Leviticus 23?

Many people like me desire to observe the Holy Days of Leviticus 23. However, while the laws contain eternal truths, they are couched in the technology and culture of when they were first revealed. It is difficult, if not impossible, to woodenly port these over into a modern observance; instead they need to be morphed to modern times while always being aware of the various principles expounded in the Law.

These principles include: The Principle of Worship (a Holy Convocation in the KJV Bible); The Principle of Pilgrimage (you need a critical mass of people); The Principle of the Placement of God's Name; The Principle of Temporary Shelters (booths); The Principle of Sacrifice; the Principle of Tithing (There was a separate tithe for these observances);The Principle of Community (There are aspects of community sharing); The Seasonal Principle (3 times in the year); The Principle of Decoration; The Principle of Beer Drinking (rejoicing by means of physical food consumption); and finally the principle of Education (the Torah was to be read every 7 years). To a degree these principles are in tension with each other. For example: it is difficult to construct, transport, and live in a temporary structure and travel a few hundred miles to a pilgrimage festival site; and it is difficult to listen to the Torah being read and explained and do anything else that year. 

We will discuss these principles over the next few weeks in future blog posts leading up to and including the Feast of Tabernacles, and hopefully come to some conclusions about modern festival observance. I will begin tomorrow with an overview of the various festivals discussed in Leviticus 23. 

Going Too Fast, or Going To Fast

Not eating food for a period of time for meditative or religious reasons goes way back in history. Most cultures do it. Looking at my waist, I can see that this is not a common practice here in America. 

Jesus was criticized because his disciples did not fast in the prescribed manner of the Pharisees, twice in the week, in fact. Here is what he said (Mat 9):

¹⁴ Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

 ¹⁵ Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

(Jesus as the bridegroom and we his followers as the bride continues the pattern I mentioned in a previous post on Revelation 21-22.) 

The point here is that Jesus expects his disciples to fast after his departure. Do you fast? 

Matt 6 tells us this:

¹⁶ “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ¹⁷ But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Jesus did not say: "If you fast." He said: "When you fast." Do you fast? 

To begin a series on the feasts of Leviticus 23 I thought I would begin by pointing out that tomorrow is the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). Leviticus 23 tells us:

²⁶ The LORD said to Moses, ²⁷ “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the LORD. ²⁸Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God. ²⁹ Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people. ³⁰ I will destroy from among their people anyone who does any work on that day. ³¹ You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. ³² It is a day of sabbath rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”

The phrase “deny yourself” is idiomatic and refers to fasting. 

So Jesus said his disciples would fast after he had departed. Leviticus 23 tells us that tomorrow is a day of fasting. Do you fast? If not tomorrow, when? 

Update on Friday, October 7, 2011 at 6:01AM by [Positive Dennis]

I decided to have this part as an update to draw attention to it. There are obviously people who should not fast due to medical reasons. Looking back over my "religious life," I can see that common sense was sometimes lacking. I suggest you use common sense on the issue of fasting. 

Is It True What They Say About Ann?

Is Ann Coulter Anti-Semitic?

A few years ago, Ann Coulter shocked (what a surprise!) her interviewer, TV host Donny Deutsch. She suggested that Jews should become Christian, that to do so was to perfect themselves. Deutsch was not at all pleased and accused Coulter of being an Anti-Semite.

For the full details follow the link--

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,301216,00.html

The whole point of the New Testament is that “Jesus is the way.”

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Thus for a Christian, there is no access to God apart from Jesus. How can pointing that out be such a terrible thing? My guess is that Deutsch may not understand the exclusive claims made by Jesus and the New Testament. Why wouldn't a follower of a religion advocate that religion?

Most religions make mutually exclusive statements. If Christianity is "true" then Buddhism cannot be. I think one thing that may be going on has to do with the “afterlife.” If, as most Christians claim to believe, when non-Christians die they go immediately to be tortured forever in an ever-burning Hell, then one could see that this exclusiveness is a bit of a problem—logically speaking. But if the dead sleep until the Judgment, and that Judgment implies an opportunity for salvation, then it looks a little different.

Pam Dewey in her blog, nondante, discusses this issue with reference to the ultimate fate of Ann Frank. 

Pam has also written an ebook on hell. Is it true what they say about Hell?

Hell no, Ann is not Anti-Semitic.

Anti-Semitism and John Hagee

On a forum I frequent there was a discussion about televangelist John Hagee. I decided to watch him for a period to see for myself what the fuss was about. When he did so, he has made some rather odd statements, and I'll paraphrase them as I did not write down the exact words: "Jesus died on the Cross for Gentiles"; "The Jews did not reject Jesus as Messiah"; and "Jesus did not come the first time to be the Messiah." Maybe Hagee was just being inexact in his wording and did not mean what these statements seem to say! It seemed to me obvious and easy to demonstrate that these statements are wrong.

 John 3:16 tells us who Jesus died for?

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Did the Jews reject Jesus? Romans 9 tells us:

³⁰ What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; ³¹ but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. ³² Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. ³³ As it is written:

   “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble 
   and a rock that makes them fall, 
   and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”

Did Jesus claim to be the Messiah? Matt. 16:15-17 tells us

¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

 ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

 ¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 

But perhaps the most disturbing comment by Hagee was this:

"If you criticize the Jew across the street, that is Anti-semitism, and that will send you to Hell."

Yes I see no reason to criticize my Jewish neighbor, for being Jewish, but a blanket inability to criticize someone because they are of a particular ethnic group? That makes no sense. Is Hagee saying that one should not evangelize a Jew? 

It seems to me that if we are hypersensitive on this issue, public discourse is impossible. As an observer of the Seven Day Sabbath and the Holy Days of Leviticus 23 (which many consider to be "Jewish" Holy Days) I am sure that most would classify me as a Judeophile, yet some of the very things that make me a Christian (i.e. Jesus is Lord) are regarded by some as Anti-semitic, as we will see in a future blog post.

Translating the Bible

I do not agree with everything said in this presentation, but it gives a good introduction to the subject of Bible translating. I am reading his book, so there will be more of this topic here in the future.