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Commentary - Year 2 Sabbath 42

Leviticus 22:1 - 23:44   -   (No Prophet)   -   Psalm 86  -   Colosssians 2:1 - 3:6
 

Tevet 23, 5763 / Dec 28, 2002

Tevet 21, 5766 / Jan  21, 2006

Tevet 21, 5769 / Jan  17, 2009

Tevet 19, 5772 / Jan  14, 2012

Tevet 19, 5775 / Jan  10, 2015

Tevet 18, 5781 / Jan   2,  2021

 

Daber elAharon / Tell Aaron    SCRIPTURES (should be read first)
 

(God’s memorial Name is used 57 times in these two chapters.)

 

Leviticus 22

The priests and the animal offerings (of this chapter, not all-inclusively) represent Yeshua and His work: therefore, they are required to portray perfection. They are required to be males, because that represents authority / power (as seen from Adam in creation) and strength.

                Yeshua said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and in on earth” – Matthew 28:18.

The punishment for an unqualified priest is death by the hand of heaven (Sanhedrin 38b).

 

Verse 24 refers to castrated animals, castration being a forbidden practice.

Verse 27 requires a Sabbath to be fulfilled to validate an animal. This symbolizes the purpose of creation, Sabbath being the goal.

Verse 32: It is our responsibility to sanctify God’s Name – that means to act in ways that show our God is Holy, to study His instructions and live to perform them.

 

Leviticus 23

Vocabulary:

A moed (pronounced moe-ed) is an appointment time and/or place.

A Yom Tov (pronounced yoam tove) is a Holy Day – a full day set apart for worship.

A hag (pronounced hawg) is a feast – a great meal of special foods (no ham in this hag).

A seder (pronounced say-der) is an order of service – an arrangement of worship activities designed by God.

Mussaf is a festival offering, distinct from daily and personal offerings.

 

This chapter lists all of the moedim of Yahweh, the “appointments with Yahweh”. These appointments are for our spiritual elevation. They are memorials of past acts of God, and prophetic of future acts.

 

They are Yom Tovim, days to refrain from usual activities in order to worship God. They are times for symbolic festive food and drink, clean clothing, and thanksgiving and prayer.

 

Their observance is commanded, not suggested. Under God’s economy, the penalty for failure to observe the weekly Sabbath was death (Exodus 31:14-15), and the penalty for failure to observe the Day of the Atonements was being cut off from God’s people (Leviticus 23:29-32). This should prompt us to take the observances seriously, though not above all other commandments.

 

(V.3-4) First is the weekly Yom Tov, the Holy Sabbath, of which there are fifty to fifty-five per Biblical year. Then there are seven annual Holy Days, with accompanying preparation days, feasts, offerings, and various other ordinances. So, we have about sixty appointments per year. There are three “Feasts of Yahweh” (Exodus 23:14), relating to the seven annual Holy Days.

 

The Holy Sabbath . . .
              (See 
SABBATH is MESSIANIC and COMMENTARY Y2-40 on Leviticus 19, two weeks back).

 

(V.5) The term Pesach (Passover), in Torah, is used exclusively for the (mussaf) offering – the lamb: it is not used as the name of a festival. This is an area of great confusion, concerning the date of the Feast. Remember: the Passover is a lamb, not a day. [John 18:28 is referring to the day that the Passover is eaten.]

 

Prior to the first annual Holy Day, on the fourteenth day of Nisan, the Passover Lamb must be offered. Between noon and sunset (v.5 – “between the evenings” – between the beginning and end of the going-down-of-the-sun), it must be slain and cooked. This is the preparation day for the Passover lamb (Num. 9:2 – “You shall prepare the Passover”; John 19:14 – “It was the day of preparation of the Passover”). This preparation includes other foods for the seven-day Feast. Note that this is a commandment for families to make preparations for a feast; it is not fulfilled by having a catered a dinner.

 

The Feast of Unleavened Breads (Hag haMatzot) begins that evening (the beginning of Nisan 15), with the seder where the Passover Lamb is eaten with unleavened breads and bitter herbs. This Feast is the first of the three “Feasts of Yahweh”. (Today’s common term “Lord’s Supper” is a misused translation of “Yahweh’s Feast”.) The first day of the Feast is the first of seven Holy Days of the Festival Year.

 

This Feast is now celebrated as a memorial of our redemption by the antitype Passover lamb – Yeshua.

 

(V.8) The seventh day of the Feast of Unleavened Breads, Nisan 21, is the second of the seven annual Holy Days.

 

(V.9-14) Going back, on the second day of the Feast of Unleavened Breads (Nisan 16), the day after the first Holy Day (a Sabbath*), a lamb is to be waved, along with a firstfruit one-omer unleavened barley loaf (the omer being about two liters, of fine barley flour). Barley is the first of five bread-grain crops to ripen; none of the new barley may be eaten until the first loaf is waved on this day.

 

Omer is sometimes mistranslated “sheaf”: no sheaf of grain is ever to be waved as an offering. This day is not (as is often erroneously taught) the “Feast of Firstfruits”: it is part of the Feast of Unleavened Breads. The term “firstfruits” does not refer to this day. We can find no basis for associating this day with (1 Corinthians 15:20 – Christ the firstfruits) the resurrection of Yeshua, which was late on Nisan 17, a weekly Sabbath.

 

(V.15-16) The day, when the lamb and omer barley loaf are waved, is the first day of counting the omer. We are commanded to count each day, for fifty days – not just to recognize the first and fiftieth days, but to count each day. We are also commanded to count, in parallel, seven weeks – until the day after the seventh week.* As the first loaf from the new barley crop is waved on day one, so the first loaves from the new wheat crop are waved on day fifty. Wheat is the last of the five bread-grain crops to ripen, and none may be eaten until the firstfruits are waved before Yahweh.

 

We count down the days from our redemption to our betrothal.

 

Day fifty (which could fall on Sivan 5, 6, or 7 in Temple times) is called Yom haBikkurim – the Day of the Firstfruits. It is the third of the seven annual Holy Days. On this day, two lambs are waved along with two leavened loaves, each made of two omers (about four liters) of fine wheat flour – the firstfruits of the best and final bread-grain harvest. [The loaves were about three feet long and nine inches wide.]

 

This day is also called Hag ShavuotFeast of Weeks, and Pentecost (fiftieth day); it is the second of the three “Feasts of Yahweh”. It celebrates the betrothal of the Bride to Messiah. It is the date of the division of seventy nations into different languages at Babel, the date of receiving the Torah in the various languages 3300 years ago, and the date of receiving the Gospel in the various languages over 1900 years ago.

 

* Note that annual Holy Days are sometimes referred to as Sabbaths: see v. 27 & 32, where the tenth day of Tishrei is called Shabbat. Also, Shabbat is a term used in both Torah and Talmud for week: see v. 15-16, and the Psalm for the nth day of the week is in Talmud called the Psalm for the nth day of Shabbat.

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(V.23-25) Then, on the first day of the seventh month (Tishrei 1), we are to have a “rehearsal of blowing” the shofar (ram’s horn trumpet). Two biblical names, for this fourth of seven Holy Days, are Rosh haShannah (New Year) and Yom Teruah (Day of Blowing the shofar). While secular Judaism majors on a New Year celebration, we rehearse hearing the shout of the archangel, and Last Trump, when Messiah will return and the righteous dead will be raised.

 

(V.27-32) On the tenth day of the same month is Yom haKippurim – the Day of the Atonements. It is always plural – atonements: there must be two, which are represented by the two (mussaf) offerings, two goats. The goat for Azazel (commonly called the scapegoat) represents Yeshua taking our sins away. The goat for Yahweh, an elevation offering (burned), represents Yeshua’s righteousness being imputed to us, the sweet aroma ascending up to God. This pictures the purification of the Bride of Messiah. This is the fifth of the seven annual Holy Days, and all feasting must be completed beforehand, as this is a fast day, the only Biblically mandated one.

 

(V.33-36) From the fifteenth through the twenty-first day of the same month is Hag Sukkot – the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles. This is the last of the three “Feasts of Yahweh”. It is the marriage supper of the Lamb.

 

The first day of the Feast is the sixth of the seven annual Holy Days.

 

The day after the Feast, Tishrei 22, is the seventh and final annual Holy Day. It is Shimini Atzeret – the Eighth Day Assembly (so called because it is the day after the seven day Feast). It represents the final dwelling of Messiah and Bride.

 

By looking at the feast foods, the (mussaf) offerings, and the Psalms and Torah portions for each Holy Day, we can see the details of what God wants us to know about our savior, Yeshua the Messiah. And, we can learn how to become what God designed for us to be.

 

Going back to the Feast of Tabernacles:

Four species are to be waved. The etrog has both pleasant taste and aroma: it represents the person who knows Torah and practices good deeds. The lulav, branches of date palm, whose dates have good taste but no aroma, symbolize the person who knows Torah, but is deficient in deeds. The myrtle, which has no taste, but good aroma, is likened to the person who lacks knowledge of Torah, but practices good deeds. The willow, which has neither, symbolizes the person without knowledge or deeds.

 

The etrog, a citrus fruit, in appearance like a lemon, is identified by peri etz – a tree that tastes similar to its fruit, and hadar – fruit that dwells. The etrog tree is an evergreen. It is entirely edible, all having similar taste. The fruit does not fall, but “dwells” on the tree from year to year. It does not ripen until the second year, and becomes harder to pick year after year. It does not rot after picking, whether or not it is refrigerated: after many years, it disappears, seeming to gradually evaporate. [I am growing a potted etrog tree in my dining room - ddd.]

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Colossians 2

 

We know, from previous Sabbath studies, that the Holy Sabbath is for all creation, and is both memorial and prophetic of Yeshua. It is Messianic, and is for all, for eternity. [See “Sabbath is Messianic”.] We know from Zechariah 14:17-19, that observing the Feast of Tabernacles will be a requirement upon all nations, under great penalty for non-observance. We know how the gentile Corinthian church was instructed to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread (1 Corinthians 5:8). So, let us look at the general applicability of Holy Days to gentile believers.

 

(V.2-4) Paul wants us to attain “to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Messiah Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with persuasive argument.

 

(V.16-17) “Therefore let no one condemn you, for what you eat or drink, or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day – these things being a shadow of what is to come, Messiah being the body (casting the shadow).

 

The Apostle Paul is telling gentiles, to let neither Jew nor gentile condemn them (both would condemn us today). This verse is not about “judging” which thing to do: it is about being condemned by others for what one is doing (the word krino, often herein translated “judge”, means condemn). It is not about freedom to do whatever one desires; it is about being resolute in observing Biblical Sabbaths and festivals and new moons. It is not about observing “mere” shadows (as one popular translation reads), but learning about Messiah by an all-wise God’s eternal shadow pictures! In other words, we should not succumb to the pressure of outsiders (be they family or friends), rather we should recognize the greatness of our blessing – to be partakers in God’s beautiful, educational, worship plan!

 

(V.23) Paul ends this portion by warning against putting the commandments of men before the ordinances of God, saying that that man’s ways do not help us to become overcomers. Today we struggle with those who call God’s appointed times outmoded, with perverted teaching that these are the ways of men that Paul is warning against!

See commentary on Colossians 2 at end of MESSIANIC PERSPECTIVE.

 

Leviticus 23 – Expounded from Hebrew (Additional Commentary)

 

1 Yahweh spoke again to Moses, saying,  2 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, '(moadai Yahweh) Yahweh's appointed-times which you shall proclaim as (miqrei kodesh) My sacred assemblies – My appointed-times are these:

These are the weekly fifty-two (or fifty-three) days of each solar year to be set aside as holy.

 

3 'For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a (Shabbat Shabbaton) Sabbath of complete rest, a (miqra kodesh) sacred assembly. You shall not do any work; it is a Sabbath to Yahweh in all your dwellings. 

On the seventh day of every week we are to abstain from all unnecessary labor in order to keep the entire day holy – a day dedicated to worship (that’s on our face before the Holy One) and praise (that’s standing with raised hands and extolling the Almighty for His attributes and acts). We also have an appointment with our God at a place of sacred assembly. The Apostle Paul said that we should not forsake this assembling (Hebrews 10:25).

This is specifically (yom hashvi’i – Gen 2:2 & Lev 23:3) The Seventh Day – not just one day out of the seven. It is (erev and boqer – Gen 1:5) “evening and morning,” that is, nighttime and daytime – sunset to sunset.

The (seder) order of events for the sacred assemblies was defined by Yahweh, not left up to leaders’ or congregants’ feelings, and was specifically distinct from contemporary culture.
 

Yeshua was raised from a tomb late on a Sabbath Day. He is returning for a thousand-year Sabbath of Peace with us, before this world is renewed by fire. For that thousand year Sabbath, Temple services will be by His design, as outlined in Ezekiel.

 

4 'These are the (moadai Yahweh) appointed-times of Yahweh, (miqrei kodesh) sacred assemblies which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them.

These are seven additional days each year to be set aside as holy. They are related to the (Exod 23:14) three (Hag Yahweh – Lev 23:39) Feasts of Yahweh. However, “feasts” or “festivals” are neither Biblical nor appropriate terms for these seven Holy Days: one of them is a solemn fast – all feasting and festivities being forbidden.

 

5 'In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, (bein haarbaim) between the evenings is the time for the (pesach l’Yahweh) passover-offering to Yahweh.  6 'Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is (hag hamatzot l’Yahweh) the Feast of Unleavened Breads to Yahweh; for seven days you shall eat (matzot) unleavened breads.  7 'On the first day you shall have a (miqra kodesh) sacred assembly; you shall not do any laborious work.  8 'But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to Yahweh. On the seventh day is a (miqra kodesh) sacred assembly; you shall not do any laborious work.'" 

On the fourteenth day of the month Nisan, between noon and sunset (between the time when the sun begins to set and the time when the sun goes below the horizon), the passover lamb was to be slain and roasted. In the Torah, the term “(pesach) passover” always refers to the lamb (or goat) offering, never to a feast or a day. This passover-offering day, is called “Preparation Day” (John 19:31); it is neither a feast day nor a Holy Day.

 

On the fourteenth of Nisan, when the passover lamb was to be prepared between noon and sunset, “Messiah, our passover (lamb), was sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7). He was buried just before the Holy Days began at sunset (Luke 23:53). Yeshua redeemed a slave-girl out of Egypt – His church out of the land of sin.

Then after sunset, the beginning of the fifteenth day of Nisan –the first feast began. The lamb was eaten before midnight with unleavened breads (from previous year’s crops) and bitter herbs. This is called the passover seder because there is a defined order of events. The lamb was eaten only on the first night of the feast, but the feast lasted seven full days.

For seven days, no leaven may be present (a negative commandment), and unleavened breads of barley, oats, rye, spelt, and/or wheat are to be eaten (a positive commandment) – with no new grains being used until after the omer is waved on the second day of the feast.

The (Yom Hashvi’i) seventh day of the feast is the second annual Holy Day, with a sacred assembly required. It is called “the Day of Faith,” because on this date Israel came up from the Red Sea bed and saw the Egyptian army drowned, and believed Yahweh and His servant Moses.

 

9 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,  10 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in an (omer reshit) omer of the beginning of your harvest to the priest.  11 'He shall wave (haomer) the omer before Yahweh for you to be accepted; on the day after (hashabbat) the rest-day the priest shall wave it.  12 'Now on the day when you wave (haomer) the omer, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for an (olah l’Yahweh) elevation-offering to Yahweh.  13 'Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to Yahweh for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine.  14 'Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor plump kernels (of new crop). It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 

Barley is the first of the five grain crops to ripen. As soon as the first annual Holy Day is over, after sunset at the beginning of the sixteenth of Nisan, three seahs (about a bushel) of new barley were harvested. Then, in the morning of that day, it was winnowed, sifted, parched over a fire, ground, and sifted making one omer (about two liters) of flour. Then it was mixed with one log (about one-third liter) of olive oil. It was waved upon a lamb. Then a three-finger handful was taken from it, and with frankincense added was burned on the Altar with the lamb. The remainder was given to the priests. No grain of the new crops were allowed to be used until after this waving.

This sixteenth of Nisan, when the omer mixture was waved, we call “Waving Day.” It should not be called “feast of first fruits” or “early first fruits”: no form of the word bikkur is ever used concerning it. It is the second day of the Feast of Unleavened Breads. It is the first of fifty days of “counting the omer.” These latter two details can help with understanding the gospel narratives of events surrounding the resurrection of Yeshua
 

15 'You shall also count for yourselves from the day after (hashabbat) the rest-day, from the day when you brought in the omer of the wave offering; there shall be (sheva shabbatot) seven complete weeks.  16 'You shall count fifty days to the day after (hashabbat hashviyit) the seventh week; then you shall present a new grain offering to Yahweh.

From the sixteenth of Nisan, we are instructed to count fifty days. And we are instructed to count seven weeks and one day. A blessing is said for each day:

“Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King of the Universe,

Who has sanctified us by His Word, and instructed us to count the omer.

Today is the {twentieth} day of the omer;
it is the {second} week and {sixth} day of the omer.”
 

Like the grain, the redeemed slave-girl is maturing for seven weeks, and being separated from the land of Egypt in preparation for betrothal.

 

17 'You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread for a wave offering, made of two-tenths of an ephah (a tenth of an ephah is an omer – about two liters); they shall be of a fine flour, baked with leaven as (bikkurim l’Yahweh) first fruits to Yahweh.  18 'Along with the bread you shall present seven one year old male lambs without defect, and a bull of the herd and two rams; they are to be an elevation offering to Yahweh, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to Yahweh.  19 'You shall also offer one male goat for a sin offering and two male lambs one year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings.  20 'The priest shall then wave them with the (lechem habikkurim) bread of the first fruits for a wave offering with two lambs before Yahweh; they are to be holy to Yahweh for the priest.  21 'On this same day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are to have a sacred assembly. You shall do no laborious work. It is to be a perpetual statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.  22 'When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the alien. I am Yahweh your God.'" 

The fiftieth day is the (Hag Shavuot – Exod 34:22) Feast of Weeks – the second of the three Feasts of Yahweh. It is also (Yom haBikkurim – Num 28:26) the Day of the First fruits – the third of the seven annual Holy Days. And it is called “Pentecost” – meaning fiftieth. By this date, wheat, the final and finest grain crop, is being harvested. Two omers of fine wheat flour are to be taken and baked into two large leavened loaves – about nine inches wide by thirty-six inches long. This “bread of the first fruits” is to be waved with two lambs. It is later eaten by the priests; nothing leavened may be placed on the Altar.
 

This is the betrothal feast. The church that was redeemed is ready to be betrothed to Yeshua. The betrothal contract is the Torah from Mount Sinai. The earnest is the Holy Spirit.

 

23 Again Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,  24 "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a sacred assembly.  25 'You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to Yahweh.'" 

The first day of the seventh month is known as “the day of which no man knows the day or the hour,” because its beginning is only determined after it has started. When it is announced from the Holy Temple by a representative of the Sanhedrin, after they have considered witness accounts concerning a new crescent moon, the Holy Day has already begun. Therefore, the Holy Day is observed from the earliest possible start time, though it may subsequently be found to start twenty-four hours later. In other words, it is observed as a two-day long Sabbath, because all of the day must be kept holy, though it cannot be known when it starts until after the fact.

This is the fourth of the seven annual Holy Days. It is a precursor to the Feast of Tabernacles.

The shofar (a ram’s horn trumpet) is sounded several times, with an announcement preceding each trump. Before the last and longest trump, the announcement is “Tekiah Gedolah!” – the Return of the Great One!
 

At the Last Trump, with the shout of the archangel, Yeshua will descend from heaven, and the dead in Messiah shall rise (1 Cor 15:52, 1 Thess 4:16). Of that day and hour no one knows (Matt 24:36, Mark 13:32). Messiah is returning for His bride.

 

26 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,  27 "On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is (Yom haKippurim) the Day of the Atonements; it shall be a sacred assembly for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to Yahweh.  28 "You shall not do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonements, to atone for you before Yahweh your God.  29 "If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people.  30 "As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.  31 "You shall do no work at all. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.  32 "It is to be a (Shabbat Shabbaton) Sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep your Sabbath." 

On the tenth day of this seventh month, we come to the Day of the Atonements, the fifth of the seven annual Holy Days. It is a solemn day of fasting and repentance. A sacred assembly is required. [It may be noted that a Holy Day is herein called a Sabbath, even though it is not a seventh day.]

Two goats (Lev 16:5-10) represent the two atonements of this day. It is final preparation for the coming third feast.
 

We must have two atonements to be fit for the soon coming Kingdom: the goat for Azazel representing our sins being accounted to Yeshua and taken away, and the goat for Yahweh representing Yeshua’s righteousness being imputed to us with the soothing aroma ascending to God.

 

33 Again Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,  34 "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the (Hag Sukkot) Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to Yahweh.  35 'On the first day is a sacred assembly; you shall do no laborious work of any kind.  36 'For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to Yahweh.

This third feast lasts seven days. The first day of this feast is the sixth of the seven annual Holy Days. For the seven days, we are to dwell – eat and sleep – in (sukkot) tabernacles / booths. These are temporary structures made of branches and leaves. We must keep the first day holy and have a sacred assembly, but we may leave for our normal daily work on the other six days.

On the first day, among other offerings, thirteen bullocks were offered at the Holy Temple. On the second day it was twelve bullocks. On the sixth day it was seven bullocks. The total was seventy bullocks, representing the fall of the seventy nations that were originally separated from Babel. All the nations of this world have fallen by the end.
 

This is a rehearsal for the wedding feast – “The marriage of the Lamb is come, and His bride has made herself ready!” – Rev 19:7-9. If we have come through the blood of the Passover-lamb, if we have accepted the betrothal contract, if we have heard the “Last Trump” and participated in the atonements, then we may be part of this glorious feast! The remainder of the world will be under devastation.

 

On the eighth day you shall have a sacred assembly and present an offering by fire to Yahweh; it is an assembly. You shall do no laborious work. 

This is known as (Yom Hashmini Atzeret – Num 29:35) the Eighth Day Assembly. It is the final Holy Day of the festival year, immediately following the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles.

On this day, among other offerings, one bullock was offered at the Holy Temple, representing the Kingdom of God. All seventy kingdoms of this world have become the one Kingdom of Our God.
 

Yeshua will reign in righteousness! He will dwell with His bride forever! There will be no more sin, no more of sin’s results, no more death.

 

37 'These are the appointed-times of Yahweh which you shall proclaim as sacred assemblies, to present offerings by fire to Yahweh – elevation offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each day's matter on its own day –   38 besides those of the Sabbaths of Yahweh, and besides your gifts and besides all your votive and freewill offerings, which you give to Yahweh. 

These are the seven Holy Days of each year when a sacred assembly is required with its own prescribed (seder) order of service. These are in addition to the weekly Sabbath assemblies, and the required times to bring various offerings (e.g.: sin offerings, thanksgiving offerings) to the Holy Temple.

 

Hebrew Vocabulary (in order of usage in text)

 

Yahweh – the unique proper Name of the Eternal Gracious One

Miqra (miqrei is possessive form) – assembly, calling together

Kodesh – to keep holy, sanctify, dedicate, consecrate

Moed (moadai is plural possessive form) – appointed-time

Shvi’i – seventh (hashvi’i is definite – the seventh)

Yom – day

Shabbat (shabbaton is plural form) – a rest, especially to dedicate time to God

Related to shevii – seventh (day or year or millennium)

Sometimes applied to other Holy Days (e.g.: Lev 23:32)

Also used meaning “week”:

In Talmud first day of the week is (Hebrew) “rishon bashabbat / first of the sabbath” – Sukkot

In Gospels first day of the week is (Greek) “mian sabbaton / first of sabbath” – Matthew 28:1

Erev – to be dark or darkening (afternoon, evening, or nighttime)

Boqer – morning (to break forth), daytime (by implication)

Bein – between

Haarbaim – definite plural form of erev – the evenings (noon and sunset)

Hag – feast; lots of food including foods of symbolic nature (e.g.: lamb, breads, fruit-of-the-vine, new fruits & nuts)

 

Units of Measure

 

Ephah – a basic unit of dry measure; about twenty-five liters or twenty-eight quarts by Jerusalem Hazon Ish measure, twelve liters by Wilderness Na’eh measure

Seah – a unit of dry measure (used for grain); one-third of an ephah; about eight liters by Jerusalem measure

Omer – a unit of dry measure (used for flour); one-tenth of an ephah; about two-and-a-half liters by Jerusalem measure

Log – a unit of liquid measure (used for olive oil); about one-third liter by Jerusalem measure

Hin – a unit of liquid measure (used for wine); a “fourth of a hin” is about one liter by Jerusalem measure

 

 

ddd  8/26/08

 

Readings:

"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King of the Universe,

Who chose us from among all peoples by giving us Your Torah.

Blessed are You, Yahweh, giver of the Torah."

Leviticus 22-23

Reader 1Amen. 1 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they dedicate to Me, so as not to profane My holy name; I am Yahweh. 3 "Say to them, 'If any man among all your descendants throughout your generations approaches the holy gifts which the sons of Israel dedicate to Yahweh, while he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from before Me; I am Yahweh. 4 'No man of the descendants of Aaron, who is a tzara or who has a discharge, may eat of the holy gifts until he is clean. And if one touches anything made unclean by a corpse or if a man has a seminal emission, 5 or if a man touches any teeming things by which he is made unclean, or any man by whom he is made unclean, whatever his uncleanness; 6 a person who touches any such shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat of the holy gifts unless he has bathed his body in water. 7 'But when the sun sets, he will be clean, and afterward he shall eat of the holy gifts, for it is his food. 8 'He shall not eat an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, becoming unclean by it; I am Yahweh. 9 'They shall therefore keep My charge, so that they will not bear sin because of it and die thereby because they profane it; I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.

Reader 2Amen. 10 'No layman, however, is to eat the holy gift; a sojourner with the priest or a hired man shall not eat of the holy gift. 11 'But if a priest buys a slave as his property with his money, that one may eat of it, and those who are born in his house may eat of his food. 12 'If a priest's daughter is married to a layman, she shall not eat of the offering of the gifts. 13 'But if a priest's daughter becomes a widow or divorced, and has no child and returns to her father's house as in her youth, she shall eat of her father's food; but no layman shall eat of it. 14 'But if a man eats a holy gift unintentionally, then he shall add to it a fifth of it and shall give the holy gift to the priest. 15 'They shall not profane the holy gifts of the sons of Israel which they offer to Yahweh, 16 and so cause them to bear punishment for guilt by eating their holy gifts; for I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.'"

Reader 3Amen. 17 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 18 "Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, 'Any man of the house of Israel or of the aliens in Israel who presents his offering, whether it is any of their votive or any of their freewill offerings, which they present to Yahweh for an elevation offering-- 19 for you to be accepted-- it must be a male without defect from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats. 20 'Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you. 21 'When a man offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh to fulfill a special vow or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it. 22 'Those that are blind or fractured or maimed or having a running sore or eczema or scabs, you shall not offer to Yahweh, nor make of them an offering by fire on the altar to Yahweh. 23 'In respect to an ox or a lamb which has an overgrown or stunted member, you may present it for a freewill offering, but for a vow it will not be accepted. 24 'Also anything with its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut, you shall not offer to Yahweh, or sacrifice in your land, 25 nor shall you accept any such from the hand of a foreigner for offering as the food of your God; for their corruption is in them, they have a defect, they shall not be accepted for you.'"

Reader 4Amen. 26 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 27 "When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be accepted as a sacrifice of an offering by fire to Yahweh. 28 "But, whether it is an ox or a sheep, you shall not kill both it and its young in one day. 29 "When you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Yahweh, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. 30 "It shall be eaten on the same day, you shall leave none of it until morning; I am Yahweh. 31 "So you shall keep My commandments, and do them; I am Yahweh. 32 "You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be sanctified among the sons of Israel; I am Yahweh who sanctifies you, 33 who brought you out from the land of Egypt, to be your God; I am Yahweh."

Reader 5Amen. 1 Yahweh spoke again to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'Yahweh's appointed times which you shall proclaim as sacred assemblies – My appointed times are these: 3 'For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, a sacred assembly. You shall not do any work; it is a Sabbath to Yahweh in all your dwellings. 4 'These are the appointed times of Yahweh, sacred assemblies which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them. 5 'In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is Yahweh's Passover offering. 6 'Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Breads to Yahweh; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7 'On the first day you shall have a sacred assembly; you shall not do any laborious work. 8 'But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to Yahweh. On the seventh day is a sacred assembly; you shall not do any laborious work.'" 9 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 10 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 'He shall wave the omer (mixture) before Yahweh for you to be accepted; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 'Now on the day when you wave the omer, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for an elevation offering to Yahweh. 13 'Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to Yahweh for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine. 14 'Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 15 '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 weeks. 16 'You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh week; then you shall present a new grain offering to Yahweh. 17 'You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread for a wave offering, made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked with leaven as first fruits to Yahweh. 18 'Along with the bread you shall present seven one year old male lambs without defect, and a bull of the herd and two rams; they are to be an elevation offering to Yahweh, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to Yahweh. 19 'You shall also offer one male goat for a sin offering and two male lambs one year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 'The priest shall then wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering with two lambs before Yahweh; they are to be holy to Yahweh for the priest. 21 'On this same day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are to have a sacred assembly. You shall do no laborious work. It is to be a perpetual statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations. 22 'When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the alien. I am Yahweh your God.'"

Reader 6Amen. 23 Again Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 24 "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a sacred assembly. 25 'You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to Yahweh.'" 26 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 27 "On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of the atonements; it shall be a sacred assembly for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to Yahweh. 28 "You shall not do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonements, to make atonements on your behalf before Yahweh your God. 29 "If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people. 30 "As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31 "You shall do no work at all. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 32 "It is to be a Sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep your Sabbath." 33 Again Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 34 "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to Yahweh. 35 'On the first day is a sacred assembly; you shall do no laborious work of any kind. 36 'For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to Yahweh. On the eighth day you shall have a sacred assembly and present an offering by fire to Yahweh; it is an assembly. You shall do no laborious work.

Reader 7Amen. 37 'These are the appointed times of Yahweh which you shall proclaim as sacred assemblies, to present offerings by fire to Yahweh-- elevation offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each day's matter on its own day-- 38 besides those of the Sabbaths of Yahweh, and besides your gifts and besides all your votive and freewill offerings, which you give to Yahweh. 39 'On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of Yahweh for seven days, with a rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth day. 40 'Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God for seven days. 41 'You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to Yahweh for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 'You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths, 43 so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.'" 44 So Moses declared to the sons of Israel the appointed times of Yahweh.

"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King of the Universe,

Who in giving us Yeshua, the Living Torah, has planted everlasting life in our midst.

Blessed are You, Yahweh, giver of the Torah."

______________________

 

"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King of the Universe,

Who selected good prophets, delighting in their words which were spoken truthfully.

Blessed are You, Yahweh, Who chose the Torah, Your servant Moses, Your people Israel,

and the prophets of truth and righteousness."

 

(No Prophet)

 

Psalm 86    (To be sung.)    A Prayer of David.

1 Incline Your ear, O Yahweh, and answer me; for I am afflicted and needy. 2 Preserve my soul, for I am a godly man; O You my God, save Your servant who trusts in You. 3 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to You I cry all day long. 4 Make glad the soul of Your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. 5 For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You. 6 Give ear, O Yahweh, to my prayer; and give heed to the voice of my supplications! 7 In the day of my trouble I shall call upon You, for You will answer me. 8 There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like Yours. 9 All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and they shall glorify Your name. 10 For You are great and do wondrous deeds; You alone are God. 11 Teach me Your way, O Yahweh; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name. 12 I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and will glorify Your name forever. 13 For Your lovingkindness toward me is great, and You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. 14 O God, arrogant men have risen up against me, and a band of violent men have sought my life, and they have not set You before them. 15 But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth. 16 Turn to me, and be gracious to me; oh grant Your strength to Your servant, and save the son of Your handmaid. 17 Show me a sign for good, that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed, because You, O Yahweh, have helped me and comforted me.

 

Colossians 2:1 – 3:6

Reader 8Amen. 1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Messiah Himself, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument. 5 For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Messiah. 6 Therefore as you have received Messiah Yeshua the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Messiah.

Reader 9Amen. 9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; 11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Messiah; 12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

Reader 10Amen. 16 Therefore let no one condemn you in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day-- 17 things which are a shadow of what is to come, the body being Messiah. 18 Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God. 20 If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, 21 "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!" 22 (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)-- in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? 23 These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

Reader 11Amen. 3:1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Messiah, keep seeking the things above, where Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Messiah in God. 4 When Messiah, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. 5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,

 

"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King of the Universe,

Rock of Ages, righteous throughout all generations.

You are the faithful God, promising and then performing, speaking and then fulfilling,

for all Your words are true and righteous.

Faithful are You, Yahweh our God, and faithful are Your words,

for no word of Yours shall remain unfulfilled;

You are a faithful and merciful God and King.

Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, Who are faithful in fulfilling all Your words."

 

 

© 2006  Beikvot HaMashiach
(Followers of the Messiah)