Riders of the Lost Ark – A Yom Kippur story – Part Two

This is the second of a two-part newsletter about Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

I had an interesting childhood – attended Yiddish school, was involved with Yiddish theater and played in a Yiddish mandolin orchestra. Though at rare times I got suited up with my dad on the High Holidays and went to synagogue, my viewpoint was like that of my Yiddish-speaking communist parents: anyone who believed in God was both primitive and superstitious.

But I still knew that there was something different about Yom Kippur. Call it a nagging feeling, but I knew that many Jews felt that the Day of Atonement was the one Jewish holy day not to treat lightly. Jews who didn’t fast or try to feel repentant on that day might be cut off from the Jewish people forever. That’s what I understood Jewish tradition to say. For many of my friends, Yom Kippur was the only time they attended synagogue – ‘Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur Jews’ were like ‘Christmas and Easter Christians,’ it seemed to me.

As a child, my father backed up Yossele Rosenblatt, considered the finest cantor of his time, in a synagogue choir in Manhattan. I still have my father’s Yom Kippur prayer book which he worked from as a cantor in the U.S. Army during WWII – complete with penciled-in notes as to who would sing what. I remember how his voice sounded when he sang Yom Kippur cantorial melodies.

I knew that the high point, the most decisive spiritual climax of the synagogue service, was the Ne’ila – the locking of the doors of Heaven, I was told.  These were the last possible seconds in the packed service where one’s personal repentance might actually accomplish something before the God of Jacob. The final blast of the shofar brought that drama to a close, and my father and I would slowly return home.

Only after I came to faith in Messiah Yeshua did I begin to sift through tradition and history, comparing them to what Moses and the Prophets taught. As a young Messianic Jew, I also tried to learn from older brothers and sisters in the Lord, but found that most of them knew even less than I did about these matters. This newsletter is a short summation of what I have learned since then, presented in five questions:

A Day in the life

The Third Book of Moses (Vayyīqrāʾin Hebrew, Leuïtikón in Greek and Leviticus in English) describes the events of the Day of Atonement, step by step and hour by hour. Leviticus 16:1-34 presents the events from the perspective of what tasks the High Priest needed to accomplish, while Leviticus 23:26-32 addresses the common people of Israel and their commemoration of the Holy Day. Numbers 29:7-11 gives a complete list of the offerings and sacrifices (sin, burnt, grain, drink) commemorated on that day. Here are the five main stages of Yom Kippur:

The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews [Messianic Jews] sums up this activity:

The Book of Leviticus 16:29-34 stresses the following heart attitudes and practices:

The Book of Leviticus 23:26-32 adds:

Israel’s sobriety of heart and self-humbling of spirit were part and parcel of the national sin offering event. Yom Kippur was not exactly a happy festival; its somber nature eventually was connected to fasting, although that specific word is not used by the Bible in all of the contexts.

Cutting it close

YHVH entrusted the act of male circumcision on the eighth day to Abraham in Genesis 17:14. Disobedience on this point entailed being cut off from the Abrahamic Covenant and from the Jewish people:

The Hebrew term karath used in Genesis 17 means to cut down, cut off or destroy. It has a secondary meaning ‘to cut’ or to make a covenant. When the term is used with the sense ‘to cut off,’ it can refer to one of three possible meanings. Context is important in the interpreting which one of the three is being stressed. It should also be understood that these definitions are probably the maximum limits which judges could mete out, and not woodenly required in each situation:

The following are 14 examples of activities which result in ‘being cut off,’ according to the Mosaic Covenant:

Some of these judgments were capital offences, while other would involve exclusion from the community – either open-ended or limited in time (a ban). Numbers 27:14 refers to the rebellion at Kadesh, yet YHVH did not destroy Israel. Instead, His discipline entailed a national delay in entering the Promised Land – though most of that generation did die in the wilderness (Numbers 26:65).  When the Mosaic Covenant allows no atoning sacrifice for sin, and yet God graciously does not cut our people off, there is room for humbly rejoicing:

In 1 Corinthians 5:5 and 11:28-32 Paul points out how God can bring judgment on believers who highhandedly violate biblical commands. Though prosecutable evidence may escape human judges’ detection, God who sees everything may bring His justice about in His own time. The fear of the Lord is supposed to affect the community, so that all will know that YHVH will not tolerate hypocrisy and hidden sin in Israel’s public worship, praise and celebration (see Jude 1:12).

Messiah our Righteousness is cut off

There are two passages in the Scriptures which use the verb ‘cut off’ in connection with the Messiah: “Then after the sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off (yikaret) and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary” (Daniel 9:26). Isaiah adds a corresponding thought, using a similar Hebrew verb to karath  (‘nigzar’): “By oppression and judgment He was taken away. And as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off from the land of the living for the wrongdoing of my people, to whom the blow was due?” (Isaiah 53:8). God’s redemptive decision to ‘cut off’ the Messiah is the highest point in the history of atonement!

The Tashlich tradition – future sprinkling, washing and cleansing

A Jewish tradition from the late medieval period is based on Micah 7:18-20, where YHVH promises to cast (tashlich) all Israel’s sins into the depths of the sea. The forgiveness of the sins of the sons and daughters of Jacob is an oft-repeated theme in the prophets. This cleansing comes about as a result of Yeshua’s atonement:

Psalm 51:2                  washing and cleansing

Isaiah 44:22                wiping out sins

Micah 7:18-19            passing over the sin of remnant, casting it into the sea

Ezekiel 26:25              sprinkling clean water, cleansing

Jeremiah 33:8            cleansing and forgiving

Jeremiah 50:20          searching for Israel’s sins but they are not found

Zechariah 13:1            fountain of cleansing for House of David and inhabitants of Jerusalem

Ephesians 5:26           Messiah Yeshua cleanses us by the washing of water with the Word

Cherries Jubilee

YHVH commanded that, once every fifty years, a national forgiveness of debts should be proclaimed across Israel. All debts would be wiped off the books – a joyous event indeed! Yom Kippur was the occasion for huge celebration among the Jewish people – a physical manifestation of a glorious spiritual reality:

A rabbinic Yom Kippur

Modern Orthodox Jewish perspectives on the Ten Days of Awe and the Day of Atonement have historical roots. After the Second Temple was destroyed by Imperial Rome, hopes for its speedy rebuilding did not materialize. Rabbinic Judaism then ‘rebuilt itself,’ bringing in non-biblical ceremonies of atonement which were not based on sacrifices on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. This required massive restructuring, and today’s Orthodox Judaism is that product – a step-child of Second Temple Judaism, one which has departed from the atonement-based foundations of Moses and Messiah Yeshua.

IN the 200’s A.D. Rabbi Judah the Prince (author of the Mishnah) brought forward a new and non-biblical concept regarding a staggered process: individual Jews are judged on the Feast of Trumpets but that judgment is only sealed on the Day of Atonement:

A few years after him, Rabbi Yochanan expanded on Rabbi Judah’s new teaching, adding embellishments of his own:

This tradition has led to Rosh Hashana (the Feast of Trumpets) being described as Yom Ha-Din – the Day of Judgment.

Nearly one thousand years later, Rambam (Moshe ben Maimon or Maimonides) tried to explain the spiritual basis behind these not-biblically-based decisions. In his Mikra’ot Gedolot commentary on Leviticus, he stated:

There we have it. Without biblical warrant, a whole new envelope was created and a whole new emphasis and understanding was given to these two biblical Holy Convocations. This transformed the biblical understanding and emphases of Yom Kippur into what is traditionally followed today.  From changing the biblical New Year to Eitanim/Tishrei, to a legally legislated Ten Days of Awe, to proclaiming that each and every individual Jew’s destiny is written down one year at a time in the Book of Life – these less-than-biblical emphases are traditionally embraced by many Jewish people.

It’s not easy being a Messianic Jew

For the remnant of Israel, we Messianic Jewish men and women who follow Messiah Yeshua, there are many scattered rocks and remains of broken buildings on our spiritual path to restoring the Jewish people in our Land – both physically and spiritually. Occasionally and poetically speaking, there is unexploded ordnance and even an active mine or two. Do pray for our fledgling community as we stride forward, laboring for the restoration of Jacob’s seed to the God of Jacob and to David’s Greater Son!

How can Messianic believers relate to Yom Kippur? Here are some foundational points:

Clearly, we are under the New Covenant and our atonement is through Yeshua.

We are not looking for our names to be written once yearly in heavenly books, for as Messiah Yeshua said: “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven” (Luke 10:20).  “Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time. And at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued” (Daniel 12:1)

If we choose to fast, it is in intercession for our people, that they would turn to Messiah Yeshua and receive His atonement – and not that our fasting would atone for our sins. These have already been atoned for by Yeshua. “But as for you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that your fasting will not be noticed by people but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:17-18).

It seems that the Apostle Paul was used to fasting on Yom Kippur: “When considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even the Fast was already over . . . “ (Acts 27:9).

We who follow Messiah are called to confess our sins before God on a daily basis, and to experience our personal Yom Kippur each day, as the blood of Messiah Yeshua cleanses us from all sin:

How should we then pray? 

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal) through: www.davidstent.org   

Riders of the Lost Ark – A Yom Kippur story – Part One

This is the first of a two-part newsletter about Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

The Scriptures tell us that the God of Jacob rides upon the highest heavens; He rides on the clouds of heaven and through the desert; He rides on the cherubim:

In Moses’ Tent of Meeting and Solomon’s Temple, YHVH’s manifest presence hovered or rode above the two cherubim (Psalm 80:1), those golden representations of angels (see Genesis 3:24) who stand before God’s presence at all times:

In the Holy of Holies, the God of Jacob would actually appear to Aaron (Exodus 30:10; Leviticus 16) and later to the High Priest (both descended through Levi), manifesting His glory above the gold-covered sacred chest known in Hebrew as the kapōret or place of atonement (translated into Greek as hilastērion – i.e., to appease or make favorable; and into Latin as propriatorium – i.e., a place of reconciling or atoning).

What’s an atonement?

The Holy Convocation which is commonly called ‘the Day of Atonement’ is actually plural in the Hebrew of Leviticus 23:27 – Yom Hakippurim (Day of Atonements). The Hebrew root has commonly been connected to an Arabic cognate meaning ‘to cover’ or ‘to conceal.’ But a study of how the root ‘kaphar/kapar’ is used in the Hebrew Scriptures (150 times!) reveals that the biblical meaning is more accurately ‘ransom.’ A secondary meaning is ‘a bribe’ or something that will purchase favor in a challenging situation, In Leviticus the root kaphar is used 49 times with the concept of ransom-atonement. Here are some examples through the Hebrew Bible:

The exchange of life principle

Dr. Louis Goldberg (former Professor of Jewish Studies at Moody Bible Institute) – a dear friend now with the Lord – loved to stress that the heart of the sacrificial system in the Mosaic Covenant was something he called ‘the exchange-of-life principle.’ When the High Priest would lay his hands on the live sacrificial animal, the sins of the guilty sacrificer would (as it were) go into the innocent animal, and the life of the innocent animal would be accredited to the one who was laying his hands on the sheep or goat – thus granting him atonement:

Blood, body and soul

God’s perspective is that blood is what ties body and soul together. It symbolizes life. Indeed, without it there is no life:

Blood has one purpose in the Scriptures. It is to be used to honor God who has given us the gift of life. Blood is not to be eaten, but to be used to atone for human sins. To eat blood is a serious spiritual offense, for YHVH says that the blood and the fat of the sacrifice – the most significant part which represents precious life – belong only to the God of Jacob, and to no other deity or creation (see also Exodus 13:2; Leviticus 17; 27:9, 26). To take what God claims as His alone and to eat it for ones’ self, this is to rob and plunder the Lord Himself.

The Apostle Paul adds a New Covenant perspective here:

These concepts form the background for Yom Ha-kippurim, the Day of Atonements.

Our next newsletter will:

How should we then pray? 

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal) through: www.davidstent.org   

The goat without a beard

The Yiddish language is rich in humor and irony. Though much of ‘the world of our fathers’ has disappeared in Holocaust flames, some of its wit and wisdom is preserved in sharp proverbs which still bring enjoyment and recognition.

In my fifty years of walking as a believer in Messiah Yeshua, I have run into occasional declarations by some Christian leaders advocating some wacky and unbalanced things, which are defined by them as being truly Jewish or Hebrew in nature. Few of these people actually speak Hebrew or have studied Jewish and rabbinic history. Yet their declarations imply that they have access to hidden spiritual understandings of secret Jewish ways. Representatives from both the Messianic Jewish and the Christian world would be included on the short list here. Another Yiddish proverb springs to mind: “A specialist is someone fifty kilometers away from home.”

Some dear friends have been exposed to such unfounded teachings. The Apostle Paul calls these declarations words which have “the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion” (see Colossians 2:23). Regrettably, we are seeing an upsurge of such things in our day. The goal of this newsletter is to shine discernment’s light of on some of these misguided teachings, and to encourage the embrace of biblical perspectives.

It has become fashionable among some Christians who love Jewish roots and ways of expression, to unquestioningly accept rabbinic perspectives and practices in some areas. Two flashing red lights are of concern here: (a) the use of the rabbinic calendar, and (b) the use of gematria – numerological calculations influenced by kabbalah (Jewish black magic).

Reeling in the years

Every year, during the seventh biblical month of the year (called Eitanim in 1 Kings 8:2, but inaccurately called Rosh Hashana or the ‘Jewish New Year’ by rabbinic Judaism), a significant stream of Christian social media is abuzz with Jewish perspectives and traditions which are non-biblical and occasionally occultic. Among some groups there is a strong focus on the rabbinic use of letters of the Hebrew alphabet which are supposed to represent the year when the world was created – at least, according to rabbinic Judaism’s calculations. This year the rabbinic number under discussion is 5784 Anno Mundi – the counting from ‘the years of the earth/Creation’ (minyan la-yetzirah in Hebrew). What is the origin of this tradition?

Today’s rabbinic computation of ‘the years of Creation’ is not laid out in the biblical text. The first instance of this appears in the medieval period (800’s A.D.),  based on a Hebrew scroll called Seder Olam Rabbah. That scroll was probably authored in the post-Hadrianic period by the Tanna Rabbi Yose ben Ḥalafta circa 165 A.D., a rabbinic scholar mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud (Shabbat 88a, Yevamot 82b). Some of his conjectures (though he does not clearly define the date of Creation in his description of Genesis) appeared in a reworked framework (circa 800’s A.D.) in a scroll called Baraita di-Shemu’el. In the late 800’s A.D. Jewish tombstones in Venosa (southern Italy) are found mentioning a similar dating system to Seder Olam Rabbah. About 946 A.D. Shabbetai Donnolo mentions such dating in his commentary on the Sefer Yezirah.  In 1514 Seder Olam Rabbah was published in Mantua, and in 1517 it was published in Paris. In 1658, Archbishop of Armagh James Ussher’s Chronology was published, with conclusions based on Seder Olam Rabbah’s approach.

An interesting historical note: the usual calendar calculation used by Jews in Talmudic and post-Talmudic times was not rabbinic, but that of the Greek Seleucid era (post-Alexander the Great, with the starting point beginning in the year 312 B.C.) That axial date was referred to by Jewish sources as minyan hashtarot (‘the dating of documents’). Only after the center of Jewish life moved from Babylonia to Europe (in the middle Medieval period) was the Greek method of counting replaced by the Anno Mundi reckoning related to Seder Olam Rabbah.

When He walked the hills of Galilee, Messiah Yeshua did not tell time based on a rabbinic calendar, nor did the Apostles after Him.

Though we may admire rabbinic zeal in their desire to search out the exact year of Creation, the accuracy and precision of their conclusions cannot be endorsed by those who depend on Scriptural teaching. In the same way, prophetic words lose much of their reliability when they are based on unfounded rabbinic speculations.

The year of Creation is simply not given to us in the Bible. The occult use of Hebrew letters and the importing of arcane rabbinic reasoning – these are unable to pave a road which the Bible in any case never laid down for us to walk on. We exhort those who are spreading these ‘teachings’ among believers in Yeshua to pull back from seeding such falsehoods in the body of Messiah.

As in the days of Jeroboam, it is essential to make this point clear: the rabbinic dating system regarding the date of Creation is not God-breathed, nor is it accurate. When believers blindly use this rabbinic dating, an unwittingly spiritual dependence on rabbinic authority is set in motion – and that rabbinic authority denies Yeshua’s deity and Messiahship, the authority of the New Covenant, etc. Caveat emptor!

Fudging God’s commission can equal witchcraft

“No reason to get excited,” the thief he kindly spoke.

“There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.

But you and I, we’ve been through that and this is not our fate.

So let us not talk falsely, now – the hour is getting late.”

(Bob Dylan, “All Along The Watchtower”, Dwarf Music © 1968, 1996)

“Pride cometh before a fall, and a haughty spirit before stumbling” (Proverbs 16:18). King Saul of Benjamin’s tribe was more interested in public opinion polls than in being a godly and obedient leader in Israel. He masked his disobedience to the prophet Samuel’s direct order by conducting a religious ceremony – a sacrifice – in defiance of YHVH’s commands (1 Samuel 13:8-14; 15:1-21). In our day, we might not grasp the severity of disobeying a clear command of God. But perhaps thinking about this situation from a military point of view might help. What happens when a soldier disobeys the command of his superior officer? That is considered a very serious offense. In God’s kingdom when a king disobeys the express command of God, there is a stricter judgment – even if that king is Jewish.

Samuel’s pronouncement applies not only to King Saul, but also to any religious authority in Israel who rejects the Messiah and His message, and who then establishes for himself a religious framework born out of rebellion and rejection.

“Has YHVH as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of YHVH? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of YHVH, He has also rejected you from being king” (1 Samuel 15:22-23).

God’s choice of the word ‘witchcraft’ to classify Saul’s behavior was not accidental. Rebellious religious activity and sacrifice that do not accept God’s sovereignty and lordship, even if they are performed ‘from the heart’ – these are actually a spiritual façade disguising witchcraft. Orthodox Judaism’s spiritual roots are anchored in a rabbinic leadership that unfortunately rejected Yeshua’s Davidic authority, His Messiahship and His atonement.

Pride and witchcraft versus servanthood

One of the central activities of rabbinic Judaism is based around the study-hall (Beis Medrish in Yiddish, Beit Midrash or yeshiva in Hebrew). Intellectual acumen, prodigious memorization and blistering academic speed are treasured in that environment. Learning how to control vast amounts of halakhic information is a young man’s challenge in these institutions, while competitive pride in one’s own achievements can be a professional blowback of this educational method.

Unfortunately, there are a few Messianic leaders who make use of the same yeshiva dynamics – strong hierarchical control and appeal to pride – in overseeing believers committed to their care, all the time insisting that these manipulative methods are actually proof of apostolic authority. Yeshua invites us to follow a different way, a more excellent way – the way of servanthood and self-sacrificing love.

Playing the numbers

There are things which may definitely be Jewish, but they are also definitely non-kosher.

A mystical strand of Judaism which purports to come from Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (a 2nd century rabbi) blends gnostic and Hindu magical practices, and then clothes them with ultra-Orthodox garb. Claiming that these teachings represent the hidden spiritual core of the Torah, these spiritual adulterers insist that these ‘spiritual secrets’ have been handed down from generation to generation as a valid and kosher ‘received tradition’ or kabbalah (from the Hebrew root KBL ‘to receive’).

To put it plainly in Christian evangelical terminology, kabbalah is Jewish occult, Jewish black magic. It bases itself on spiritual exercises aimed at manipulating spiritual powers, and propagates its false teaching with its own ‘map of the spirit world’ based on a gnostic interpretation of an allegorical ‘tree of life.’ It offers spiritual power and revelation to its followers – but it is stolen and treif.

The Jewish community’s response to kabbalah has been varied. Some traditional Jews see kabbalah and Chasidism as pagan and superstitious perversions of Judaism. Other Jewish communities believe that kabbalistic wonder-working rabbis are holy men. There are even some Messianic Jews (and Gentiles) who dabble in kabbalah and attempt to disseminate these teachings to audiences who lack the ability to sift and discern what it is that they are being spoon-fed.

Kabbalah was snapped up by some Christian Hebraists over the past hundreds of years, who mistakenly thought that they had found secret Jewish mystical texts proving the Trinity. Some even came to the unreal conclusion that kabbalistic rabbis secretly believed that Yeshua is the Messiah.

Playing the numbers

A Jewish tradition tied to kabbalah – to Jewish black magic – is called gematria. According to this teaching, every Hebrew letter in each Hebrew word has a mathematical equivalent. Like the ancient Romans who used their alphabet letters to represent numbers (C equal 100, L equals 50, etc.), so Hebrew letters can be used to equal mathematical sums. This method becomes occult when it moves away from simple mathematics and starts:

doing fortune-telling by looking for hidden prophetic meanings in the total mathematical equivalent of a word

compares the numerical total of a word to another word with the same mathematical total, and draws ‘prophetic’ meaning from the equivalencies

takes individual letters of the Hebrew calendar rabbinic reckoning, and gives allegorical or quasi-prophetic meaning to each letter

A recent example, seen across social media, involves this rabbinic year – called TaSH’PaD (5784 A.M.). A Christian kabbalistic/gematria interpretation floating around on social media takes the Hebrew letter for ‘D’ (‘dalet’) and proclaims that the ‘D’ stands for ‘delet’ or ‘door.’ Then a pseudo-prophetic word is brought declaring that this is ‘the Year of the Door.’ To be tongue in cheek, one could take the ‘SH’ (the Hebrew letter ‘shin’) and proclaim that the ‘SH’ stands for ‘sha’ar’ which means ‘gate.’ One could then declare that this is ‘The Year of the Gate.’  Or one could take the Hebrew letter for ‘P’ (‘peh’) and proclaim that the ‘P’ stands for ‘paz’ or fine gold. One could then declare that this is ‘the Year of Fine Gold.’ The possibilities are endless. But the results are neither biblical nor kosher nor prophetic.

Instead of consulting ‘the fortune-teller woman’ at the county fair, it has become ‘chic’ in some circles to consult ‘cutting-edge prophets and apostles’ who proclaim hidden Hebrew meanings for the coming rabbinic calendar year. This mystical and occult hermeneutical technique removes logic and biblical discernment from the interpretative process. Instead, a squirrely hermeneutic is substituted, which pridefully appeals to a seemingly superior Hebrew knowledge. But this method is dead in the water, lacking both biblical basis and kosher qualifications.

These dabblings into Jewish mysticism are at times trumpeted by some Gentile believers who lack sufficient ability and discernment in these matters. Unfortunately, even some Messianic Jews are getting on the same rickety bandwagon. These above-mentioned rabbinic influences can exert an unhealthy pull on believers who may have started off positively inclined toward Jewish subjects. These abuses have a real potential to confuse and fog believers’ spiritual discernment, and to open up doors of deception in the name of ‘Jewish roots.’ It is our heart’s prayer that all dear believers stay far away from these non-kosher aspects of rabbinic theology, tradition and mysticism. They are not only spiritually unclean. They also come from a worldview that denies the reality and power of Israel’s Risen Messiah.

For greater detail on this subject, feel free to consult chapter nine of my book (‘Kosher and non-kosher Judaism’) titled ‘How to be Messianic without becoming Meshuggeh (*crazy): A common sense approach to kosher Messianic foundations’ which delves into these issues more deeply.

How should we then pray? 

Pray for believers who appreciate the Jewish roots of our faith to cleave to the Scriptures as our foundational authority

Pray for believers to treat rabbinic authority with healthy caution, and to not grant it spiritual influence over our faith

Pray for Messiah Yeshua to be revealed to and accepted by many hungry Jewish hearts

Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal) through: www.davidstent.org   

Why the shofar? Why the trumpet?

The gnarled and curved ram’s horn – the shofar – is universally recognized as the musical instrument par excellence associated with the Jewish High Holidays. It may come as a surprise that YHVH’s commands regarding the events of Yom Hakippurim (Yom Kippur/ the Day of Atonements) to Moses in Leviticus 23:26-32 and Numbers 29:7-11 do not mention a shofar or a silver trumpet. Why the connection, then? What do the Scriptures tell us about the symbolism of the shofar and the trumpet, and how do these meanings connect to these two Holy Festivals?

YHVH is a man of war (Exodus 15:3)

The first use of the word ‘shofar’ or ram’s horn in the Bible is found in the Book of Job, the earliest scroll written down by the ancients. In the context of fierce combat, the war horse is described as charging forward when he hears the voice of the shofar, the smell of the battle, the thundering shouting of the military officers and the teru’ah (war cries/shofar sounds).

In Psalm 47 the Sons of Korah, a Levitical guild of worshippers (see 2 Chronicles 20:19), worship the God of Jacob who triumphs over Israel’s enemies in battle, accompanied by the sound of the shofar:

The epitome of the shofar’s use in battle is of course Joshua at the Battle of Jericho:

The joyful sound of shofar worship

King David incorporated the victory sound of the shofar and the military sound of the silver trumpet into his worship orchestra which led the Ark of the Covenant in public parade to the House of YHVH:

An anonymous psalm declares the centrality of the shofar blast in high praise: “Sing praise-songs to YHVH with the lyre – with the lyre and the sound of praise-songs. With [silver] trumpets and the voice of the shofar shout joyfully before the King, YHVH” (Psalm 98:5-6).

The zenith of the Book of Psalms concludes with the shofar used in high praise: “Praise Him with the sounding of the shofar” (Psalm 150:3)!

The great rejoicing that Israel entered into at the New Moon celebrations, at the Feast of Trumpets and on the first day of the Feast of Sukkot/Tabernacles, is described in all its glory by Asaph in Psalm 81: “Blow the shofar at the New Moon [see Leviticus 23:23-24], at the full moon [the 15th day of the Hebrew month – see Leviticus 23:33-35], on our feast day. For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob” (Psalm 81:3-4).

The sound of the shofar was associated with joy and as a reminder to the God of Jacob to remember His prophetic promises and protection over His people Israel: “Also on the day of your joy and at your appointed feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall blow your [silver] trumpets . . . and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am YHVH your God” (Numbers 10:10).

Every Jewish man and woman, boy and girl instantly knew that the prophetic blast of the shofar called them to high praises, to shouts of victory and to war.

The coming of the terrible Day of YHVH

The God of Jacob is soon coming to judge the earth and to vanquish Israel’s enemies. The Hebrew prophets called that day ‘The Day of the Lord.’ That Day will be announced by the blowing of a shofar: “Blow a shofar in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the Day of YHVH is coming. Surely it is near” (Joel 2:1).

The prophets describe that, on that day of judgment YHVH Himself will blow His divine shofar of victory in battle as He uses the mighty army of Israel to accomplish His awesome task (see also Ezekiel 37:10; 25:14):

Many great Last Days events will be heralded by a shofar

The prophetic End of the Jewish Exile will be accompanied by a shofar blast: “It will come about also in that day that a great shofar will be sounded. And those who were perishing in the Land of Ashur and who were scattered in the Land of Egypt will come and worship YHVH in the holy mountain at Jerusalem” (Isaiah 27:13).

Messiah Yeshua will send out angels with a great shofar to gather together Israel’s scattered flock from across the face of the whole planet: “And He will send forth His angels with a great shofar and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other” (Matthew 24:31).

The resurrection of the dead will be accompanied by the sound of the shofar: “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52; the Greek equivalent word for shofar/trumpet used here is σάλπιγξ - salpigx).

The return of Messiah Yeshua to Israel will be signaled by a shofar blast – “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Messiah will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

The appearance of YHVH to the people of Israel

When the God of Jacob appeared to the Jewish people to reveal His Mosaic covenant, His fear-inspiring voice sounded like a shofar:

The writer of the Book of Hebrews (Messianic Jews) draws a powerful lesson for us, drawn from Moses’ Messianic prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:

The shofar of Jubilee

The Bible mentions blowing a shofar on Yom Kippur in only one verse – as part of a discussion about the Year of Jubilee (a joyous occasion) when once every fifty years each individual Israeli gets all his debts forgiven and wiped off the books:

Every fifty years the Day of Atonement ended with a shofar blast, declaring the wiping away of a nation’s fiscal debt. This was an economic picture of something spiritual – how, only moments before this, YHVH had covered (made atonement for and ‘wiped away’) the sin of the Jewish people (see Zechariah 3:1-5). The national response was a sober heart filled with humble thanks to God. After the shofar blast, that heart would now blossom with overflowing joy. The gates of praise swung open as the entire Jewish nation began preparations for the pilgrim feast of Sukkot, the Harvest Feast better known as ‘the Feast of Tabernacles.’

As the High Holiday season draws near, it encourages our souls to remember all these shofar-related events. The shofar gives voice to our praise and our intercession. It accompanies our request for God to remember Israel in times of war (Numbers 10:9) and to visit our spiritual gatherings (Numbers 10:7). It is His clarion call to the Jewish people, emphasizing that YHVH never forgets a promise.

How should we then pray? 

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal) through: www.davidstent.org   

A blast from the past

On May 21, 1910, the first modern Jewish city was founded. It was given the name Tel Aviv [Hebrew for ‘Hill of Spring’] borrowed from a Babylonian town mentioned in Ezekiel 3:15. The coat of arms of Tel Aviv featured a red Star of David and a quotation from Jeremiah: “I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt." (Jeremiah 31:4).

Archeologists dig into the hard ground looking for keys to the past. They may uncover a palace or a garbage dump, yet these broken remains throw light on long forgotten kings and commoners – their clothing, food, lifestyles – even their worship and music. For those who love the Bible and Jewish history, the same dynamic exists. Those who dig into the layers of Hebrew history and sift through medieval and rabbinic writings will discover the fundamental richness of the Israeli people, and will gain understanding about the foundational roots of the Jewish faith. There will of course be some surprises along the way, since the currents of tradition sometimes flow in different directions than biblical perspectives do.

This newsletter (the second of three) looks at biblical teachings regarding the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teru’ah – the day of blowing [of shofars]; the fifth biblical feast in the seventh month of the biblical year as per Leviticus 23:2) as well as at rabbinic and traditional perceptions.

Shofar so good

The two central passages defining and outlining the celebration of the Feast of Trumpets (the Day of Blowing) are Leviticus 23:23-25 and Numbers 29:1:

Again, YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first of the month you shall have a rest [shabbaton], a reminder by blowing (zichron teru’ah), a holy convocation [miqra qodesh]. You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to YHVH’” (Leviticus 23:23-25)

“Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy assembly [miqra qodesh]. You shall do no laborious work. It will be to you a day for blowing [Yom Teruah]” (Numbers 29:1)

The essential ingredients in both passages are:

a wonderful Sabbath rest (a shabbaton), where no professional work is done

a holy convocation (‘being called together’; miqra qodesh) a meeting with a holy and set apart purpose

a special commemoration/remembering (zichron) through blowing (a musical sound called teru’ah) of shofars/trumpets

The Scriptures describe teru’ah as a musical expression of joyous and explosive power:

a shofar blast (Leviticus 25:9; Hosea 5:8; Psalm 81:3/4)

a great shout of joyous praise (2 Samuel 6:15; Ezra 3:11; Job 8:21; Psalm 27:6)

a resounding cymbal clash (Psalm 150:5)

YHVH the designer of the holy trumpet

In Numbers 10, YHVH gives Moses specific instructions about trumpets made of metal – how to make them and how to use them:

YHVH spoke further to Moses, saying, “Make yourself two trumpets of silver, you shall make them of hammered work; and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and breaking camp . . . And when you go to war in your land against the enemy who attacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, so that you will be thought of by YHVH your God, and be saved from your enemies.  Also, on the day of your joy and at your appointed feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am YHVH your God” (Numbers 10:1-2, 9-10)

These metal trumpets are to be used to alert the nation regarding breaking camp, military gatherings, spiritual worship and intercessory pleas to the God of Israel.

The idea here is that God hears the blowing of the trumpets, remembers His covenant with the Jewish people and is moved by His own heart of love to respond (see Deuteronomy 7:6-8). The trumpet blast is an intercessory act, reminding YHVH of His prophetic promises over the Jewish people.

The joy of the Lord is our strength

The God of Jacob considers the Feast of Trumpets a joyous convocation. Festive food and drink (and lots of it) are part of the celebration, and YHVH emphasizes that, on this special day His joy is our refuge (Hebrew, ma’oz – stronghold or refuge). This is not a day for tears or fears, for being afraid, for grieving or mourning. It is a holy party day!

Also, Yeshua, Bani, Sherev-Yah, Yamin, Akuv, Shab’tai, Hodi-Yah, Ma’aseh-Yah, Klita, Azar-Yah, Yozavad, Hanan, Plah-Yah, and the Levites explained the Torah [the Mosaic teaching] to the people while the people remained in their place. They read from the scroll from the Teaching of God, translating [from Hebrew to Aramaic] to give the sense so that they understood the reading. Then Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to YHVH your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the Teaching. Then he said to them, “Go, eat the festival foods, drink the sweet drinks, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of YHVH is your refuge.” So, the Levites silenced all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy. Do not be grieved.” Then all the people went away to eat, drink, to send portions,  and to celebrate a great feast, because they understood the words which had been made known to them. (Nehemiah 8:7-12)

In Nehemiah 8 the nation had just heard the words of Deuteronomy 27-28. They understood that their national Exile was a deserved judgment, and they immediately repented of our national rejection of God’s prophets. The holy celebration of the Feast of Trumpets followed immediately on the heels of a national revival.

Our Jewish people today have followed our national leaders in rejecting the message of the Prophets about Messiah Yeshua (Matthew 23:34-39; Mark 12:1-12). Our need in this awesome hour is to wake up and realize that our existence in the Exile is like that of a bird in a gilded cage. We need to enter into national repentance both in Israel and across the globe.

A fork in the road

A crucial fork in the road was crossed in 33 A.D. when Messiah Yeshua was rejected by Israel’s spiritual authorities and handed over to the Romans to be crucified. If Jerusalem’s then spiritual leadership could have made such a horrific decision to reject the Messiah, these same leaders could eventually make errant decisions about a host of other issues – including the nature of the New Covenant, the status of the Mosaic covenant, the way of salvation, the authority of the rabbinic leadership, the date of the New Year, emphases associated with the Feast of Trumpets, etc.

By circa 200 AD Rabbi Judah the Prince (the editor of the Mishnah) made a valiant attempt at justifying an obvious departure from the biblical New Year date, when he proclaimed that there are actually a whole bunch of New Years. He explained that there are “four New Years – on the first of Nisan is the New Year for kings and festivals; on the first of Elul is the New Year of the tithe of cattle…; on the first of Tishrei is the New Year for years, for release and for jubilee years, for plantation and for tithing vegetables; on the first of Shevat is the New Year for trees” (TB, Tractate Rosh Hashanah, Mishna 1, 2a). This teaching seems to be his attempt to justify an accommodation to the Babylonian calendar. His argument has been accepted in rabbinic Judaism as the kosher solution.

This same Rabbi Judah added (with no biblical warrant): “All are judged on New Year and the separate dooms are sealed each in its time – on Passover in respect of produce, on Pentecost in respect of fruit, on Tabernacles judgment is passed in respect of rain, and man is judged on New Year and his doom is sealed on the Day of Atonement” (Babylonian Talmud [TB], Tractate Rosh Hashana 16a).

Another Rabbi (Yochanan bar Nappaha) declared (again, with no biblical authority): “Three books are opened (in heaven) on New Year, one for the thoroughly wicked, one for the thoroughly righteous, and one for the intermediate. The thoroughly righteous are forthwith inscribed definitively in the book of life. The thoroughly wicked are forthwith inscribed definitively in the book of death. The doom of the intermediate is suspended from New Year till the Day of Atonement. If they deserve well, they are inscribed in the book of life. If they do not deserve well, they are inscribed in the book of death” (TB, Tractate Rosh Hashana 16b). This tradition has led to Rosh Hashanah being described as Yom Ha-Din – the Day of Judgment.

These traditional rabbinic perspectives have shaped the way most Jewish people see and relate to the Feast of Trumpets. Their emphases are quite different from those that the God of Israel conveyed in Nehemiah 8, Leviticus 23 and Number 29.

How sweet it is!

The traditions associated with the Feast of Trumpets are deeply moving; the liturgy and celebrations are a rich part of many Jewish people’s lives. The sons and daughters of Jacob nibble on apple wedges and honey in hopes for a sweet coming year. They bless each other with wishes that each one will be inscribed in the Book of Life at this season (more on this in our third newsletter). Worldwide, synagogues register their highest attendance as the High Holy Days or ‘Days of Awe’ approach. As the Day of Atonement draws closer, there is a heightened awareness of the dynamic of sin in the Jewish community.

One of the callings that we have as the remnant of Israel – those Messianic Jews who have accepted Yeshua as our Messiah and atonement – is to celebrate the Feast of Trumpets in full light of these above-mentioned biblical teachings. We hold up the flag of God’s word and the glorious person of Messiah Yeshua, and call our people back to Him and His ways. As the Jewish world celebrates the Feast of Trumpets this year, would you join in with us in asking the Redeemer of Israel to shine His glory on His people, and that we would receive Him with open arms and shining eyes!

How should we then pray? 

Pray for God to bring revelation and alignment to believers everywhere concerning His times and seasons (Daniel 2:21; Genesis 1:14-18)

Pray for many Jewish people to reach out to our God during this season of heightened spiritual focus

Pray that YHVH would pour out a spirit of grace and supplications on Israel through a revelation of Messiah Yeshua our atonement

Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s army speedily and in our day

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal) through: www.davidstent.org

Jeroboam’s Feast

In the days of King Solomon, there was a valiant warrior whose name was Jeroboam (see 1 Kings 11:28). King Solomon promoted him to an important governmental post. But YHVH had even bigger plans. He sent Ahijah the Shilonite to prophesy over Jeroboam and to commission him to overthrow Solomon’s rule over the ten northern tribes of the Jewish people:

Jeroboam was YHVH’s tool to weaken the Davidic dynasty. This happened because King Solomon had not walked in God’s ways. He did not do what was right in God’s sight and did not keep YHVH’s statutes and ordinances. In turn, Jeroboam was given the opportunity to listen to all that God was commanding him, to walk in God’s ways, and to do what was right in YHVH’s sight by keeping His statutes and His commandments. But, like Solomon, Jeroboam also flagrantly violated the terms of his own calling.

Four wrongs do not make a right

Those who do not learn from history, it is said, are fated to repeat that history. The Bible describes Jeroboam’s sins in detail:

Jeroboam was motivated by fear of the people and not by a holy fear of YHVH. He realized that the God of Israel had not granted him to rule over Jerusalem and the House of YHVH. He feared that the yearly pilgrimages of the ten tribes to Jerusalem would undermine his royal credibility and eventually lead to his own overthrow. As a result, he deliberately violated YHVH’s commands in Leviticus 23:23-25 that the Feast of Trumpets should be in the seventh month:

By moving the date of that Feast, he hoped to ensure that his ten tribes would have no difficulties attending his ‘new and improved’ feast celebrations.

Jeroboam also moved the center of worship from Jerusalem’s Temple Mount to Bethel (less than a day’s journey from Jerusalem) and also to Dan in the north (for those Jews who lived in the Galilee and the Golan). Yet this change of location was also forbidden by Moses:

Jeroboam also chose priests who were not from the tribe of Levi, to oversee the worship, the burning of incense and the sacrifices. Jeroboam’s decision was in clear violation of YHVH’s commands:

Jeroboam himself went up to the altar in Bethel to burn incense. But this calling was only given to the descendants of Aaron; Jeroboam was a descendant of Ephraim (1 Kings 11:26) and thus not qualified to burn priestly incense:

The ten tribes of Israel were in a bad way. They were now stuck in the middle with a wrong dynasty, a wrong feast date, a wrong worship city, a wrong priesthood, and a wrong master of ceremonies. All these were the result of a leader with a wrong heart.

No Messiah, no Temple, no atonement, no New Covenant

Nine hundred years later, the leaders of the Jewish people – both the High Priestly sons of Zadok (Bnei Tzadok or Sadducees) and the self-appointed scribes and interpreters of the Teaching of Moses (the Perushim or Pharisees) – were involved in rejecting Messiah Yeshua, handing Him over to the occupation forces of Rome and catalyzing His crucifixion:

The rejection of the Messiah and the destruction of the House of YHVH resulted in the practical removal of the authority of the Davidic dynasty, as well as no national atonement for the Jewish people. Though the New Covenant had been ratified (see Hebrews 9:11-15) at that Passover season nearly 2,000 years ago, the majority of Israel’s sons and daughters have not yet entered into its provisions and blessings (see Hebrews 1:1-2):

When God’s word challenges what our heart feels

Jeroboam had established a ‘kosher-style Judaism’ which was not really kosher. Instead of following YHVH’s calendar in Leviticus 23, he tweaked God’s clear commandments and devised in his own heart a different month for celebrating the Feast of Trumpets. The Hebrew Scriptures warn against such behavior. Moses challenges the Jewish people to remember that the tassels (tzitzit) on the borders of their robes have a spiritual purpose: “It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of YHVH, so that you will do them and not follow your own heart and your own eyes, which led you to prostitute yourselves” (Numbers 15:39). Yet the period of the Hebrew Judges was characterized by Samuel in exactly this way: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). And Solomon concludes the matter: “Every person’s way is right in his own eyes, but YHVH examines the hearts” (Proverbs 21:12).

The Prophets saw that a day was coming when self-appointed teachers of the Mosaic Covenant would actually twist the plain meaning of the Torah (a Hebrew word meaning ‘Teaching’). Isaiah warned that such violation of God’s word would lead to spiritual shipwreck: “To the Teaching (Torah) and to the testimony (te’udah)! If they do not speak in accordance with this word, it is because they have no dawn” (Isaiah 8:20). One hundred years later Jeremiah declared that the spiritual leadership of the Jewish people was in mortal danger of reshaping Judaism into a leaky vessel that would not find favor in the sight of YHVH: “For My people have committed two evils: They have abandoned Me, the Fountain of living waters – to carve out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that do not hold water” (Jeremiah 2:13).

From this vantage point the words of Daniel the prophet take on added weight. He describes the final manifestation of evil – what is usually referred to as the anti-Messiah or anti-Christ – as someone like Jeroboam, who changes God’s appointed times and seasons:

When seven becomes eight

YHVH revealed to Moses that His own divine calendar (which is also called the Hebrew calendar; see Leviticus 23:1-2) begins in the Spring: “Now YHVH said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ‘This month shall be the beginning of months for you. It is to be the first month of the year to you’” (Exodus 12:1-2). This month is known in the Bible by its Hebrew name – Aviv [which means ‘Spring’]: “On this day in the month of Aviv, you are about to go forth . . .  Therefore, you shall keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year” (Exodus 13:4, 10; see also Exodus 23:15; 34:18; Deuteronomy 16:1).

Yet modern rabbinic practice calls this month by a different name – Nisan (from the Akkadian nisānu, meaning ‘sanctuary’ or ‘sacrifice’, or possibly from Sumerian nisag meaning ‘first fruits’) and lists it as the seventh month of the year. The Jewish New Year according to the rabbinical reckoning does not occur in Aviv (which is biblically the first month) but in Tishrei (from the Akkadian word tašrītu or ‘beginning’) – the month which the Bible describes in Hebrew as Eitanim (1 Kings 8:2) – that is, the seventh biblical month. These are significant changes in times and seasons. How did this change of calendar – this departure from the biblical pattern – happen?

In the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, the calendar described in the Bible still reflected the biblical New Year as being in the Spring: “Then Josiah celebrated the Passover to YHVH in Jerusalem, and they slaughtered the Passover animals on the fourteenth day of the first month” (2 Chronicles 35:1). Yet in Persia, at approximately the same time period, the pagan Babylonian and Akkadian month-names were what was being used in foreign courts. The Jewish people still used the biblical calendar’s year order, but began calling the Hebrew months by pagan names. Aviv was now referred to as Nisan, but it was still seen as the first month of the year: “In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, Pur, that is the lot, was cast before Haman from day to day and from month to month, until the twelfth month, that is the month Adar” (Esther 3:7). For more background on this, see ‘Raiders of the Lost Jewish New Year’ and ‘The blast of the shofar.’

By the rivers of Babylon

The twelve Jewish tribes went into Exile between 722 B.C. (Assyria) and 587/6 B.C. (Babylon). They took the 12 original names of the Hebrew months with them. These included:

When Israel returned from Babylonian Exile, according to Rabbi Hanina bar Hama (d. 250 A.D.) “the month names came up with them [with the exiles] from Babylon” (Jerusalem Talmud, Rosh HaShanah 1:2, 56d). Babylonian names gradually replaced the original Hebrew names after the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. Today eight of the twelve original Hebrew names of the months have disappeared from our sources. The Babylonian month-names are for the most part names of Babylonian demons, even as most modern Western months are based on the names of Roman gods, while European days of the week are taken from Norse and Germanic gods. The Babylonian royal calendar began its year in Tishrei (biblical Eitanim) and so the Jewish people gradually fitted their calendar into this accepted international calendar. The Jewish calendar was swept along by the riptide of Babylonian paganism. It was still based on the biblical lunar cycle, but its month-names and New Year now differed from the biblical calendar. Whereas Jeroboam moved the Feast of Trumpets from the seventh to the eighth month, the rabbis moved the New Year from Aviv to Eitanim – from Nisan to Tishrei. All of this was done without biblical authority, yet today it is considered part of the normative traditions of Judaism.

The Karaite movement (an early medieval Biblicist form of Judaism) celebrates the New Year according to the Biblical commandment, in the month of Nisan, in the Spring.

When Messiah Yeshua returns, the whole planet will follow the Hebrew calendar. Ezekiel 45:18 prophesies a future Jerusalem holiday on the 1st of Aviv, while Zechariah 14:16-19, 8:18-19 and Isaiah 66:23 show that the entire planet will be keeping the Jewish calendar. Greek, Roman and Norse titans will all bow the knee and declare that Messiah Yeshua and His calendar are sovereign over the whole earth (Isaiah 45:23; Philippians 2:10-11).

And what about Messianic Jewish traditions?

The simple facts are that most Jews (and Gentiles, too!) are not aware of all the above historical information. Most Messianic Jews are similarly unaware of these facts. In an effort to identify with our people, we strive to imitate the traditions we learned as children or have heard about in old movies and Jewish literature. For most Messianic Jews, if it was good enough for Rabbi Akiva or the Lubavitcher Rebbe, it’s good enough for us. Come the High Holidays, most Messianic Jews publicize their Jewish New Year services and exchange the traditional Jewish greetings which are based on the rabbinic perspective.

The unquestioning acceptance of rabbinic tradition here reveals some fault lines in some streams of the Messianic Jewish movement.

Other examples of this include a blind acceptance of how rabbinic theology refuses to accept the teaching of Jeremiah 31:31-32. Jeremiah declares that the New Covenant is not like the Mosaic covenant, and that it is a different covenant: “Behold, days are coming, declares YHVH, when I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah – not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the Land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, declares YHVH” (Jeremiah 31:31-32).

The rabbis disagree with the ‘peshat’ (the plain exegetical meaning) of this text. Instead, they define ‘New Covenant’ as simply being a renewed Mosaic Covenant. I have had the privilege of sitting down with some of those who are considered to be top Messianic scholars and asking them why they buy the rabbinic reasoning here, and how that fits with accurate exegesis. Their responses were not what I had expected, and fell short of the apostolic standard that Paul exhorts us all to follow: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). 

There is a certain amount of confusion among some Messianic leaders and teachers on these points. Some teach that Jewish identity must be Mosaic-based, and that rabbinic expressions are the quintessential expressions which we need to follow closely. This tendency in turn has led to encouraging Gentiles to convert to rabbinic Judaism, to mold Messianic liturgy based on rabbinic liturgy and theology, etc. These positions can be problematic, because rabbinic theology often fundamentally disagrees with Yeshua’s New Covenant teachings. Two historical vignettes on this point follow.

Rachmiel Frydland and my haredi friend

Rachmiel Frydland was a Polish Jewish Messianic teacher and scholar who survived the Holocaust, losing his entire family. He had studied at the Mir Yeshiva in Poland before becoming a believer. His Holocaust story is available on Amazon. His first language was Yiddish, a language that I also speak. Once I had the privilege of spending a week in 1977 as his house guest. We had deep conversations about Jewish life in Poland prior to World War II. In a discussion we had regarding the differences between halachic and biblical definitions of ‘Who is a Jew,’ Rachmiel emphatically stated: “If we give the rabbis the authority to determine who is a Jew, then we give them the authority to determine who is the Messiah.”

Another interesting interaction occurred at the brit (circumcision or bris) of one of my grandsons in Jerusalem. A haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jewish man who has an ongoing relationship with one of my sons, asked my other son, “Why is it that you Messianic Jews have this fixation to imitate rabbinic traditions when you yourselves know that rabbinic teaching is fundamentally opposed to what you believe – the Messiahship of Yeshua, the validity of atonement and forgiveness through the New Covenant, etc.?”

Digging deeper – Jewish Roots and Hebraic Roots

I love the roots of my people – spiritual, historical, cultural, musical, culinary, etc. I have seen that sometimes in the Messianic movement the terms ‘Jewish Roots’ and Hebraic Roots’ mean different things to different people. Sometimes it can mean very positive things. At other times it means the acceptance of rabbinic authority, rabbinic anti-Messianic perspectives, and spiritual control that borders on witchcraft and misogyny. I encourage all who would pursue Jewish and Hebraic roots to weigh carefully how hidden agendas may spin out here. I have written a book titled ‘How to be Messianic without becoming Meshuggeh (*crazy): A common sense approach to kosher Messianic foundations’ which delves into these issues and more, for those who would like to go deeper.

How should we then pray? 

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.

In Messiah Yeshua,

Avner Boskey

Donations can be sent to:

FINAL FRONTIER MINISTRIES

BOX 121971 NASHVILLE TN 37212-1971 USA

Donations can also be made on-line (by PayPal) through: www.davidstent.org

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