The Pagan Roots of Christmas

Today we hear the vehement cry to "Keep Christ in Christmas!", but what if He was never in it to begin with?

If we look closely we can see that every tradition of Christmas has it's beginnings in the ancient winter solstice festivals of old. From the christmas tree to santa claus, from the gift giving to the "spirit of christmas". Even the downright silly clothing has it's origins in the solstice.

Let's start with the date - December 25th. Was Christ born on this day? If you ask your pastor he'll say "No." and he's right. Christ was not born on December 25th nor even in that month. Unfortunately most pastors will then proceed to tell you that it's okay to celebrate Jesus' birth on that day, though, because we have liberty in His grace to do such things. Really? Hmmm....I wonder, then, why does God say not to worship Him with such things in Deuteronomy 12:4? "Such things" being pagan, idolatrous images, places, and names. So what is December 25th and what do others say about this date?

December 25th was the date chosen and designated by the Roman Catholic church as the day to celebrate the birth of Christ.  This was done in 350 A.D. by pope Julius I in an attempt to establish a time in which Christians could celebrate the birth all on the same day.  However, the 25th of December had always been the winter solstice*, when the dark days of winter began to be longer, leading many to believe the sun was being “reborn”.  Consequently this made the date of December 25th the “birth day” of nearly every single sun god in most pagan cultures throughout the world.

  In Mesopotamia, the festival was called Sacaea, or Zagmuk, during which slaves and servants would trade places with their masters.  It lasted 12 days overlapping the winter solstice, or vernal  equinox, in its center peak.  It was a festival held in observation of the sun god, Marduk and his battle over darkness.  The Babylonians held both land and river parades as well.  Sacaea, as Berossus* referred to it, had festivals characterized by the aforementioned subversion of order leading up to the new year.  Masters and slaves interchanged, a mock king was crowned and masquerades filled the streets. This has been a suggested precursor to the Festival of Kronos, Saturnalia and possibly the modern version of Purim.

In Egypt, they celebrated the feast of Osiris for 12 days by decorating their homes with palms and other outdoor greenery.  They kept it for 12 days because that number was in accordance with their calendar system and the palm was used because it was believed there was a correlation between it and the twelve months in a year.

  In Rome, the festival of Saturnalia was celebrated during this time, which honored the god Saturn.  The festival was kept to usher in the Golden Age of Saturn.  Following this celebration, the Romans commemorated the god Mithra, the sun god, who was known as the Grand Deliverer.  In Egypt he was known as Horus and in Babylon - Tammuz.
   During Saturnalia, the people gave themselves up to wild joy: they feasted, they gave gifts, and they decorated their homes with greenery.  The usual order of the year was suspended: grudges and quarrels forgotten; wars interrupted or postponed.  Businesses, courts, schools closed.  Rich and poor were equal, slaves were served by masters, and children headed the family (this is a forerunner to the transition in America where the focus became more on the children during the holiday season, and this grew evermore popular in the 1830‘s and 40‘s).  This all leads us in seeing the general “Spirit of Christmas” or the “Spirit of the Season” with which people become much friendlier and more giving.
   Cross-dressing and masquerades, merriment of all kinds also prevailed.  A mock king -- the Lord of Misrule -- was crowned.  Candles and lamps chased away the spirits of darkness.

Seneca the younger writes about Rome during Saturnalia around 50 A.D: “It is now the month of December, when the greatest part of the city is in a bustle.  Loose reins are given to public dissipation; everywhere you may hear the sound of great preparations, as if there were some real difference between the days devoted to Saturn and those for transacting business....Were you here, I would willingly confer with you as to the plan of our conduct; whether we should eve in our usual way, or, to avoid singularity, both take a better supper and throw off the toga.” --From the Epistolae

In northern Europe the festival of Yule was kept, in which the people would celebrate by decorating fir or pine trees, burning the Yule log, giving gifts, drinking, and decorating their homes with the evergreen boughs and holly.  Our modern Christmas holiday is the most closely related to the celebration of Yule.

In choosing the 25th of December, the Roman Catholic church was trying to make the statement that Jesus is the only true God who was born, not the false sun gods of pagan cultures.  But mixing truth with paganism and idolatry is an abomination to the Lord and as a result the church began celebrating a holiday that was pagan from the beginning, only now Jesus was thrown into the middle.  What we see is that a door was opened to celebrating the birth of Jesus with pagan traditions and a holiday that has actually very little to do with Christ and more to do with greed and heathen customs.

The early “church father”, Tertullian, wrote in 230 A.D.,  “By us who are strangers to Sabbaths, and new moons, and festivals, once acceptable to God, the Saturnalia, the feasts of January, the Brumalia, and Matronalia, are now frequented;  gifts are carried to and fro, new year’s day presents are made with din, and sports and banquets are celebrated with uproar; oh, how much more faithful are the heathen to their religion, who take special care to adopt no solemnity from the Christians.”

  Are you willing to look further? Or would you rather pretend that it wasn't true? Do you say to yourself, "Well that's not how I look at Christmas." But doesn't it matter how GOD SEES IT? It does. If you're willing to follow Him then at least ask Him to reveal the truth to you no matter what that might be and He will. And those who trust in Him will never be put to shame.

*Berossus - a Babylonian writer and astronomer from                    the early 3rd century B.C.

Caught Red Handed!

Reading through the book of Joshua has been great, since it's one of those books that I rarely read but I forget how powerful and edifying it is (it is part of the Scriptures after all!) Usually we pull out the verse that says, "As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD". Cross-stitched on a pillow or etched on a coffee mug, this verse has become the Christian anthem that most people really do not think about.

The context of that phrase is one of serving ONLY Yahweh! Putting away the other gods in your life to serve Him alone.

"Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD!
And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Ammorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

- Joshua 24:14-15

Notice that the gods Joshua spoke of were gods from the other side of the River AND/OR the gods of the Amorites which is where the people of Israel were living. Gods from where they CAME from and gods that were where they were PRESENTLY living! We'll talk more about that in a bit.

The people answer Joshua in verses 16-18 and say that they will serve the LORD, but Joshua says in v. 19 that they CANNOT serve HIM! Not a very positive reinforcement there, is it? But read on...

"But Joshua said to the people, 'You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. If you forsake the LORD and seve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.'"
-Joshua 24:19-20

We cannot be with God and have other gods/idols in our lives and expect Him to be okay with that. He won't be. In fact in Deuteronomy 12:1-4 He told the people there (and us today) not to worship Him with pagan idolatrous things!

The first commandment, God says, is to "not have other gods before Me". That phrase 'before Me' that God uses means, in the presence of or in the face of', meaning other gods in His presence. We are not to serve other gods in the LORD's presence. Remember, God sees everything. He knows if we are serving something, or someone else along with serving HIM.

But the people answered Joshua again saying, 'No, but we will serve the LORD!" How emphatic!

"So Joshua said to the people, 'You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD for yourselves, to serve Him.' And they said, 'We are witnesses!'"
-Joshua 24:21-22

We can fool ourselves pretty well into thinking that we are serving the LORD alone, but are we really? How do we know if we are only following HIM?

By obeying His Commandments. Time and time again the prophets came to the people and warned them to turn back to the Torah/Law which they had forsaken. They followed after other gods throughout much of their history because they continually rejected His Covenant, His commandments.

Yeshua (Jesus) said to the Pharisees and some of the scribes (namely the religious leaders),

"Laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men,..."
And
"All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition."
-Mark 7:8a, 9a

He was giving them the same message He gave His prophets to deliver to the people in times past...Repent! and turn back to the Law of the LORD!

Back in Joshua 7 we read about Achan. The Israelites lost the battle at Ai and 36 men of the Israelites died in battle because of Achan's sin. What was his sin? Achan had taken a wedge of gold, 200 shekels of silver, and a Babylonian garment. Doesn't sound like a big deal, does it? But the LORD called them 'accursed things' and men lost their lives and Israel lost a battle because of Achan's covetousness.

It says that YHWH's anger burned against the children of Israel because of those things which Achan had taken. Then YHWH told Joshua that He would not be with him unless he destroyed the accursed things from among them. Did Achan confess? Not yet.
So Joshua gathered the people according to their tribes and the LORD brought forth the guilty.

"In the morning therefore you shall be brought according to your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the LORD takes shall come according to families; and the family which the LORD takes shall come by households; and the household which the LORD takes shall come man by man.
-Joshua 7:14

And the LORD did just that until finally Achan was brought forth after going through all those people, and Joshua came to him and said,
"My son, I beg you, give glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession to Him, and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me."
-Joshua 7:19

Can you imagine being Achan? Being in that position where all the people are gathered...thousands, perhaps millions of people...and slowly out of each tribe, out of each family, out of each household, it comes down to YOU. You would HAVE to know that God is singling you out for what you knew was already a sin. But Achan never said anything until finally he stood before Joshua and had to confess. Would the LORD have forgiven Achan if he'd repented before Joshua came to him? I believe so because the LORD is merciful and has allowed us to do just that, but we'll never know about Achan because he didn't do that. As a result he, his children, his livestock and all that he had were stoned and burned. This is a very serious issue with YHWH. As Joshua says in ch. 24, YHWH is a holy God. Sin cannot stand in His presence.

There is no hiding from the Father who formed us and sees everything within us.

Achan was caught red handed for his disobedience to YHWH's command (Deuteronomy 7:25-26)! There in Deuteronomy the LORD told them exactly what not to do...exactly what Achan did!

But we're all guilty of doing something similar, aren't we? I know I am, but we can't take the professing church's stance and say, "Well none of us are perfect, but thank God for His grace!" Grace is NOT a license to sin (Romans 6:1, 15-23), but it is the power of God working in us to accomplish HIS will and follow HIS Law (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:27; Ephesians 2:8-10). We have no excuse for if we sin willfully we count the blood of Yeshua as worthless, and can expect judgment (Hebrews 10:26-31)

That doesn't mean that we will never mess up, but that our heart's desire should be to not mess up! And when we do sin, to REPENT! We are never going to be perfect on this side of eternity, but we should be walking after the ONE who IS perfect...Yeshua our Messiah! Walk just as He walked...in perfect submission to Torah. Walk in the light as He is in the light...He IS the Light! (1 John 1)

We can see how our sin can affect those around us, just like Achan's did the children of Israel. Our sin can affect our household, our family, our church family, our co-workers, etc... because God is faithful to deal with the sin in our life and He WILL NOT let it be swept under the rug. And we can't forget that He isn't concerned with just us, but those around us as well. He wants our witness to be unblemished, but if it's not, He will expose our disobedience to deal with others in our life, so that they might see the power of a holy God.

Personally I'd rather have Him deal with them through my obedience rather than my disobedience!...but it's my choice. It's your choice.

Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,...

...but as for me and my house, we will serve YHWH.

The Feast of Tabernacles

Here it is the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. It's been an interesting week for sure.

One thing I've continued to learn this year is the concept of thankfulness tied in with the Feast. There are over 80 verses in which thanking the LORD is noted.

In Exodus 23:16 and 34:22 the Feast is also called the Feast of Ingathering, because they were to bring in the harvest. It was a time of thanking God for all that He had supplied. This is where the concept of Thanksgiving comes from, however it is merely a replacement of HIS Feast of Ingathering/Tabernacles.

There is so much that I can be thankful for that my Father has given me. It's a wonder to me that many times I complain or grumble about the very things that God has supplied for my good! Complaining, or murmuring, against the LORD is sin (Numbers 14:27). It's my carnal nature, the flesh, that hates God and cannot be subject to HIS Torah (Law) (Romans 8:7) that refuses to acknowledge His goodness and mercy! However, my spirit, in walking with His Spirit, sees the blessings He has bestowed upon me and rejoices in the fact that my Father loves me so much! I have to ask for His forgiveness for my selfish attitude and continue to walk in the light of His Torah that I might crucify that carnal nature (Galatians 5:24).

As this Feast draws to a close I am reminded of the beginning of this year, during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, how the principle of removing the sin (represented in the leaven) from my self continued long after the Feast was done. I believe this Feast of Tabernacles will be no different. Long after it is done, I will no doubt be challenged and reminded to offer up thanksgiving to my God for who He is and all that He has done and is going to do! He is worthy of my praise! And all of this is a grand reflection of the fact that we will one day dwell, literally 'tabernacle', with HIM (Revelation 21:3). Hallelujah!

That is why Yeshua (Jesus) came to dwell with man the first time...to destroy the works of the devil and give us new life and a hope for eternity with HIM (1 John 3:8; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28). He was called Immanuel which means God with us (Matthew 1:23). Read Revelation 21:3 again.

It's amazing that the professing church has taken elements of the Feast of Tabernacles and embellished them into Thanksgiving and Christmas! What a perversion of the truth! I pray that He continues to open eyes and ears to the Truth of His Word, His Law, and guide us in all righteousness.

I'm far from perfect, but I don't want to use that as an excuse and reject His Torah, which is loving instruction, just because of my humanity. On the contrary I want to walk in the light of His Law so that I might crucify my flesh and know what is pleasing and displeasing to Him who bought me with His own blood!!

He tabernacles with me now (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and will forevermore Revelation 21-22!!!

The Feast of Tabernacles

Well I purposely did not write on the Day of Atonement because the LORD did not give me anything to write. There seemed to be a lot to process during that Day and the days surrounding it which gave me much to think about but hard to put into words.

One thing that is very clear and apparent is the fact that it is a day of heaviness if one is truly afflicting their souls. But is that through fasting from food?

It appears as though physical fasting can play a role in afflicting one's soul, since it definately afflicts the flesh! But there is much more to it than that.

I would suggest reading not only Leviticus 23, but Isaiah 58 as well.

But here we are already half way into the Feast of Tabernacles. The last great feast of God's year and a perfect picture of spending eternity with HIM! The command to rejoice before Him for seven days has become evident this year. Will we choose to let the enemy rob us of that joy or will we choose to rejoice in YHWH!

Bless the LORD, oh my soul!

Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets) pt. 2

"...on the first day of the [seventh] month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation."
-Leviticus 23:24b

"a memorial of blowing of trumpets" is teruah in the Hebrew:
H8643
תּרוּעה
terû‛âh
ter-oo-aw'
From H7321; clamor, that is, acclamation of joy or a battle cry; especially clangor of trumpets, as an alarum: - alarm, blow (-ing) (of, the) (trumpets), joy, jubile, loud noise, rejoicing, shout (-ing), (high, joyful) sound (-ing).

H7321 is 'rua' which literally means "to shout (for alarm or joy); to sound an alarm; to cry aloud; to make a joyful noise."

The Feast of Trumpets is much more than just blowing the shofar (Hebrew for trumpet). In fact it's not limited to the blowing of the trumpet, but it is for the voice as well. This is important because as we shout to God with the voice of triumph (Psalm 47:1) there is a Voice that we are to be listening for - The Lord God Almighty's!

In fact that is what this Feast, or Day, is all about...hearing HIS Voice!

In looking at the pattern of the fall Feasts of YHWH, there is no doubt that Tabernacles is about the time of restitution and Him dwelling with (literally 'tabernacling with') His people...for eternity! (Revelation 21:3). Going backward to the Day of Atonement we see not only the picture of redemption in Messiah Yeshua, but also the Day of His judgment upon the earth. This inevitably leads us back ten days to Trumpets which is a picture of His heralded return! The day Yeshua comes back for His bride, the church! If this is the case then there should certainly be more than one witness of this in the Scriptures.

The first picture we have took place at Mt. Sinai, as Yahweh called His people to enter covenant with Him.

"Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.
And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation...

Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes.
And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice."
-Exodus 19:5-6; 10-11; 16; 19

What an amazing event! And there are so many things to see in this passage that one could devote hours to it, but we won't do that today! But do check out a couple of passages about whom the LORD calls to be a "kingdom of priests, a holy nation, and a special treasure"
(1 Peter 2:4-5; 9; Revelation 1:6).

One thing that obviously stands out is hearing God's voice. This isn't the only place in Scripture that He tells His people to hear His voice. But we also see this clearly in the New Testament,

"As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."
-John 10:15-16; 27

Notice that He says that His sheep hear His voice. Back in verse 5 of John 10, Yeshua said that His sheep will not follow a 'thief' because they do not know his voice. If we do not know the voice of God then we will end up following those who are lawless. If we expect to hear the LORD call our name when He returns then we better know His voice, which He identifies with keeping HIS Commandments (Genesis 26:5; Exodus 15:26; Deuteronomy 13:4, 18; 15:5; 26:17; 27:10; 28:1, 15, 45; 30:8, 10; Psalm 103:20).

Are you lawful or lawless? The anti-christ is identified as the 'man of lawlessness' in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 . Something to think about.

Hearing the voice of Yahweh is knowing His Word and keeping His Commandments which the Holy Spirit writes on the hearts and minds of true believers (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:27; John 16:13, 17:17 /Psalm 119:142).

As we continue to look at this, keep in mind the picture of the feast of trumpets - the Lord's return.

As we've seen the blast of the shofar (trumpet) is the awakening sound of the voice of the LORD calling His people to HIM!

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
-Matthew 24:29-31

"...in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."
-1 Corinthians 15:52

"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first."
-1 Thessalonians 4:16

Messiah will return with shouting and blasting of a shofar...an awakening blast! A cry of battle and terror for the lawless, but a shout of joy and acclamation for those who are His! Those who hear HIS Voice!

"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,"
-Revelation 1:10-11a

Yeshua, in speaking to John about the Day to come, shouted His return. It will be for all to hear, but not everyone will hear the same message depending on where they stand. We are either with Him, standing on His commandments, or we are against Him, standing on shaky ground.

I want to leave you with a psalm that speaks of not only His return, but of how triumphant and joyful it will be in that Day. When Messiah returns for His bride, may we be awake and ready, with oil in our lamps, our wicks trimmed, and listening for His Voice.

"Oh, clap your hands all you peoples!
Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
For YHWH Most High is awesome!
He is the great King over all the earth
He will subdue the peoples under us,
and the nations under our feet.
He will choose our inheritance for us,
The excellence of Jacob whom He loves. Selah
God has gone up with a shout,
YHWH with the sound of the trumpet.
Sing praises to our God, sing praises!
Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
For God is the King of all the earth;
Sing praises with understanding.
God reigns over the nations;
God sits on His holy throne.
The princes of the people
have gathered together.
The people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
He is greatly exalted.
-Psalm 47

Yom Teruah (the Feast of Trumpets)

You can read more here: http://www.ezekielthree.com/trumpets.html

In just a few days it will be the first day of the fall Feasts of the LORD - the Day of the Awakening Blast, also called the Feast of Trumpets.

In Leviticus 23:23-25 we read,

"Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.
You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.'"

There's several things in this verse that would make people jump to the conclusion that this feast is not for His church/body today, mainly the fact that He speaks to Israel and that an offering of fire should be made. Granted these seem to point to that conclusion, but they wouldn't be taking in the whole context of Scripture.

To understand this let's consider the New Covenant for a moment. In Jeremiah 31:31-34 we read,

"Behold the days are coming says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah - not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, form the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.'"

We see first of all that the LORD is speaking to Israel and Judah at first, but then in verse 33 we read only Israel. Is He not including Judah now? No, He's simply pointing out that they will be made whole again, remembering of course that He is speaking to those of Israel and Judah who are BELIEVERS in HIM. The Jewish people are not saved because they are of Israel, but only if they believe upon Yeshua as Messiah! And what about us Gentiles? We'll get to that!

Next we see that He is certainly speaking of the New Covenant that was made in Messiah's blood because of verse 34, where He says He will 'forgive their iniquity' and remember their sins no more.

Yeshua said,

"For this is My blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."
-Matthew 26:28

Also in Jeremiah 31:34 God promises to be their God and that they will be His people. We see this fulfilled in it's entirety in Revelation.

Revelation 21:3 says,

"And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.'"

Clearly in Jeremiah the Lord God is speaking of the New Covenant that we have entered into today as followers of Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ). So if that is the case, then where do the Gentiles fit into this according to Jeremiah 31? If He was only speaking of Israel what about Gentiles? In Scriptures like Deuteronomy 29:14; 32:43; Isaiah 56:1-8; Acts 15: 7-9; Romans 11:11-36; Ephesians 2:11-22; 3:3-6 and others we see clearly that the Gentiles have always been welcomed to YHWH by His grace, through faith in Messiah Yeshua just as the Jews. But as Paul wrote in Romans 2:9-11, it was offered to the Jew first and then to the Gentile as well. Both Jew AND Gentile can enter His New Covenant by faith in Yeshua!

So what does all this have to do with the Feast of Trumpets? Well, if we as Gentiles in the flesh can become partakers of the New Covenant then we are now able to enjoy His feasts as well, along with ALL of HIS Commandments! The church is made up of both believing Jew and believing Gentile - one new man created in HIM for obedience to the faith (Galatians 3:28; Romans 1:5).

His commandments, including HIS APPOINTED TIMES (Heb. moedim) ie. His Sabbath, His feasts, His new moons, are for all His people - the church.

What about the offering made by fire? I explain this a bit further in my study on this feast, but basically that commandment has not been done away with. We are still to offer up a burnt offering, but not animals, rather, we are to offer up ourselves! We are to be living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2) and we are to offer up sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving to His name, by which sacrifices God is well pleased (Hebrews 13:15-16). Deuteronomy 4:24 and Hebrews 12:29 also says that God is a consuming fire. If He accepts our lives as an offering to Him, wouldn't that be a burnt offering? I know this seems like I'm spiritualizing the matter, but this is not a new concept. Long before Messiah came to earth in the flesh, God had always wanted the New Covenant for His people, however many of them rejected it. He always wanted their hearts circumcised (Deuteronomy 10:16; Jeremiah 4:4) but now we see it fulfilled in Messiah (Colossians 2:11). He always wanted His people to allow the Holy Spirit to indwell them and for them to be His house (Numbers 11:29; 2 Samuel 7:6-11; Isaiah 63:11) yet we see it fulfilled today (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1 Peter 2:5).

I suppose to an extent we are spiritualizing, but only in the sense that the Scriptures give us. Yeshua said,

"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."
-John 4:23

God had placed His Spirit in those of old - Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and others - as well as circumcised their hearts, and today we are a part of that family who worship Him in spirit and truth (if we have faith in the Son of God). Remembering that God is spirit and His Word is truth and that Yeshua IS the Living Word. His Law/Word is the very truth that the Holy Spirit writes on our hearts (Psalm 119:142; Jeremiah 31:33-34; Ezekiel 36:27) and by our obedience we know that we love God and love His children (John 14:15; 1 John 5:2-3; James 2:14-26).

As the day approaches we'll look more at this feast and what it means for us, but for now consider that it IS for us. Also, consider the time coming, looking unto Him...and listening for His voice.

Ephesians 5:11

Well I thought that it was time to clean things up a bit :)

I've started an additional blog to this one entitled Ephesians 5:11.

In the book of Ephesians, chapter 5 v 11, Paul writes:

"and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them."

This is a call to all believers to not stand idly by as wickedness takes place, but to stand up and call out the enemy, our flesh, and this world which are in opposition to the LORD! To expose the evil practices of man by shedding the light of the Word of God on them, but we can only do that if we ourselves are walking in the light of His Word...in obedience to His Commandments.

Actually I wanted to call it Ephesians 5 because the entire chapter speaks volumes of what we should be doing and living like according to God's standard of righteousness, but believe it or not that name was already taken! So I figured verse 11 kinda says it all.

I plan on devoting more time here at Ezekielthree to studies in the Scriptures, while the new blog will also incorporate some of that but mostly focus on looking at the evil practices and demonic goings on in the world including paganism (especially that which is in the professing church), the many lies concerning health issues, false doctrines, and other such topics.

I will be eventually moving some articles from this blog over to Ephesians511, those that would fit better there. But as I said my goal is to dig more into the Scriptures here at Ezekielthree and seek the LORD for His understanding.

Hopefully these two blogs will help keep things a bit more organized and easier to find as well as cause awarness of what we as followers of Messiah need to be doing as we sojourn through this world.

Blessings in HIM, Jason