To attain this holy status she must offer two (3, really) sacrifices of atonement…….the ‘Olah and the Hatta’at. If the sacrifices are properly performed she is consecrated and made acceptable to Yehoveh…..and readmitted to the group (the group being Israel) as a holy person. So, in my ladder of holiness analogy, she presumably enters her pregnancy on an upper rung, in a state of holiness. Childbirth knocks her off that ladder and down into a state of uncleanness. Her goal is now to work her way back up that ladder…..from unclean to clean….and then from clean to holy.

The stages of becoming holy works like that with us, today. First, while we begin life as clean, our sin nature will inevitably take us into unclean behaviors and thus we must come OUT from our uncleanness back to a clean state. As St. Paul explains:

Ephesians 5:5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.     And in

 2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you…..”

That is when we hear Yeshua calling to us, and make the decision that we are going to become a member of the Kingdom of God, forsaking that which is against God……this removes us from the status of the world-at-large and joins us to Israel and her covenants ( this is spiritual true Israel, not physical earthly Israel). Once we are cleansed by Yeshua (as the source of living water), then we can be made holy and acceptable to God by His blood. Now since this a spiritual matter, it all happens rather simultaneously for us….it’s not as though we can discern these separate and distinct steps from unclean, to clean, to holy as we saw here in Leviticus. But the spiritual principle for the process is taught to us here in chapter 12, and in other places in the Torah; how one can go from unclean to holy is broken down into bite-sized chunks that we can see and understand….. which, I maintain, is the primary purpose of Torah; to allow us to see and conceptualize and understand some infinite spiritual principles….chief among these being what sin is and what holiness is….. in a way our finite fleshly minds can grasp.

Don’t ask me how all this happens in each individual…..or when the exact moment is that we move from unclean to clean, and then from clean to holy. I suspect it’s a little different for each individual….but maybe not. Yet, the process has ALWAYS been the same, and the need for a blood sacrifice to take us from the merely clean to the sanctified and holy is required just as it always has been.

In the time before Christ, it was a series of specific sacrifices, performed again and again, to carry out this process; since the advent of Yeshua, it is HIS blood that is required…..not the blood of animals. And, of major importance and Good News for us is that there is no more holiness ladder to climb, fall off, and climb back up again. A Believer remains holy, and generally speaking, NEVER can be in a state of uncleanness….impurity….even if we should come into contact with uncleanness. We most certainly can be in a state of rebellion….which is basically a sustained time of disobedience to Yehoveh….but even THAT doesn’t make us unclean…..or more importantly, we don’t necessarily lose our holy status (but apparently it can lead to losing it).

Let us never forget, however, that while disobedience does not generally cost us our salvation, it most certainly is an important matter to our Lord. If we love Him, why would we ever want to be disobedient to Him. As Paul says in NIV Romans 6:1 “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?”

Water Purifies … Blood Atones

While we’ll cover aspects of the process of becoming clean from a state of uncleanness at a later time let me point out something that I’ll bring up again later: water is the purifying agent, while blood is the atoning agent. It is water that is used (immersion) to make an unclean person or thing clean, but it is blood that makes a clean person or thing holy.

That is why we are told that when the Roman soldier poked his spear into Jesus’ lifeless body, water poured out along with blood. Jesus called Himself “living water”. Living water was needed to purify, blood was needed to atone. We sing mostly of our Savior’s blood; but in fact His blood would have been of no use to us if He had not (in a spiritual sense) FIRST immersed us in His living water. That small little statement in the NT about the water and blood that poured from His side had great meaning to the Jews who witnessed it because they understand the necessity of both water and blood.

Now let’s look at the ritual for cleansing a metzora (one with a skin disease—a picture of our sinfulness) who had tzaraas (an infectious skin disease caused by sin).

Verses 4–7, two birds: One bird (likely a dove or pigeon) was killed in a clay pot over running water. The other bird along with the cedar wood, scarlet cloth and hyssop were dipped into the clay pot containing the blood from the killed bird and the running water. The water blood mixture was then sprinkled on the diseased person (metzora) who was being purified, and the living bird was let loose and allowed to fly away. There is a lot going on here, but it all prophetically pointed to Yeshua’s death, burial and resurrection. Before deciphering this ritual out, perhaps it would help to understand the spiritual meaning of the wood, scarlet and hyssop, which we will explain next.

Verse 4, cedar wood: What was Yeshua crucified on? (Read John 19:17–18; Acts 5:30.)

Verse 4, scarlet: Scarlet is the color of blood and in the Bible pictures blood. What did Yeshua’s blood do for our sins? (Read Isa 1:18; Rev 7:14.)

Verse 4, hyssop: Hyssop (in reality, probably thyme or oregano) represented an essential oil that was known for its healing, cleansing and disease-killing properties. How would this point to Yeshua’s death on the cross? (Read Exod 12:22; Ps 51:7; John 19:29.)

Verses 7–8, The metzora was sprinkled with the water and blood mixture, he then bathed himself and washed his clothes. What is this a picture of in the redeemed believer’s life? (Read Acts 2:38; Rom 6:3–6.)

Verses 10–32, Three yearling lambs were offered for a trespass, sin and burnt offering. How does this point to Yeshua? (Read John 1:29,36; Rev 13:8; 1 Pet 1:19.)

Now let’s take another look at verses 4–7 and the two birds to see how they pointed to Yeshua. The one bird being sacrificed and his blood being sprinkled as part of the cleansing process for the sinner is an obvious picture of what? But what about the bird that was let loose? What does this picture? Imagine letting a live bird loose out of your hands. What would he immediately do? Fly up and away, right? If the birds represent Yeshua, and the killed bird represents his death on the cross, then what does the live bird flying away represent? (Read Acts 3:15; 4:10; 1 Pet 1:3.)

What does the blood of the bird in verse 6 represent? How does it point to Yeshua? (Read Lev 17:11; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14; 1 Pet 1:18–19; 1 John 1:7; Rev 7:14).

What does the clay pot in verse 5 represent? How does this point to Yeshua? (Read Gen 2:7; 2 Cor 4:7; 5:1.)

What does the running or living water in verse 5 represent? (Read Eph 5:26.) Who is the Word of Elohim? (Read John 1:1–14.) Who is the sources of that living water? (Read John 4:10–14; 7:37–39.)

We have before us a picture of a clay pot filled with living water, into which is poured blood from a sacrificed bird. Into all that is dipped hyssop, a piece of wood and some scarlet cloth. This is a perfect picture of Yeshua’s death on the cross and how that death atoned for our sins. But though Yeshua died on the cross, he did not stay dead, but resurrected out of the grave three days later and returned to his Father in heaven. This is pictured by the bird that was let loose to fly away.

Although this was such a simple ceremony, described in a few short verses in Leviticus 14, yet when you look carefully at it, do you notice how rich in meaning it is? Thankfully, we have the Scriptures in the Testimony of Yeshua to help us to understand the meaning of this otherwise mysterious cleansing ritual!

ראש חודש
Blessing For the New Month
May it be your will YHVH God of our
Fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to renew
This month to us for goodness and blessing.
Grant us long life, peace, goodness, and sustenance,
A life in which there will be love of your
Torah and awe of Heaven.

YHVH who did miracles for our Fathers and
Redeemed them from slavery unto freedom,
Speedily redeem us and regather our dispersed ones

From the four corners of the earth.
Amen!

This new month, may it come upon us and upon all Israel for good.
May the Holy One, blessed be He, renew upon us
And all your people the whole House of Israel:
Life, peace, happiness, salvation, and consolation
And let us say
אמן Amen, Halleluyah!

The results are what you see.  Notice the fine details in some of the photos.  Many people are already plotting for next year!  That was fun!

Counting the Omer, or Sefiras Ha’Omer is a blessing waiting to happen, we start counting from Sunday April 8, 2012 and we end at Shauvot!  As we obey our Abba, we are blessed.

‘You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the LORD.  Leviticus 23:15-17

Here’s how to count:

Every night, at sunset, we say the following blessing, and then count:

Baruch Atah Adonai Elohainu Melech Ha-olam, Asher Kid’shanu B’Mitzvotav V’tzi-vanu Al Sefirat Ha-Omer.

Blessed are You, Lrd our God, King of the Universe, Who has made us holy with His Commandments, and commanded us concerning the counting of the Omer.

Then we count the day saying: “Today is the _____ day of the Omer.”

Each time you count a day of the Omer, color in the space on the chart above for that day.

http://www.aish.com/h/o/t/48970201.html   

The Counting of the Omer – First Fruits to Shavuot

“And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath…Count
fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain
offering to the Lord.”
(Leviticus 23: 15-16 NKJV)

The Counting of the Omer covers a fifty-day period of time from the
Feast of First Fruits until Shavuot (Pentecost). Beginning with the
day of First Fruits, each subsequent day is counted for
seven complete weeks, plus one day – fifty days.

During the Counting of the Omer, we “count up” to the
Feast of Shavuot (the 50th Day) with each day of counting,
adding to the growing expectation of what Pentecost will bring.

During the Counting of the Omer, each day
a verse from Psalms 119 is read and meditated upon,
causing us to review the condition of our hearts before God