Answer for yourself: Are you aware that not only are the Biblical Festivals of Israel linked to the Equinoxes and Solstices but other nations holy days as well? What does this have to say about the role of the Sun in these Biblical Festivals? Why is the Sun behind these Biblical festivals? Could this explain why the Biblical Festivals are divided between the former harvest and the latter harvest? Is this due to the role of the Sun in its travels and path in the Sky? Could the Sun be but a picture of something else however? Since the Sun is Cosmic Energy could God by using the Sun, at the center of all these Festivals for a reason and could that be because man is to recognize that the Sun is but a symbol for another type of Cosmic Energy and that is his Soul? Are the Biblical Festivals, when you go below the historical interpretation as seen though the eye of Israel, really about the birth, life, intended maturation, death, and rebirth of the Soul of mankind? Are the Biblical Festivals about the pattern for the Soul's grown in me and you?
Wow, that was a lot to give a Christian who knows little if anything about the Biblical Festivals. Let me just say that the typical Christian does not have a clue one about these Biblical Holy Days, the Days of the LORD.
Let us study some now. It has always been God's intention to break
down the middle wall of partition separating Jew and Gentile, thus uniting
both Jew and Gentile as one with Him. It is God who is to be the Savior of
the Gentiles (Isaiah 11:10, 42:6; Acts 2:39; Ephesians 2:11-18).
Isa. 11:10 And in that
day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the
people; to it shall the Gentiles
seek: and his rest shall be glorious. {glorious: Heb.
glory}
Isa. 42:6 I the LORD
have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep
thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light
of the Gentiles;
Acts 2: 39 For the
promise is unto you, and to your children, and
to all that are afar off, [even] as many as the Lord our
God shall call.
Eph 2:11
(KJV) Wherefore remember, that ye [being] in
time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called
Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made
by hands; 12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from
the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus
ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14 For
he is our peace, who hath
made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of
partition [between us]; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity,
[even] the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances; for to make in
himself of twain one new man, [so] making peace; 16 And that he might
reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity
thereby: {thereby: or, in himself} 17 And came and preached peace to you
which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18 For through him we
both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
In the Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures) God provides a written record of the both "Jews" and "non-Jews" as they not only relate to each other but to God as well; and often that relationship involves worshipping God according to the same "Pattern". Moses knew of this "pattern in the mount (Heaven).
Exod 25:40 40 And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount. (KJV)
This "Pattern" of Worship of God can be demonstrated to have existed as far back as Ancient Egypt and carried own down through history in the Jewish people and Judaism today. You need to re-read that statement. This "Pattern of Worship" not only concerns the worship of God but there is a "hidden" message from God in how we worship Him that involves the path given mankind for his salvation. By that I mean the Equinoxes and Solstices which are more commonly known today as the Biblical Festivals. The New Testament has a very important statement that needs our attention:
John 4:22 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. (KJV)
This is all the more important when you find out the Ancient Egypt celebrated this "Passover" thousands of years before Moses was ever born. It was originally an Egyptian day of worship. That should get you.
What I am relating to you, the reader, should be of major importance for in this statement is all we ever need to know concerning God, His proper worship according to this "Pattern" and the path given by God to all mankind that "they might be saved". The Apostle Paul teaches us that Gentiles, who turn from idols to serve the living God, are grafted into Israel by faith; thereby becoming "fellow-citizens" with the saints. That’s probably you and me if you are reading our ministry's articles.
Speaking to "non-Jews" in Ephesus Paul says something else that needs our attention and of great importance, and mind you this is "said" long after the New Testament's depiction of Jesus' death. This is of major importance to us, the "non-Jew", Christian, and follower of "the Christ" today.
Eph 4:4-6 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (KJV)
Answer for yourself: What is this "one
faith"? Is is Judaism? Was first century Judaism not quite like what
we have been told today? Could there have been a strong Egyptian influence
within it and we not know? Have you learned yet that the Patriarchs of the
Old Testament are not Jews but Pharaohs? Well it is time you do in order
to cut through man-made rewriting of history and reclaim these Ancient
Divine Truths about God as they were originally taught and not
reinterpreted by the winners of wars. Let me cut to the chase
.
Historians and scrutiny of the New Testament Biblical texts, when
consulting the Greek, show without a doubt that the "non-Jews"
in the first century in Jerusalem and in Asia, Minor, came to the
understanding of God under the "wings"
of Biblical Judaism. "Wings of the Almighty"?
What has this picture above to do with it? Egypt gave us the concept in
the first place.
I King 6:27 27 And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house. (KJV)
Answer for yourself: What are these "winged cherubims"? They are the neteru of Egypt.
Little do we know when we read such a Spiritual Concept that we are reading Egyptian Religion.
James gives us a dramatic picture of Gods' will in this matter:
Acts 15:15-21 15 And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, 16 After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: 17 That the residue of men (non-Jews, Gentiles) might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. 18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. 19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: 20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. 21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day. (KJV)
What a loaded verse. Of course most likely by now you know from previous studies that James alludes in this passage to the Covenant of Noah and the Laws of Noah in these 4 "summary statements" in Acts 15:20. Unknown to you is that these "non-Jews", "who doeth all these things", by revelation also kept the "Appointed Times" of God (Equinoxes and Solstices) long before the Jews were ever a people. These "special times" with God were recognized by the Ancient to be connected with the Equinoxes and Solstices since the beginning of recorded time and we find in almost every nation the worship of the God of the Cosmos at these times; these times by the way which coincide with the Jewish Biblical Festivals and Feasts. What I discovered in my studies over the years is that beneath the "external rites" of these celebrations and observations of mankind at this special "Appointed Times with God" is a deeper message than that which affects the individual nations who defined these "Appointed Times" originally given by God. This "deeper message" goes far beyond the historical interpretation of Israel as a unique people who saw these "times" only through "Jewish eyes". All nations "reinterpreted" these "Appointed Times" through their unique culture and nation's distinctives. But below these cultural interpretations there lies a a hidden Metaphysical - Spiritual Message that affects and shows the path for the salvation of the Soul of mankind. In nation after nation these "non-Jews" , long before there were every a Jewish nation, saw in the religious myths, stories, metaphors, allegories, and legends of their "personified sungods" the descent of the Soul, its fall from Heaven, its birth and imprisonment into matter, its earthly existence and life, its struggles, failures, triumphs which all leads to it ultimate Spiritual evolution and maturation, and finally its release from this body of death and its final resurrection" and return to its Heavenly Home; all of this goes hidden in superficial story line of the Biblical Festivals as taught by Israel; no fault of their own however since the "keys" to these deeper teaching were lost long ago and only now is being restored to man in our generation. These Biblical Festivals not only happened to Israel historically; they are meant to be experienced "internally" by every human being on the face of the planet.
Answer for yourself: What about the lives of the Sungods who have similar events in their lives at these special times which we find in our "Jesus Story" as well? Do these Godmen and Sungod have their own types of Passover, unleavened bread, Pentecost, Rosh-ha Shannah, Yom Kippur, and Tabernacles? They are not called the same but since these Sungods are personified Suns then they all do since their lives are but a parody of the path of the Sun through the Zodiac in the first place. Events in the lives of these "personified sungods" we find occur at these "patterned" times to align with the "Divine Pattern" for the Soul of mankind; they align with the occurrence of the Equinoxes and Solstices which are but God's markers for this development of the Soul within mankind. The story of the Biblical Festivals have at its core not just the lives of many Sungods as well as the "Jesus" of the New Testament but the Divine Pattern intended as the God ordained path for the Spiritual Development of the Soul in all of mankind.
All of these "Divine Truths" were handed down through time by these Ancient Spiritual masters in the "Hidden Mysteries" of various world religions and when we look at Egypt we can understand how Moses, being reared in Pharaoh's house, would be privy to such knowledge.
Acts 7:22 22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. (KJV)
This Moses possessed this "Message of God" and this "Pattern for the worship of God" as well as the intended "Spiritual Development of mankind" and we find it duplicated in the Torah and the Laws of Moses and the examples given us in the Old Testament where we find this "mixed multitude" of both "Jews" and "non-Jews" worshipping together in the Sinai according to this same "Pattern" and "one faith". Mind you in this worshipping together of "Jew" and "Egyptian" that there is no Judaism yet but there is a "Pattern". This "Pattern" will be incorporated in the Judaism that develops later however. That being so then I firmly believe that the facts teach us that all mankind are intended to know these Spiritual and Divine Truths as they pass through this life that are included in this "Divine Pattern" of Spiritual Growth and Worship. That is why the New Testament show us that both "non-Jews" and "Jews" observed these Biblical Festivals together and these "non-Jews" were not converts. They were like you and me who follow the Jew in their worship of God for it is Judaism that will inherit this "Pattern" from Egypt and offer to the whole world. Gentile Christianity will want nothing to do with it.
This "one faith" is the "same" faith shared in the New Testament by both "Jew" and "non-Jew"; the same faith with the same religious doctrines concerning not only this "Pattern for the worship of God", but the same doctrines concerning Faith, Baptism, Repentance, Good Works, Covenants, Atonement, Salvation, Eternal Life, Eternal Judgment, Resurrection, etc. Our focus in this article is how the "Jew" and the "non-Jew" understood this "Salvation Message" of God hidden in the worship of God; in particular the observation of the Biblical Festivals and Feasts.
Following the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E., the assembly of Gentile Messianic Believers (Church) became more "Gentilized" under the influence of Rome and lost much if not all of the "Jewish Roots". Thus Jews and Christians began to go their separate ways. It wasn't long before the fruit of the Jerusalem Church in Asia, Minor, was flooded with Gentile unbelievers who embraced the "Messianic-Christian faith" as best they could but never had a background in the Jewish faith. It is these Gentile "converts" who lacked the foundations of Torah and who would, under the influence and teachings of others who separated from the mandates of the Jerusalem Church, would not accept the Jewish customs and began to drift from this "Pattern of Worship". These Gentile "converts" would forget one important thing: Jewish often meant BIBLICAL! Because of this lack of understanding of the Jewish faith, and distrusting things that are often different from their prior religious customs, these Gentile "converts" brought their hatred and bigotry against the Jews with them into this new Jewish faith. About the same time, some of the genuine Gentile Christian leaders developed a faulty theology that created an anti-Semitic mentality in the Gentile Church that further divided the Christian world from the Jews. These early anti-Jewish declarations laid the foundation for the tragic future of Jewish Christian relations that would see the Gentile Church lose sight of its Jewish roots and persecute the Jews down through the centuries. Constantine's Easter Letter is a good place to start to see how the "non-Jew" looses it "Jewish Roots".
But in these last days, God is doing a marvelous thing. He is breaking down the walls of hate and misunderstanding that have divided the Jews and Gentile believers. He is sovereignty pouring out His Spirit on thousands of Jews and at the same time, God is stirring in the hearts of Christians a holy love for the Jewish people and awakening them to the Jewish roots of their Christian faith and all the "truths" that go with that which reveal Western antisemitic Constantinian Christianity for what it really is.
Many Christians are realizing that the origin of our faith is Jerusalem, not Athens, Rome, Geneva, Wittenberg, Aldersgate, Azusa Street, Springfield, Nashville, Tulsa, etc. Sadly Egypt only lives today in Judaism.
As a result, Christian Churches around the world are reaching out to the Jewish people in their communities, singing songs from the Old Testament, rediscovering their Jewish roots and celebrating the Jewish Feasts and Festivals and Sabbaths. It is clearly God's appointed time to reconcile Jew and Gentile, binding us together by His Spirit.
Because of the prophetic season in which we are living, many Christian Churches are realizing that it is proper, good and pleasing to the Lord to celebrate the Jewish Feasts of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles (Romans 14:5-6).
Rom 14:5-6 5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. 6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. (KJV)
Not only that but when we study the original languages of the Bible, both Greek and Hebrew, we find that these Festivals are not merely suggested for the Gentiles to observe, but expected and commanded!
Some of these are:
Answer for yourself: What Church that desires more of God would not want these benefits!
You can realize them in your own congregation by celebrating the Feasts.
Historically, Passover marks the national liberation of the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery. Pesach, the Hebrew name of the feast literally means "the lamb". God instructed each family to take an unblemished year-old male lamb to their home on the tenth day of the first month, Nisan. This corresponds to the months of March and April. They were to examine the lamb for four days to see that it was perfect. On the fourth day at twilight (the beginning of the fifth day), they were to kill the lamb and take some of the lamb's blood and place it on the two doorposts and the lintel of their house. On the first Passover, the avenging angel of God killed every first born male throughout the land, from Pharaoh, to slave, to camel. The angel would "Passover" those homes that protected themselves by placing the blood of a lamb on their doorposts and lintels.
Today the Feast of Passover is celebrated by Jewish people and many Christian churches around the world with a Passover Seder which commemorates the liberation from Egyptian slavery which is a picture of God's salvation. The Feast of Passover, properly understood, is a picture of the salvation provided by God to those who believe His Word and respond to it in proper faith and proper works. The Passover Seder is a meal with special foods, practices and Scripture readings. The Passover Seder commemorates the liberation from Egyptian slavery, in accordance with God's instructions (Lev. 23:1,4, Exodus 12:14,24-27).
Lev. 23:1 And the LORD
spake unto Moses, saying, ....
Lev. 23:4 These [are]
the feasts of the LORD, [even] holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim
in their seasons.
Exod. 12:14 And this day
shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD
throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for
ever.
Exod. 12:24 (KJV) And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. 25 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. 26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? 27 That ye shall say, It [is] the sacrifice of the LORD'S Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.
This is the "historical aspect".
God makes His salvation available through faith and this foundational concept is pictured in the physical salvation of Israel from Egypt. Faith is not just a "mental assent" but an active response to a religious beliefs. Saving faith is not dead but alive and responds. The key is responding in "obedience." This response can be called appropriately "works" for such actions as one's fruit of one's faith accompany such beliefs for if the Israelites had not responded accurately & obediently to their faith in God and failed to apply the blood to their door then they would likewise had died. So we learn that faith that responds in obedience "saves."
What we need to notice is that this "saving faith" was seen and demonstrated in the lives of each one at the Biblical Passover. Either they did or they didn't and they paid he ultimate consequence. Salvation of God delivers the believer (his Soul) from death and this salvation is "imputed" to us yet the reality of its ultimate fullness yet awaits us. You might say we have an "earnest" of our salvation today but not the whole ball of wax; at least not yet. Passover serves as the starting place for one's faith in God and His saving Word. It is one's obedient faith to the Words of God that produces this "saving faith" and the Passover was the perfect example for demonstration of one's faith in the God of Israel and in so doing then God's judgment of sin "passes over the believer" due to his obedient faith. Of course for us such obedience [Israel responded in saving faith by applying the blood of a lamb to their doorposts; "faith without works is dead"] is seen in obeying the various Commandments of God involved in our unique Covenants with God; both for the Jewish people and the non-Jews as well. When we fail the mercy of God is found in His gracious offer of "repentance" and "forgiveness". Coming to God in faith brings with it many responsibilities and this leads us to Unleavened Bread for there is work needing to be done by our Soul.
Historically, Hag ha-Matsot, the Festival of Unleavened Bread is described in Ex. 12: 15.
Exod 12:15 15 Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. (KJV)
This stems from the commandment to eat unleavened bread (Matsah) and the prohibition against eating "hamets" or leavened food, in commemoration of the Israelites' hasty exodus from Egypt when they had time to prepare only unleavened bread. While the prohibition against hametz applies to the entire festival, the commandment to eat matsah applies, strictly speaking, to the first night only.
Answer for yourself: What is the connection between the "Passover" and "Unleavened Bread"?
Once we are saved by our faith in God with obedience unto Him at our personal Passover one comes to the next Festival of YHWH where we learn of the purpose of the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The Festival of Unleavened Bread follows "faith in God and his Word" where obedience really comes to the forefront. It is time to get the "leaven" (picture of sin in the Bible) or sin out of our lives through a process of repentance that must become our "life-styles". Since sin is the transgression of the Law then getting this "breaking of God's Commandments" out of lives means that we must grow in our understanding of God's Torah and Laws which frame our respective Covenants as well as properly understanding the purpose of these Laws and Commandments that are so necessary for the training of our Souls while in these Earthly bodies. This applies to both Jewish and non-Jewish [for the Christian the Covenant and Laws of Noah]. This is our sanctification whereby we make ourselves through repentance and obedience to the Word of God acceptable vessels for God's Spirit to inhabit. One needs to understand that after one receives the gift of salvation from HaShem which is by birthed by God's love for mankind and sent to us by His grace, then as God's redeemed children we are obligated to "cast out the leaven" from our lives. Repentance from sin is the heart of the issue "after we are saved" as we slowly sanctify our lives by "casting out the leaven" as our Souls mature within us. It is God's Torah that defines for us what is and is not "sin". Leaven is used as a metaphor for "sin" in the Bible and it is understandable that after one comes to God then God expects us to clean up our lives in response to God's gracious gift of salvation. Thus the observation of "unleavened bread" by a Child of God, both Jew and "non-Jew", is an immense lesson and necessary as the next step in our sanctification and Salvation since God's Salvation is a "process" that is accomplished over time by our due diligence to continually "seek out" and "cast out the leaven" in our lives.
Rom 12:2 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (KJV)
Astronomically, the Sun (the symbol for our Soul) is birthed from its death and is born at the Winter Solstice. The days up to that time contain the greatest amount of darkness. Alive now in faith at the Soul's "Passover" it has the responsibility to cast out the "darkness/leaven" and as the Sun climbs in the Sky on its way to Spiritual maturity where it can reflect the full image and light of God at its soon coming Summer Solstice likewise the Soul in man is to cast out the leaven of sin so that man might reflect the image of God in him and "be ye Holy for I am Holy". This is progressive sanctification. This is the goal but best intentions don't always get it done. The Soul need some help and it is close at hand.
Historically,
the Feast of Pentecost is celebrated on the sixth day of the Hebrew month
of Sivan. This corresponds to the months of May and June on the Gentile
calendar.
Historically, the main activity on the Feast of Pentecost was the
presentation of a wave offering to the Lord, two
loaves of baked bread with leaven (Lev.
23:15-21). The wave offering expressed the Hebrews' dependence on God for
the harvest and their daily bread. This was a thanksgiving offering. Not
only that but it is a picture of the people of God; two
loaves representing the two "peoples of God"; the Jew and the
non-Jew as the peoples of God (the two olive branches in Joseph's hand).
Later when the Jews were dispersed among the nations, the Feast of
Pentecost lost its primary significance as a harvest festival and
the Feast of Shavuot,
Pentecost, was celebrated as a memorial to the time when God gave the law
at Sinai. It is this "Law" which is given to
both the Jew and the non-Jew through the various Covenant's of God. This
is because the Jews have traditionally believed that God gave the law to
Moses on the Day of Pentecost (Ex. 19:1,11).
Exod. 19:1 In
the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the
land of Egypt, the same day came they [into] the wilderness of Sinai.
Exod 19:11 And
be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down
in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.
Answer for yourself: Why is this giving of the Laws of God at Pentecost, as contained in the Torah, so important for our salvation? Simply said it is by the Torah do we come to the knowledge of sin and the proper conduct and obedience to God defined Laws and Commandments of God that ensure our Souls grow as they should as we elevate them Spiritually in obedience to these Laws and in so doing suppress our carnal and animal natures in our bodies. This is the very same Salvation Message of the Jewish Jesus in the New Testament which we have seen and studied before. This is the path of progressive sanctification that leads to Eternal Life.
Salvation is achievable to all mankind by their faithfulness to the Torah of God. The fruit of the Torah lived out in one's life is a total reorientation of one's life: a repentance in terms of turning to God. Such is love of God. Once we grow as worthy vessels for God's spirit to inhabit through repentance and a heightened obedience then God's Spirit comes to such a one in the fulfillment of Pentecost. To the degree of our attained "holiness" do we manifest the fullness of God's Spirit. We have just personally experienced our own Passover where God's judgment passes over us because of our faith in Him and obedience to His word. As our obedience grows along with our continued repentance then God comes to dwell and manifest within us to the degree that we are worthy vessels. As we find in Israel we find in our own lives. These first three Festivals are called the Spring Festivals and they are observed during the first rainy season in Israel.
A potent form of anti-Judaism still remains in Christian theology today as seen in its exclusivist concepts of salvation. Exclusivist forms of salvation affect the Christian approach to mission; i.e. if the Christian Jesus Christ is the only way for salvation, then Christians have an obligation to preach the Gospel and convert all people - including Jews. Within this traditional thinking, if salvation is only available through Jesus Christ, then the Jewish tradition is incapable of securing salvation for the Jewish people let alone "non-Jews". This ultimately leads to denigration and anti-Judaism because Judaism is deemed to be inferior, it has insufficient power for salvation, it is ineffective, and perhaps demonic in some Christian teaching seen with Augustine and Luther. This has happened continuously throughout the ages in Christian preaching and the teachings of the Church Fathers. The most potent forms of anti-Judaism and the persecution of Jews can be traced back to mission and behind that an underlying assumption that salvation is only available through Christ.
Christianity maintains that all men are doomed to sin, and everyone will go to everlasting hell unless they accept this New Testament Jesus as their savior. Judaism has always held, and has for thousands of years, that we do not need that sort of salvation, for we are not doomed or damned at birth. We are not doomed or fated to sin. Quite the contrary. The Torah says: "If you do good, won't there be special privilege? And if you do not do good, sin waits at the door. It lusts after you, but you can dominate it." (Genesis 4:7) In other words, you can do good, and if you do, things will be better for you. If you do not do good, sin wants to be partners with you. But you can control sin, you can control your evil desires, and you can be good. So we have free will, and that is what Judaism has always believed, because that is what the Torah teaches. The Torah does not teach -- or even mention -- that we are "born in sin," or that we are fated to sin. Just the opposite. We have the ability to choose. Which means that we can be good, or we can be evil. It's up to us. And if can be good, that means we can be righteous. I cannot understand how or why Christians like to say that no one can be righteous in the eyes of God. The Torah says otherwise.
"All your nation is righteous, they will inherit the earth eternally; the shoot that I have planted, the work of My hands, something to be proud of" (Isaiah 60:21).
So we are righteous, and Hashem is proud of us. And it says, "Open the gates, so that the righteous nation that keeps the faith may enter" (Isaiah 26:2). We Children of the Israel, both Jew and "non-Jew" are righteous "if" we keep God's Laws and Commandments like the Jewish Christ says in his Salvation Message in the New Testament. For the Torah of the Jews says so and always has since the beginning. Before that Egypt said the same things. God laid all this out believe in or not in the Sky and Heavens above in His Laws that operate in the Cosmos and in Nature and the Ancient sages and Spiritual Masters saw and knew this and taught these Divine Concepts to mankind since the beginning of time. For us today, walking in tis same revelation and knowledge, we see that we must uphold the Torah, or otherwise we might cease to be righteous. But as long as we keep the Torah, we are righteous.
The Prophets of the Torah warned us about this many times. They often called man wicked.
Answer for yourself: When is man called "wicked"? When he did not obey the Commandments of the Torah.
Answer for yourself: Are you aware that not once, not once, did anyone in the Old Testament warn the Jews or any man for that example to not fail to "believe in Jesus" or the Salvation Message that will one day connected by Rome to this man called Jesus?
The problem is that Christians do not understand the meaning of the concept "righteousness." They think it means that one has never sinned. Never sinning is almost impossible. The Torah says that "There is no person on earth so righteous that he does only good and never sins" (Eccl. 7:20) Rather, the definition of a righteous person is as taught in Proverbs 24:16: "The righteous fall even seven times and still get up, but the wicked stumble in evil." Being righteous does not mean that one never sins. It means that after you sin you get back up again, repent, and try again. You keep on trying. That is being righteous. This is again progressive sanctification and the path to Eternal Life and the true Salvation Message of God.
Not only that, but even if you keep on trying, and you don't succeed very well, and you have many sins, you can still be forgiven and go to Heaven. In the Book of Job (33:23) it says that if someone has even only one merit and 1000 sins, he is rescued from hell. So we are not doomed to hell. That's what Judaism teaches concerning Eternal Life and Salvation, as we see from the Torah.
The Christian bible, on the other hand, teaches that there is no repentance after sinning. Here is what it says in the Christian bible: For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. -- 2 Peter 2:20-21 In other words, if anyone accepted Jesus as savior, and then sins, they are in worse trouble than they were before they accepted Jesus.
Answer for yourself: So what then is the advantage of accepting Jesus? It seems better to stay with Hashem! Hashem accepts repentance, and loves all those who turn away from sin, no matter how many times they have sinned and repented. "For the righteous stumble even seven times, but they get up again!" And they are still called righteous!
And the wicked who repent are no longer called wicked. Even when I have told the wicked that he will die, but then he repents, and he does justice and righteousness; he returns the collateral when he is supposed to, he repays what he stole, he begins to live by the Laws of Life, and does not do evil, he will live, and he will not die. All the sins that he committed will not be held against him, for he has begun to do judgment and righteousness; he shall surely live. -- Ezekiel 33:14-16
We see, therefore another fallacy of the Christians, who argue that "sin has separated us from a perfectly holy God." We are not separated from Hashem at all. All we need to do is repent.
But no, say the Christians. Repentance won't work, for some reason that we cannot understand. They claim that "no one can be close to God without Jesus." This is completely wrong. The righteous live by their own faith. (Habbakuk 2:4) We do not gain life or atonement by the faith or righteousness of someone else like this Jesus. We are masters of our own fate, because the choice to do good or bad is our own. In Judaism, it is entirely up to you. If you do good, you will get good. If you "choose life" you "get life".
I suggest that if Christians wish to combat anti-Judaism, Christians must now re-examine their concepts of salvation and Biblical Atonement and recognize Judaism as God's legitimate path of salvation for Jews and "non-Jews" without any belief in the Christian doctrines connect to the "Roman Christ". Understand that some of these "doctrines" are correct and so tragically wrong. If Judaism has salvific power (to use Christian language), then there is no necessity for a mission to Jews or anyone for that matter whereby we teach a false atonement and the wrong Salvation Message from God as Christianity teaches today due to its indoctrination and forged texts.
Answer for yourself: But what are we to do with the New Testament examples of Moses being taught to the "non-Jews" in "every city" as seen in Acts 15:21 21?
For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day. (KJV) [Synagogues in Asia, Minor, in the earliest centuries of the emerging Christian era]
Answer for yourself: What are we to do with the many, many examples in the New Testament where we find that both Jews and "non-Jews" observed together the Sabbath, Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Shavuot (Pentecost), Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, Tabernacles, as well as Paul's example of him teaching the "non-Jews" in Asia to keep the Sabbath Havdalah service, etc.?
Answer for yourself: What of the examples were we find in the New Testament "non-Jews" keeping the Torah along with the Jews after this death of Jesus as depicted in the New Testament? Did these early "non-Jewish" believers know something that today as Christians we don't; namely, that it was in keeping this Jewish Torah that they had discovered the "Salvation Message of God" and that is why they kept it? Do you think that they viewed this as a "curse" or "death" of the highest expression of Love of God for them, to show them the way to Him when they die?
Without a doubt in this Torah we find not only the true Salvation Message of God for all mankind but as well this "Pattern of Worship of God" given all mankind in the beginning of time. Accompanying this "Pattern of Worship" in this Torah and Old Testament we also find a distinct and unique message from God as well concerning our Souls and how they are to grow and inherit Eternal Life in this plane of existence.This "Plan of Worship" and "Plan of Salvation" is laid out in the Biblical Feasts and Festivals of the Jews and their Sabbaths. These Jewish people and their Rabbis, of all peoples today, have preserved this Ancient Message of God concerning His Salvation for mankind in its purest form which can be seen when comparing this "Message" with the same earlier "Message of Ancient Egypt" and the later altered "Message" of Rome.
So it was at Shavuot, the Day of Pentecost, when God gave the roadmap of "How to be Saved" at Sinai when He gave Moses the Laws and Commadments which comprise the respective Covenants of the Jew and "non-Jew". The Day of Pentecost did not originate with Christianity as many Christians maintain and would like you to believe, but it is the day when the Jews and all Gentile converts traveled to be in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast and the giving of God's Law and Salvation Message to all mankind along with this Pattern for His Worship. These Laws given in the Torah were understood by both the Jew and the "non-Jew" as their Covenant responsibilities to God.
From Luke's account in Acts 2 we see the marvelous timing of God.
Thousands of Jews had journeyed to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of
Pentecost. It was then that the followers of "the Christ" were
waiting in the upper room and were filled with the Holy Spirit. There was
such a loud noise accompanying this experience, that it attracted the
attention of the Jewish visitors who went to see what the commotion was
all about. Peter then stood up and preached a bold sermon to this Jewish
crowd. This outpouring of the Holy Spirit was taking place on the very day
when the Jews were offering
the two wave loaves to God (symbolizing the two peoples of God, the Jew
and the "non-Jew") and celebrating the Law symbolizing their
dependence on God.
One wave loaf symbolized the Jews and the other the
Gentiles who would also receive the Holy Spirit in like manner as recorded
in Acts 10.
The Middle Wall of partition
between these two peoples were crumbling and would do so until Constantine
in the 3rd century when it would be rebuilt and sadly it remains upright
today.
It is this Spirit of the Lord which is given to empower the child of God, now saved as his "personal Passover" through faith, and "cleaned up from his sin through repentance from sin through his observance of his "personal unleavened bread" and resultant obedience to the Law and Commands of God" given him at "his personal Sinai", is now equipped to live throughout his life a victorious life over sin.
Answer for yourself: What are we to learn from this?
We see from this that we all are to experience in our lives our very own personal Passover, our very own personal Unleavened Bread, and our very own personal Pentecost/Shavuot for this is God's "Salvation Message" for our Souls and in it is the very "Pattern for Worship" of the Creator in both our bodies and Souls. We as Christians were not commanded in the Laws of Noah to keep these Appointed Times with God that occur at these Equinoxes and Solstices but according to Isaiah 56 "we get to" if we "choose those things that please God". I choose to. By examples in the Old Testament we are shown other "non-Jews", long before the Jewish nation, voluntarily decided to observe and keep these Holy Days, these Appointed Times with God, learning the lessons concerning their Souls and Eternal Life buried deep in these Equinoxes and Solstices. Ancient mankind read God's blackboard of the Sky and Spiritually discerned by observing the motion of the orbs of Heaven, His Sun, Moon, and Constellations, that in Gods' Heaven lies a Salvation Message of God for all mankind that was brought to earth by the Spiritual Masters of antiquity: "So Above, So Beneath". This "Message of Salvation" and "Pattern for Worship" of God, first recognized in the Heavens "above" and in Nature "below" the Spiritual Masters of antiquity shared God's Divine Message with mankind and it lies there for your receiving yet today.
It is God's Spirit in us, this "anointing", which empowers the child of God to live the mitzvoth and the commands of God in his life. Even Jesus said his yoke was easy. God made it so easy for us if we will lean upon Him and His power in us that enables us to live a Torah obedience and love filled life.
Spiritual excitement is great; but unfortunately it does not last a life-time. Let me explain. It helps to understand that Israel had two rainy seasons a year which are separated by a long dry period. We find the same example in our lives. We all get excited when we come to God, turn from sin, and are filled with His Spirit. But over time the day to day drudgery of life wears us down. We like Israel experience our own "dry period" as symbolized by a life-time of temptation and drudgery. We are confronted daily of living our lives either "overcoming" or "being overcome". The struggle of our Soul for mastery over life never stops. The temptation to sin and fall backwards in our Spiritual walk is a real threat to every believer. Once we are saved, cleansed, and filled with God's Spirit, we are equipped to live out our lives where we must deal with the good and the bad as we encounter them in life. Sometimes life is hard as seen in this "dry season" which follows our personal Pentecost; yet we have the Spirit of HaShem to comfort and sustain us throughout the middle and autumn years of our lives. This dear one is where the "rubber meets the road" so to speak. This is where we get to prove to ourselves just whom we are in God.
Historically, on Rosh HaShanah, God gives us a picture of the "future judgment" of mankind. Judaism teaches, just like Egypt before them, that everyone is judged by God based on his or her actions during the previous year. The resulting judgment is inscribed by God and a person’s future is determined for the following year. Don't lose sight of the over all picture of man being judged by his "deeds" and "actions" and not by his "creeds" as the Romanized Paul teaches us in the New Testament. Though that judgment is inscribed, it is not yet sealed and can still be changed at least for another ten days. For the "non-Jew" the next passage is very important.
Acts 11:18 18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. (KJV)
After the dry season of Israel and our lives we come to
the "latter rains" or the next Festival which is Rosh HaShanah
which symbolizes our death at the end of our life and the ascension of our
Soul to stand before God to await the judgment. Rosh HaShanah is the
resurrection and ascension not of the body but of the Soul where it faces
rewards or loss at the judgment seat of God. It is appointed for man to
once die and then the 
judgment
which is also a second part of Rosh HaShanah. After the resurrection and
ascension at Rosh HaShanah and the judgment and reward for believers as
well as non-believers, then one awaits his or her final atonement at Yom
Kippur. God waits until Yom Kippur to seal the book for the year. The only
thing lacking is the eternal dwelling of the Spirit of God with the
Spiritual nature of mankind at the Festival of Tabernacles. This is the
eternal Sabbath which is pictured in the weekly Sabbath where God and man
are one for all Eternity.
Answer for yourself: How can a person change their judgment for the better?
"Repentance, Prayer, and Charity can remove the bad decree." Notice if you will we are speaking of "deeds" again and not "creeds". This is very important. God looks especially at three areas during the time between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, the Ten Days of Repentance. By doing teshuvah with true regret for the past and commitment for the future, a person can erase his misdeeds and hence improve his judgment before it is sealed on Yom Kippur. Similarly, by praying with greater concentration before God, and by giving charity with the proper spirit, one can also upgrade one's status. This is how we atone for our sins, through righteous deeds that are the fruits of our obedience of the Commandments and Laws of God as taught by the "Gospel of Jesus" in the New Testament. This is how we prepare our lives to be judged by God at our deaths. We next come to Yom Kippur when our atonement accomplished during our lives is weighted in the balance and judgment by God.
As I noted in Days of Awe, by S. Y. Agnon, Yom Kippur atones only for sins between man and God, not for sins against another person (the Second Tablet of the Law). Now you see the importance of repentance and the Second Tablet of the Law and its various Commandments between mankind.
Answer for yourself: Now, do you understand Jesus' answer on Eternal Life asked him by the lawyer where he mentioned only the Second Tablet of the Law?
To atone for sins against another person, you must first seek reconciliation with that person, righting the wrongs you committed against them if possible. That must all be done before Yom Kippur. By Yom Kippur the 40 days of repentance, that begin with the first of Elul, have passed. On Rosh HaShanah God has judged most of mankind and has recorded his judgement in the Book of Life. But he has given a 10 day reprieve. On Yom Kippur the Book of Life is closed and sealed. Those that have repented for their sins are granted a good and happy New Year. Since Yom Kippur is the day to ask forgiveness for promises broken to God, the day before is reserved for asking forgiveness for broken promises between people, as God cannot forgive broken promises between people. Since Yom Kippur is the day to ask forgiveness for promises broken to God, the day before is reserved for asking forgiveness for broken promises between people, as God cannot forgive broken promises between people. Yom Kippur is a day of "NOT" doing. The is no blowing of the Shofar and Jews may not eat or drink, as fasting is the rule. It is believed that to fast on Yom Kippur is to emulate the angels in heaven, who do not eat, drink, or wash. An important part of the Yom Kippur service is the "Vidui" (Viduy) or confession. The confessions serve to help reflect on ones misdeeds and to confess them verbally is part of the formal repentance in asking God's forgiveness. Because community and unity are an important part of Jewish Life, the confessions are said in the plural (We are guilty). As Yom Kippur ends, at the last hour a service called "Ne'ila" (Neilah) offers a final opportunity for repentance. It is the only service of the year during which the doors to the Ark (where the Torah scrolls are stored) remain open from the beginning to end of the service, signifying that the gates of Heaven are open at this time.
This is a time for reflection as we look back at our lives and remember following the early part of the year following our personal Pentecost one's excitement for God and his progressive sanctification increases as the time goes by which is parallel to the Path of the Sun as it rises in the Sky on its way to the Summer Solstice where the Sun is at its peak, its Zenith, where we are bursting within with the Presence of God and our lives reflect the fruit of good works on a continual basis. But as the Sun will slip past the Autumn Equinox so do our lives and the Soul limited by our bodies begins to slow down in proportion to the limits imposed upon it by our bodies. The abilities and opportunities for our Soul to ministry slowly begins to decline as the Sun slips more into the horizon; opportunities for good works are still there but become gradually fewer and fewer as time moves on. We only have so long to serve God in this life and we all reach a point where we maximize our time, talents, and abilities and with advancing age and a possible progressive illness we are forced to serve Him less in certain regards. We get to let our light shine but it is constantly dimming as we are aging on our way to our personal Rosh Ha Shannah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkoth (Tabernacles). The parallels with the Sun and Soul are uncanningly similar. We are on our way to experience in real time our "Rosh Ha Shannah, Yom Kippur, and Tabernacles". It is time for our Harvest to be counted and evaluations rendered by God.
Answer for yourself: What should we learn from this? That repentance from sin, confession, and obedience to the Laws and Commandments of God, just like "the Christ" taught in his Gospel in the New Testament, is the way to Eternal Life and Salvation. All that we do on Yom Kippur is but a picture of the reality that awaits us all at the end of our physical existence which are determined by our deeds which are defined for us in God's Torah as "acceptable" and "unacceptable" which hopefully our lives reflect before we pass Jordan.
The last major feast on the Jewish calendar is Tabernacles. It is
celebrated in the Fall in the Jewish month of Tishri, which corresponds to
the month of September/October on the Gentile calendar. It is time for not
only a physical harvest for Israel but a Spiritual Harvest from our lives.
Historically, the Feast of Tabernacles came at the final ingathering of the harvest season. The fruit of the land had been reaped so the people could rest from their labors. It was a time of great rejoicing and was celebrated from the fifteenth to the twenty-first. Then on the twenty-second (the eighth day), there was a special Sabbath which was a day of rest characterized by further rejoicing (Lev. 23:33-41).
Levi 23:33 (KJV) And the
LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 34 Speak unto the children of Israel,
saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month [shall be] the feast of
tabernacles [for] seven days unto the LORD. 35 On the first day [shall be]
an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work [therein]. 36 Seven days
ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day
shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made
by fire unto the LORD: it [is] a solemn assembly; [and] ye shall do no
servile work [therein]. {solemn...: Heb. day of restraint} 37 These [are]
the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim [to be] holy convocations,
to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a
meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day:
38 Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all
your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the
LORD. 39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have
gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD
seven days: on the first day [shall be] a Sabbath, and on the eighth day
[shall be] a Sabbath. 40 And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs
of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees,
and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God
seven days. {boughs of goodly trees: Heb. fruit of, etc} 41 And ye shall
keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. [It shall be] a
statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh
month.
The primary activity during this feast is the building of booths or
shelters (Sukkah). God commanded the Hebrews to build shelters to live in
during the Feast as a reminder of how He cared for them during their
wilderness wanderings and the fact that they were pilgrims passing through
this life (Lev. 23:42-44).
Levi
23:42 (KJV) Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites
born shall dwell in booths: 43 That your generations may know that I made
the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the
land of Egypt: I [am] the LORD your God. 44 And Moses declared unto the
children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.
The shelters were loosely constructed and decorated and the roof
covered with branches. This allowed the Hebrews to see through the roof
into heaven and be reminded of an even greater rest and rejoicing when
God's hoped for Messiah would rule on the earth. Thus, the Feast of
Tabernacles symbolizes the Messianic age.
The Feast of Tabernacles has such universal significance in God's
redemptive program, that He requires all nations to go to Jerusalem to
celebrate this feast in the world to come (Zech. 14:16).
Zech.
14:16 And it shall come to pass, [that] every one that is left of all the
nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to
worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
Astronomically as our earthly existence wanes in preparation for the rebirth of our Soul at the Winter Solstice we can look back and rejoice at the harvest of loving kindness and many deeds that our "matured" Soul was able to accomplish as we traveled through this plane of existence.
Rev 14:13 13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. (KJV)
Rev 20:12 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (KJV)
The personal Harvest of our lives in in the Heavenly barn and being weighed. Look again at the picture above concerning the "weighing of the heart" as Egypt depicted it. We have the ability to look back with righteous pride, joy, and thankfulness that we leave a legacy of righteous acts and deeds that will outlive our earthly existence and will be to our reward in the Presence of God. We can be thankful that in our passing through this physical plane of existence we did not have to rely upon our "own understanding" for acceptable deeds with God but had a more sure indication of God's will; that being His Torah. Having finished our course set out for our Soul as pictured in the path of the Sun in the Heavens we can be thankful that we ran a race for true immortality as taught in Judaism. And the Sun was our picture as it travels through the Zodiac every year teaching this same message to countless generations before and those yet to come.
I am aware that many teach that the Festivals were fulfilled in the life and ministry of the Jesus of the New Testament. Much of that understanding is taken from the Gospel of John and other passages in the New Testament. It is not my intent here to discuss such a matter, but when one undergoes a serious and intensive study of the New Testament and its "forged texts" as compared with the Hebrew Old Testament for accuracy one is saddened by the purposeful gross misapplication of Old Testament passages, purposefully mistranslation of Old Testament passages, and the hundreds of Old Testament passages purposefully taken out of context in the New Testament which are purposefully manipulated to provide "false proofs" that make it appear as if this New Testament Jesus was a "historical person" let alone fulfilled the Old Testament prophetic passages and the Biblical Feasts. Hopefully you will study to see not only the name "Jesus Christ" existed in Egypt some 10,000 B.C.E. but is only a "personification" of a Divine Concept which Rome will "literalize" and present as an assumed historical person in the early centuries of the Gentile Church. I used to believe that as well from reading "only" the New Testament, but after years of serious study about my faith and the book I inherited, the Roman New Testament, where I compared line upon line of Hebrew Old Testament and true Masoretic text from the Jewish Scriptures and not the "altered" Christian Old Testaments with New Testament text, I know that God knows what I uncovered and I can no longer deny what is fact and I bowed my knee to truth when I was fully persuaded that I had been deceived by a nation that existed some 1,800 years ago and came to see beyond any doubt the error of my previous religious belief system. I had put my faith in the wrong document. Along with that I had the "Wrong Salvation Message" and the "Wrong Pattern of Worship". My Soul knew not God's Torah; that would change quick for it dawned on me that I had never read the true Word of God in my life and I was an ordained Pastor at a mega church in Dallas. In light of such a study and the convincing results from it then the bottom line is that we cannot be certain that this Jesus of Rome's New Testament was the Messiah or even historically existed in the first place. You must study this out for yourself as it is at the very center of Rome's deception.
If you find it hard to believe what I just said, then I suggest you purchase only one book and be awakened to the serious flaws in the Christian Bible and the New Testament which has so severely been "added to and taken from" by the Roman Church over the centuries: Antisemitism In The New Testament by Lillian Freudmann. What a book! What a book! What a book! Read it and you will never be the same again and not sorry that you did and then you will not be able to question what I say or write for when you take her challenge and compare the Hebrew texts, line upon line, and precept upon precept with the later Greek and English Christian Old Testaments and New Testament you will see how doctrine after doctrine was altered and changed from the Hebrew; in so doing you will see "another Gospel" created, "another Pattern of Worship" was instituted by Rome, and "another Salvation Message" and a "false Messiah" was given to the world. Only Judaism knew the difference and refused to change their worship or their Bibles or their beliefs in their Messiah.
Having said that, then let me explain God's true plan of salvation as seen in the Biblical Festivals as taught in the Bible that a Jew like this Jesus used and believed in the first century...the Holy Tanakh:
Answer for yourself: Did you notice that not only did the above plan of YHWH'S salvation make sense, but nowhere did I invoke the name of some historical Jesus as a necessity for one's salvation?
This is only a summary to say the least of what the Biblical Festivals reveal; the true Plan of Salvation of God as found in the Ancient Spiritual Wisdom and taught by Judaism today. And if you noticed, this plan is very understandable to the Jew and "non-Jew" without trying to "force" Jesus to fulfill passages that yet remain unfulfilled. Sadly the Christian Church has not heard this message and yet it is the very core of the whole of the Bible a Jew like Jesus would have! So sad! I thank God above that He put into my heart the love for Him and the desire to study as I have to find these truths and be able to share them with other Christian brothers and sisters who are in Churches that teach them the wrong Salvation Message of God let alone the wrong Pattern of Worship of God.
It is these Biblical Festivals which, in case you missed it, follow the path of the Sun through the Equinoxes and Solstices on a yearly basis. Then they repeat. They are called "mo'eds" in Hebrew which means rehearsal. We are to spend our lives rehearing and preparing for the world to come and we do this by living out and practicing the "pattern of salvation" over and over again. This pattern was first given in the Sky/Heaven, then in Nature who dances in symphony with the Sun above. These two "witnesses" teach man God's message regarding the salvation of his Soul; these Laws of the Cosmos and Mother Nature are God's mouthpiece and book to us; a book that no one can forge or misquote as they have this New Testament which at best count has over 600,000 alterations in it. This is God's first revelation of the salvation of mankind and this was understood by witnessing the path of the Sun, its cycles, and patterns and its influence upon "life" for thousands and thousands of years. Man is part of this life and is to be a witness to these Laws of the Cosmos and Nature which produce order and harmony and man is required to respond appropriately. These cycles and patterns were witnessed operating exactly in the Heavens above are paralleled in Mother Nature next as it should. Now is man's turn to be a living witness of God's salvation.
Rom 1:20 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (KJV)
Egypt saw it, taught it, lived it as did many Ancient nations whose righteousness shames our supposed Christian nation. Over time the Ancient Spiritual master developed rituals in order to allow devotees of God to "act out" and make these Metaphysical Events occurring above their heads and in Nature around them part of their very lives as well. This is how man "internalized" these events and the salvation process. Once correctly understood each nation, like Israel who was strongly influenced by Egypt and its Torah, uniquely adapted these Divine Teachings and Truths to their distinctives as a separate nation and it is in these Hagim, or Biblical Festival Days that follow these Equinoxes and Solstices that even the "non-Jew" can participate and likewise internalize these Eternal Truths of God as revealed from above. In so doing this will further enable the Jew and the non-Jew to become one and the middle wall of partition separating the brotherhood of mankind can be broken down. This however is not possible without knowledge:
Hosea 4:6 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge...(KJV)
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