Posted on 09/20/2006 10:14:32 AM PDT by Buggman
As many of you already know, we are entering into the fall High Holy Days, comprised of the Feasts of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. Just as the spring Feastdays celebrate the First Coming of Messiah Yeshua, and Shavuot (Pentecost) celebrates the giving of the Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit) to the Ekklesia in between the visitations of Yeshua, the Fall Feastdays look forward to His Second Coming—and in particular, the Feast of Trumpets looks forward to His Glorious Appearance in the clouds of heaven!
The day which this year falls on September 23 (beginning at sundown the previous night) is known by many names, but is little understood. The most commonly used today is Rosh Hashanah, the Head of the Year or New Year, and is regarded as the start of the Jewish civil calendar. (The religious calendar begins on the first of Nisan, fourteen days before Passover, in accordance with Exo. 12:2.) For this reasons, Jews will greet each other with the phrase, “L’shana tova u-metukah,” “May you have a good and sweet new year” or simply “Shanah tova,” “A good year.” In anticipation of this sweet new year, it is customary to eat a sweet fruit, like an apple or carrot dipped in honey.
The Talmud records the belief that “In the month of Tishri, the world was created” (Rosh Hashanah 10b), and its probably due to this belief that it became known as the Jewish New Year. The belief that the world was created on Rosh Hashanah came out of an anagram: The letters of the first word in the Bible, “In the beginning . . .” (B’resheit) can be rearranged to say, “1 Tishri” (Aleph b’Tishri). Perhaps because so little is directly said in Scripture about this day—unlike all of the other Feastdays, there is no historical precedent given to explain why Rosh Hashanah should be celebrated—the rabbis also speculated that Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Samuel were all born on this day.
However, that’s not it’s Biblical name, which is Yom Teruah, the Day of the [Trumpet] Blast:
And YHVH spake unto Moses, saying, “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing (Heb. zikrown teruah) [of trumpets], an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto YHVH.’” (Lev. 23:23-25)In each of these passages, I’ve placed “trumpets” in brackets because it’s not actually in the Hebrew text; however, teruah can and usually does mean to sound the trumpet (though it can mean to shout with a voice as well) and the use of a trumpet on this day is considered so axiomatic that there is literally no debate in Jewish tradition on the matter. Specifically, the trumpet used is the shofar. The shofar is traditionally always made from the horn of a ram, in honor of the ram that God substituted for Isaac, and never from a bull’s horn, in memory of the sin of the golden calf.And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing (teruah) [the trumpets] unto you. (Num. 29:1)
The shofar first appears in Scripture as heralding the visible appearance of God coming down on Mt. Sinai to meet with His people (Ex. 19:16-19). It is also linked with His Coming in Zec. 9:14 and with Him going up (making aliyah) to Jerusalem in Psa. 47:5. Small wonder then that Yeshua said He would Come again with the sound of a trumpet, a shofar, in Mat. 24:31, which is echoed by Sha’ul (Paul) in 1 Th. 4:16 and 1 Co. 15:52. Indeed, many commentators have recognized that by “the last trump,” Sha’ul was referring to the final shofar blast, called the Tekia HaGadol, of the Feast of Trumpets.
This visitation by YHVH is closely associated with the second of this Feastdays names: Yom Zikkroun, the Day of Remembrance. This is not primarily meant to be a day when the people remember God, but when God remembers His people—not that He has forgotten them, but in which He fulfills His promises to them by Coming to them. In Isa. 27:13, it is the instrument used to call God’s people Israel back to the Land. In Psalm 27, which is traditionally read in the month leading up to Yom Teruah, we see the Psalmist looking forward to God rescuing him from his enemies:
Among the rabbis, the shofar is often associated with the Coming of the Messiah and the Resurrection of the Dead as well. “According to the Alphabet Midrash of Rabbi Akiva, seven shofars announce successive steps of the resurrection process, with Zechariah 9:14 quoted as a proof text: ‘And Adonai the Lord will blow the shofar’” (Stern, David H., Jewish New Testament Commentary, 489f). “And it is the shofar that the Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to blow when the Son of David, our righteous one, will reveal himself, as it is said, ‘And the Lord GOD will blow the shofar’” (Tanna debe Eliyahu Zutta XXII). It’s interesting that the rabbis, without the benefit of the New Covenant writings, have come to the same conclusions as the Apostles: That YHVH would visit His people in the person of the Messiah and raise the dead on Yom Teruah (also in the Bablyonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 16b). On Yom Teruah, the shofar not only rouses the people from their complacency, but the very dead from their graves. (See Job 19:25-27, Isa. 26:19, and Dan. 12:2 for the Tanakh’s primary passages on the Resurrection.)Though an host should encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear:
Though war should rise against me,
In this will I be confident . . .For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion:
In the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me;
He shall set me up upon a rock. . .
The shofar is an instrument that is very much associated with war (Jdg. 3:27, 2 Sa. 20:1, Neh. 4:18-22, Ezk. 33:3-6). It was used to destroy the walls of Jericho (Jdg. 6:20). In Joel 2:1, it sounds the start of the Day of the Lord, the time in which God will make war on His enemies: “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the Day of YHVH cometh, for it is nigh at hand” (cf. v. 15). This again matches perfectly with the NT, where Sha’ul describes the Lord’s coming with a trumpet immediately preceding the Day of the Lord (1 Th. 4:16, 5:2).
This brings us to the next name for this Feastday, Yom HaDin, Judgment Day. Not only did the shofar sound the call for war, but also the coronation of kings (2 Sa. 15:10; 1 Ki. 1:34, 29; 2 Ki. 9:13, 11:12-14). Therefore, the rabbis have always associated this day with God’s sovereign Kingship over all mankind: “On Rosh Hashanah all human beings pass before Him as troops, as it is said, ‘The LORD looketh from heaven; He beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of His habitation He looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashioneth their hearts alike; He considereth all their works’” (Rosh Hashanah 6b, quoting Psa. 53:13-15). To remember God’s Kingship, it is traditional to eat round objects to remind us of God’s crown (oriental crowns being shaped as skullcaps instead of circlets). For example, challah is made to be round instead of braided as it normally is.
Because this day is associated with God’s judgment, it is also considered a time of repentance (t’shuva) in preparation for Yom Kippur. The Casting (Tashlikh) Ceremony, in which observant Jews gather together at the shores of oceans, lakes, and rivers and cast in stones and/or crumbs of bread to symbolize “casting off” their sins, is performed on this day to a prayer comprised of Mic. 7:18-20, Psa. 118:5-9, Psa. 33 and 130, and often finishing with Isa. 11:9.
The Talmud (ibid.) goes on to say that on this day, all mankind is divided into three types of people. The wholly righteous were immediately written in the Book of Life (Exo. 32:33, Psa. 69:28) for another year. The wholly wicked were blotted out of the Book of Life, condemned to die in the coming year. Those in between, if they truly repented before the end of Yom Kippur, could likewise be scribed in the Book of Life for another year. For this reason, a common greeting at this time is “L’shana tova tikatevu,” which means, “May you be inscribed [in the Book of Life] for a good new year.”He will turn again,
He will have compassion upon us;
He will subdue our iniquities;
And Thou wilt cast all their sins
Into the depths of the sea.
(Mic. 7:19)
The Bible, of course, is clear that one is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (cf. Php. 4:3; Rev. 3:5, 13:8, 17:8, and 21:27) not by one’s own righteousness, but by receiving the Messiah’s righteousness by faith, trusting in Him, and that there is no in-between; one either trusts God or one doesn’t. Nevertheless, a great eschatological truth is preserved for us in this rabbinical tradition. At the time of Yeshua’s Second Coming, all mankind will be divided into three groups. Those who have already trusted in the Messiah will be Resurrected and Raptured to be with Him immediately upon His Coming on the clouds of the sky. Those who have taken the mark of the Beast and have chosen to remain with the Wicked One will be slated to die in the Day of the Lord, which for reasons that are beyond the scope of this essay to address, I believe will last for about a year.
However, there will also be a third group, who neither had believed in the Messiah until they saw Him Coming on the clouds but who also had not taken the mark of the Beast. Many of these will be Jews, who will mourn at His coming and so have a fount of forgiveness opened to them (Rev. 1:7, Zec. 12:10-13:2)—most prominently, the 144,000 of Rev. 7 and 14. Others will be Gentiles who will be shown mercy because they showed mercy to the children of God (Mat. 25:31ff). These are given the opportunity to repent during the period between the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonment, called the Days of Awe—a reference, I believe, to the Day of the Lord.
Finally, this day is known as Yom HaKeseh, the Hidden Day. It was a day that could not be calculated, only looked for. Ancient Israel kept its calendar simply by observing the phases of the moon. If a day were overcast, it might cause a delay in the observance of the beginning of the month, the new moon (Rosh Chodesh), the first tiny crescent of light. Every other Feast was at least a few days after the beginning of the month so that it could be calculated and prepared for in advance. For example, after the new moon that marked the beginning of the month of Nisan, the observant Jew knew that he had fourteen days to prepare for the Passover.
Not so Yom HaKeseh. In the absence of reliable astronomical charts and calculations (which were made only centuries after God commanded the Feasts to be observed), the Feast of Trumpets could be anticipated, estimated to be arriving soon, but until two or more witnesses reported the first breaking of the moon’s light after the darkest time of the month, no one knew “the day or hour.” Therefore, it was a tradition not to sleep on Rosh Hashanah, but to remain awake and alert, a tradition alluded to by Sha’ul: “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober” (1 Th. 5:4-6).
Because of the difficulty of alerting the Jews in the Diaspora when the Sanhedron had decreed the start of the Feast to be, it became traditional to celebrate the first and second day of Tishri together as Yoma Arikhta, “One Long Day.” Is this meant to remind us, perhaps, of when another Y’hoshua (Yeshua) won against his enemies because God cast down great hailstones (like the hailstones of Rev. 16:21) and called upon the Sun to stand still so that they would not escape (Jos. 10:10ff)?
Yom Teruah is a day which ultimately calls all of God’s people together in repentance in anticipation of the glorious Second Coming, in which He will once again visit His people in the Person of the Messiah Yeshua to Resurrect the dead, awaken the living, and judge all mankind together.
Shalom, and Maranatha!
What Bible are you using?
The 'also' is in the wrong place for that assertion. It says "Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day." You make it say "we also keep the eighth day." It does not say they did both.
If only they had a whole Bible like we do today...
You only have one because a canon was crystallized by those apostate Sunday-keepers. It must therefore be interpreted through the lens of those who selected the contents of the canon.
Can you please show me the scripture Barnabas is referencing here:
Ye see what is His meaning ; it is not your present Sabbaths that are acceptable [unto Me], but the Sabbath which I have made, in the which, when I have set all things at rest, I will make the beginning of the eighth day which is the beginning of another world. Wherefore also we keep the eighth day for rejoicing, in the which also Jesus rose from the dead, and having been manifested ascended into the heavens.
What is plain is that this guy is searching for a way to switch the day. He is playing Rubick's Bible.
And a beautiful day-of-rest-and-gladness (as well as a great football day!) amen to you too!
That was sarcasm.
Whoa. You cannot cite this guy as an authority, and then ditch him when he starts to be inconvenient to you.
You picked him as your authority for your assertion that the ECF were Sabbatarians. Now you gotta stick with him.
I picked the guy because he is the guy who started the switch. This document can mean nothing except "Quit keeping the Sabbath and move to Sunday". Why else would he write such a paper? Good grief, dude. He makes up Sabbath worship right here. It is plain. There is no scripture that says "Thou shalt keep the 8th day in honor of the new post mil. Heaven". It does not exist. The 62 quotes I pasted above say the same thing. Sunday is not Biblical - it is an invention of man.
Those 62 quotes are of no probative value. They are pull-quotes without citations. It is uncertain what their context is, or if the persons making those quotes have any comptetence in the field under discussion. It is an improper appeal to authority, and therefore a logical fallacy.
(Logic should be a mandatory class in high school.)
I picked the guy because he is the guy who started the switch.
Says you..
There is no scripture that says "Thou shalt keep the 8th day in honor of the new post mil. Heaven"
You assume that the Scriptures are a how-to manual. They are not. They were epistles written to specific churches to deal with specific problems. They are not intended to constitute a systematic treatment of Christian doctrine and practice.
Sunday is not Biblical - it is an invention of man.
Yeah. That's why in 1Corinthians, Paul assumes that the Corinthians were already gathering on the first day of the week.
Please re-read the posting in question. Each quote is cited. If they weren't, I would not post them.
You assume that the Scriptures are a how-to manual. They are not. They were epistles written to specific churches to deal with specific problems. They are not intended to constitute a systematic treatment of Christian doctrine and practice.
Then what are you doing here? If the Scriptures aren't your source of Theology, why don't you post that and move on? Seriously, you post that you don't look to the scriptures for your faith, then you post this:
Yeah. That's why in 1Corinthians, Paul assumes that the Corinthians were already gathering on the first day of the week.
???????
Because that's not what I said. What I said is that the Scriptures cannot be interpreted as though they were a how-to manual. It leads to eisegesis.
And with that, I'm going outside to play with the kids. I hope you have a good Sunday. Go Chiefs! Win 1 for.... uh, well, just win 1 Chiefs :)
That says we can learn from it. It doesn't say that it is intended as a "how-to" manual of do's and don'ts. That's your key error.
And with that, I'm going outside to play with the kids. I hope you have a good Sunday. Go Chiefs! Win 1 for.... uh, well, just win 1 Chiefs :)
Good call. This Bills game is proving too close for me. (Up by one.)
I would say that right after Pentecost is when some in the Church started their false doctrine....so I would consider your above statement factual....regarding "{some}" in the early Church. However, it is very clear by reading "other" early documents, as well as scripture, that the Apostles, including Paul, continued to celebrate the Festivals and Sabbaths of the Lord. To be fair you have to ask yourself, "Why did it take hundreds of years before the "Church" outlawed Sabbath keeping and the observance of Festivals if it was established doctrine to do so by the Apostles?"
Multiple times in New Testament scripture are we warned of false prophets and false doctrine. Therefore it is incumbent to your argument to give us chapter and verse showing the changes you insist occurred....being scripturally stated. This you cannot do....and frankly, I'm am very surprised that you folks hold to this doctrine under these circumstances. After all.....the only reason you folks celebrate "The Venerable Day of the Sun" is because you say that was the resurrection day.....and this argument is so pathetic I don't even think you actually believe it. I think you are just caught in the trap of the "Catholic Sabbath" and don't know how to get out.
You say "Catholic" like it's a bad thing.
The present sabbaths are not acceptable to me, but that which I have made, in which I will give rest to all things and make the beginning of an eighth day, that is the beginning of another world. Wherefore we also celebrate with gladness the eighth day.
TC, I have posted this one to you before, yet you persist. This shows with absolute clarity that the ECF were keeping the Sabbath. It also shows, for the benefit of our Catholic friends, that at least this guy believed that he had the power to change stuff.
You are very confused. The "guy" doing the speaking, here, up to the word "world," is God, not Barnabas.
Read the passage in context:
Moreover concerning the Sabbath likewise it is written in the Ten Words, in which He spake to Moses face to face on Mount Sinai; And ye shall hallow the Sabbath of the Lord with pure hands and with a pure heart.
And in another place He saith: If my sons observe the Sabbath then I will bestow My mercy upon them.
Of the Sabbath He speaketh in the beginning of the creation; And God made the works of His hands in six days, and He ended on the seventh day, and rested on it, and He hallowed it.
Give heed, children, what this meaneth; He ended in six days. He meaneth this, that in six thousand years the Lord shall bring all things to an end; for the day with Him signifyeth a thousand years; and this He himself beareth me witness, saying; Behold, the day of the Lord shall be as a thousand years. Therefore, children, in six days, that is in six thousand years, everything shall come to an end.
And He rested on the seventh day. this He meaneth; when His Son shall come, and shall abolish the time of the Lawless One, and shall judge the ungodly, and shall change the sun and the moon and the stars, then shall he truly rest on the seventh day.
Yea and furthermore He saith: Thou shalt hallow it with pure hands and with a pure heart. If therefore a man is able now to hallow the day which God hallowed, though he be pure in heart, we have gone utterly astray.
But if after all then and not till then shall we truly rest and hallow it, when we shall ourselves be able to do so after being justified and receiving the promise, when iniquity is no more and all things have been made new by the Lord, we shall be able to hallow it then, because we ourselves shall have been hallowed first.
Finally He saith to them: Your new moons and your Sabbaths I cannot away with. Ye see what is His meaning: it is not your present Sabbaths that are acceptable [unto Me], but the Sabbath which I have made, in the which, when I have set all things at rest, I will make the beginning of the eighth day which is the beginning of another world.
Wherefore also we keep the eighth day for rejoicing, in the which also Jesus rose from the dead, and having been manifested ascended into the heavens.
Barnabas isn't talking about any Christians observing the Jewish Sabbath, he's talking about the Christian Sabbath on the "eighth day" doing away with the seventh day Sabbath, and isn't claiming to do it on his own authority, but is saying that God did it by raising Jesus from the dead.
BTW, a much better-attested source than the Epistle of Barnabas still blows you out of the water:
Never allow yourselves to be led astray by false teachings and antiquated and useless fables. Nothing of any use can be got from them. If we are still living in the practice of Judaism, it is an admission that we have failed to receive the gift of grace ... We have seen how the former adherents of the old customs have since attained to a new hope; so that they have given up keeping the sabbath, and now order their lives by the Lord's Day instead (the day when life first dawned for us, thanks to Him and his death ...) ... To profess Jesus Christ while continuing to follow Jewish customs is an absurdity. The Christian faith does not look to Judaism, but Judaism looks to Christianity, in which every other race and tongue that confesses a belief in God has now been comprehended. -- Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Magnesians, AD 107
Ignatius was a friend of at least three of the Apostles (Peter, Paul, and John), and was the third bishop of Antioch after St. Peter. He was fed to the lions in the arena in Rome; this letter was written on his way to his martyrdom.
(p.s. 85 degree day so we go outside only to find the corn field being harvested across the street spraying corn all over us.)
Of course I am.
Then, I ask, is Sunday worship scriptural or was is created by the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church?
Yes.
Much of what that Church (Catholic) teaches is false doctrine not supported by any scripture.....and in some cases diametrically opposed. So....the first day of the week, i.e. "The Venerable Day of the Sun" according to God's word, is not the Sabbath. But, the Catholic church and her daughters, the Protestants, say it is.
Here we have a controversy that is substantiated by the "Romans" with the fact they claim they can make it up as they go along. I'll take the side of scripture in this case because it says no where to ignore God's Holy Sabbaths and it can be shown conclusively that the Early Church did "not" ignore them. This is totally a man made tradition.....and I am not a Sola Scriptura person at all.
The "Catholic Sabbath" is a bad thing.....although I personally know many, fine, God fearing Catholic men and women.....some even members of this forum.
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