325HaShem's Set Apart Days versus Pagan

Hashem’s Set-apart days versus pagan holidays.

Most people who claim faith in Messiah have assumed that the Scriptures teach the observance of Xmas and Easter. My question to our readers is: Do you assume that Messiah ben Joseph (who was the perfect example the Father sent believers in Him to follow) or His original apostles observed Xmas and Easter? If you have been deceived to believe that, you could not be more wrong!

Most historians and even theologians will agree that these holidays began as pagan festivals and were introduced to professing Christianity many years after the death of the original apostles. But how did this happen? It is important to understand that the original believers in Messiah, were known to be a sect of the Pharisees and was called Nazarenes, after Messiah ben Joseph who was also called the Nazarene, as recorded in Acts 24: 5,14& 15, in this way: “For we have found this man (meaning Rav Shaul, a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin, who was personally called and trained by Y’shua Messiah ben Joseph for three years {see Acts 9: 4 – 6 and Galatians 1: 17 & 18} a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. (14) But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve the G-d of our fathers (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), believing everything that is in accordance with the Law, and that is written in the Prophets; (15) having a hope in G-d, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.”We see further from Acts 15: 5, that many of the original believers in Messiah ben Joseph, were in fact from the Jewish sect of the Pharisees, as witnessed in Acts 15: 5, as follows: ‘But certain ones of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed, stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”

Even though there were evil forces determined to destroy Nazarene Judaism since its inception and the movement almost vanished by the fourth century because of sustained attacks against it, it never totally disappeared as there have always been Torah observant individuals who believed in Messiah ben Joseph.This is essentially what He promised His disciples in Matthew 16: 18, where He told His disciples, that the congregation (or group of called-out believers) built upon the Rock (meaning Himself), shall remain until Messiah ben David comes to rule the world from Jerusalem in the near future. After the establishment of the Christian Church, the fourth century Church father Epiphanius described the sect of the Nazarenes, as follows:‘But these sectarians…did not call themselves Christians – but “Nazarenes,”…However they are simply complete Jews. They use not only the New Testament but the Old Testament as well, as the Jews do… They have no different ideas, but confess everything exactly as the Law proclaims it and in the Jewish fashion except for their belief in Messiah, if you please! For they acknowledge both the resurrection of the dead and the divine creation of all things, and declare that G-d is one, and that his son is Y’shua the Messiah. They are trained to a nicety in Hebrew. For among them the entire Law, the Prophets, and the …Writings… are read in Hebrew, as they surely are by the Jews. They are different from the Jews, and different from Christians, only in the following. They disagree with Jews because they have come to faith in Messiah; but since they are still fettered by the Law…circumcision, the Sabbath, and the rest...they are not in accord with Christians…they are nothing but Jews…. They have the Goodnews according to Matthew in its entirety in Hebrew. For it is clear that they still preserve this, in the Hebrew alphabet, as it was originally written.’

A vital key to understand is that the vast majority of Christian priests and scholars have never seriously tried to follow the example of Messiah ben Joseph and His original disciples. As the Christian church grew in the Roman Empire, its leaders tried to make their religion more accessible to the pagan nations around them, in an attempt to win them over, but also to avoid persecution. As a result, Nazarene Judaism was cast by the wayside in favor of a counterfeit paganized belief system. But, we need to remember that HaShem warned our forefathers against following the customs and belief systems of the surrounding heathens in Deuteronomy 12: 29 – 31, saying: ‘When HaShem your G-d cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, (30) beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?” (31) You shall not behave thus toward HaShem your G-d, for every abominable act which HaShem hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.’In addition Messiah ben Josephrebuked the religious leaders of His day regarding them substituting their human traditions for the commandments of HaShem in Mark 7: 6 – 9, in this way: ‘And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. (7) BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’ (8) Neglecting the commandment of G-d, you hold to the tradition of men.” (9) He was also saying to them, “You nicely set aside the commandment of G-d in order to keep your tradition."’

Now, immediately upon reading these words of Messiah ben Joseph, some will say that He was addressing these words specifically to the Jews of His day and not the Christians. It is indeed true that He was speaking to the Jews of His day here, but if we believe that the Scriptures were written for all who came to believe in Him, then certainly His rebuke of the religious leaders of His day, applies equally to religious leaders of today. Think about the traditions of Xmas and Easter, which Christianity and many other religions keep, as if they are commanded by G-d, but are not even mentioned anywhere in the Scriptures. Actually the word ‘Easter’ does occur once in the original King James Version in Acts 12: 4. However, all reputable modern translations have corrected this blatant error rendering the original Greek word used here, namely ‘Pascha’, correctly as “Passover” in English. To validate this we read from verse 3 of Acts 12, ‘And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Kepha also. Now it was during the days of Unleavened Bread.’ Those familiar with G-d’s Feast Days will know that the days of Unleavened Bread follow immediately after Passover; something those who keep knowsis not observed by Christianity, since they usually eat leavened hot cross buns during that time.Messiah ben Joseph or Y'shua the Nazarene was a Jew by birth and never changed the faith into which He was born for Christianity throughout His life on earth. He definitely did not come to Christianize the world as many believe but instead came to bring the lost sheep of the house of Israel back to the covenant they made with HaShem, together with their Jewish Brothers at Mount Sinai as He also told the Canaanite woman who asked Him to heal her demon-possessed daughter in Matthew 15: 24, saying:‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” A second witness comes from Matthew 10: 5 - 8, when Messiah ben Joseph sent His disciples out the first time, saying: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; (6) but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (7) And as you go, preach, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (8) Heal the sick, raise the dead cleanse the lepers, cast out demons; freely you received, freely give.’

Nevertheless, every believer in Messiahben Joseph still has to make a choice between observing pagan holidays like Xmas and Easter - holidays that originated in sun worship with pagan trappings of evergreen trees; yule logs, mistletoe and Santa Claus; or the Set-apart Days of HaShem recorded in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. By observing the Set-apart Days of HaShem, we will begin to understand His plan of salvation for all mankind. After all, even though most believe that the Set-apart Days given in Torah are for Jews only, we read unequivocally from Leviticus 23: 1 – 4: ‘HaShem spoke again to Moses, saying, (2) “Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘Hashem’s appointed times which you (Moses or the ones who sit in his seat) shall proclaim as holy (set-apart) convocations (days upon which HaShem commanded us to get together to worship Him)— My appointed times are these: (3) For six days work may be done; but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a Sabbath to HaShem in all your dwellings. (4) These are the appointed times of HaShem, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them.’’’At this point some might interject, telling us that Messiah ben Joseph (whom they refer to as J*e*s*u*s*) specifically came to do away with the Sacrificial Laws and that we should not keep them any longer. Again it is true Messiah ben Joseph came to do away with the sacrificial law in respect of sin. Once He became the sacrifice for the sins of the world, the sacrificial law was effectively abolished. However, it is important to notice that the Feast Days of HaShem were already introduced in Exodus 23, before the introduction of the sacrificial law that came 430 years after Abraham, our father in the faith. But as it tells us in Galatians 3, the sacrificial Law was our tutor, to lead us to Messiah ben Joseph, that we may be justified by faith (Galatians 3: 24). Messiah ben Joseph told believers in Him that a prerequisite for faith in Him is belief in the Law of Moses, saying in John 5: 46 – 47: ‘For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me. (47) But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” In addition most of us are aware of His teachings in Matthew 5, 6& 7 where He magnified the Torah, saying specifically in Matthew 5: 17 – 20: ‘Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. (18) For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished. (19) Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (20) For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.’

HaShem gave ancient Israel specific days that were to be set-apart or sanctified for use to worshipping Him on. Besides, most in Churchianity today would be surprised to learn the identity of the “LORD” who gave these holy days during which He is to be worshiped. This Being who led Israel out of Egypt when He introduced the first Passover, is sometimes referred to as the Rock; one example being in Deuteronomy 32: 15, in this way: ‘But Jeshurun (a pet name for Israel) grew fat and kicked— you are grown fat, thick, and sleek— then he forsook G-d who made him, and scorned the Rock of his salvation.’ A second example is found in Psalm 18: 2, where David wrote: ‘HaShem is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my G-d, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.’Rav Shaul wrote about this same Being in the Renewed Covenant, saying in first Corinthians 10: 1 - 4, ‘For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; (2) and all were immersed into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; (3) and all ate the same spiritual food; (4) and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Messiah ben Joseph.’ Therefore, Messiah ben Joseph was the G-d who spoke to our forebears in the Tanach. He was the “Word” (transliterated in Hebrew as the ‘DavarHaShem’) or spokesmen of G-d, who was with G-d from the beginning and who became flesh as explained in John 1: 1- 3 & 14.He is the image of the invisible G-d according to Colossians 1: 15, but also the manifestation or form of HaShem who spoke to Moses as recorded in the first part of Numbers 12: 8, in this way: ‘With him I speak mouth to mouth, even openly, and not in dark sayings, and he beholds the form of HaShem.’

For the sake of clarity we turn to Leviticus 23, where most of Hashem’s Feast Days are listed. Included in the Feast Days listed, we also find the weekly Sabbath, which occurs on the ‘seventh day’ as most believers would refer to as Friday from sunset to Saturday sunset, since all Scriptural Set-apart Days are determined from sunset to sunset. The Sabbath Day is also part of the Ten Commandments that HaShem gave ancient Israel at Mount Sinai on Shavuot and despite what many preachers have to say about it, G-d’s people are even now required to keep it, as confirmed by Rav Shaul in Hebrews 4: 9, saying:‘There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of G-d.’ How much clearer do we want this stated – if we claim to be G-d’s people, then we are still required to keep the original Sabbath, which G-dset-apart or hallowed after He created the first man in Genesis 2. But besides the weekly Sabbath, HaShemhas seven annual Festivals or Sabbaths which also appear in Leviticus 23 & Deuteronomy 16. In addition we read from Genesis 49: 10 that the house of Judah has the ruler staff as far as religious matters are concerned, until Messiah ben Joseph shall come when His people, the commonwealth of Israel will obey Him. Both Messiah ben David and Rav Shaul agreed with this, respectively in Matthew 23: 1 - 3 and Romans 3: 1 - 4, as follows:

Matthew 23: 1 - 3: (2)(3) Contrary to what many believe, Y’shua confirmed the Torah taught by the Pharisees of Rabbinical Jews of today as being totally correct and should be obeyed, but said we should not follow what they do, since they, like us are only human and therefore sometimes sin knowingly or unknowingly.
Romans 3: 1 - 4: (2) (3) (4) Yes, even if some Jews, like the Israelites did not believe, a remnant remained faithful and retained Torah for the rest of Israel, including the latter day returnees from the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

The Rabbinical Jews introduced two annual festivals, namely Purim and Chanukah (Dedication), the first being recorded in the book of Esther and the second in the book of Maccabees (not part of the canonized books of the Tanach), which Messiah ben Joseph kept as clearly shown in John 10: 22& 23, which those who align themselves with the Jews after returning to the covenant made with HaShem at Mount Sinai also keep. Without furtherado, we list all these festivals briefly below:

Passover: The original Passover was specifically introduced to save the first-born children of Israel from death. In the same way did Messiah ben Joseph’s Passover during which He became the Lamb of G-d who takes away the sins of the world, ensure that the first fruits that HaShem calls out of the world at this time be resurrected as first born spiritual children of G-d and be protected from the second death after the thousand year rule of Messiah. In addition His death will eventually pay for the sins of everyone who ever lived and who will accept Him as their personal Passover.
Feast of Unleavened Bread - a seven day Festival immediately following Passover during which all leavened products such as cake and bread are to be put out of our dwelling places and not to be eaten. It pictures the putting away of sin out of our lives, which is likened to leaven.
Feast of Weeks or Pentecost – This is the day upon which HaShemdeclared His covenant to the nation of Israel which He commanded them to perform, that is the Ten Commandments. It was also the day upon which He gave the Set-apart Spirit to those who gathered together on the first Pentecost after Messiah ben Joseph’s ascension to heaven. But it is also the Day celebrating the ingathering of the smaller first fruits of the annual harvests, which occurs exactly 50 days after the first annual Sabbath namely the First Day of Unleavened Bread (on the 15th of Aviv), and according to the command in Leviticus 23: 17 the day upon which we wave two leavened loaves of bread, picturing the two houses of Israel wavedas first fruits before HaShem for acceptance, to be resurrected at His return one day.
Feast of Trumpets – a day of rejoicing called Rosh Hashanah by the Jews, marked by the blowing of trumpets on which we also believe Messiah will return one day. This will also be the day upon which HaShem will save the tents of Judah (the remnant of those who remain Torah observant until Messiah’s return) first, when they will see His hands and accept Him as their Passover (as per Zechariah 12: 7 – 14); and once they have accepted Him. the dead in Messiah will be resurrected (as per Romans 11: 15 and 1 Corinthians 15: 51 – 52).
Day of Atonement – a solemn day of fasting and repentance, known to our Jewish Brothers as Yom Kippur. This is the day after Messiah ben David’s return during which Satan will be bound for a thousand years. This will also be the day upon which those of us who qualify as the first fruit bride of Messiah will become at-one with G-d.
Feast of Tabernacles – a seven day celebration picturing the thousand year rule of Messiah. But it also pictures the wedding celebration of Messiah ben David and His bride (consisting of Torah observant Jews and returnees from the house of Israel who answered Messiah ben Joseph’s call) which according to the ancient Hebrew wedding was celebrated for seven days during which the bride and groom consummated the marriage. We are required to keep this feast away from our homes living in temporary dwellings – picturing how temporary our lives as human beings are upon this earth and reminding us of eternal life in the kingdom of G-d. During the seven days we truly get to learn more about G-d’s way of salvation for all mankind, but also to fear Him always.
The Last Great Day – the eighth day following the Feast of Tabernacles. It is a separate feast day which pictures the Final Great Harvest of Human beings into the kingdom or family of G-d. This is the time during which G-d will open His Word, the Scriptures to the minds of those who died without ever knowing the true gospel and way of G-d as per Revelation 20: 12 and Isaiah 25: 7 - 9. They will be resurrected and given a period of one hundred years during which they will be required to prove that they want to live according to G-d’s way (as per Isaiah 65: 17 – 20), after which, if they remain faithful till the end, they will be changed into the Spiritual children of G-d, as much as the first-born children of G-d, will be born-again from the dead (or changed) to become His Spiritual Children, during the first resurrection.The scripturally ordained Feast Days G-d adds up to 19 annual Feast days (1+7+1+1+1+7+1). Seven of these 19 Feast days are annual Sabbaths (rest days). These seven annual Sabbaths are: (1) First Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (2) Last Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (3) Feast of First fruits – or Pentecost (4) Feast of Trumpets (5) Day of Atonement (6) First Day of the Feast of Tabernacles (7) Eighth Day – or Last Great Day.
The menorah Rabbinical ordained festivals of Chanukah.

The Prophet Daniel prophesied about the rise of Antiochus Epiphanes and the Maccabean Era, after speaking about the division of Alexander's kingdom into four regions. Daniel rightly prophesied that Antiochus would arise to rule and that his own kingdom would come against the faithful ones, but would not die in battle saying in Daniel 8: 23-25:(24) (25)Antiochus was unable to stand against the Jews, many of whom faithfully resisted any attempt to Hellenize them. The Maccabees drove the Seleucids out of the Land of Israel in Kislev 165 B.C.E., which is in about the month of December. They had the task of cleaning up the mess that the Seleucids had left, notably in the city of Jerusalem and in the Temple complex. Antiochus' forces had completely ransacked the Temple and made it into a haven of idolatry. The Temple needed to be cleansed of its defilement and restored to its previous position so proper sacrifices could once again be performed. Of all of the items of Temple furniture that had to be cleansed and rededicated, one of the most important was the great lamp stand or The menorah required special consecrated oil in order to be lit. As many of you are no doubt aware, modern observance of is commemorated by the lighting of a or a special nine-branched This is different from the that was in the Temple that had seven branches. It is used because when the Temple was rededicated there was only enough oil to be lit for one day. However, the oil remained lit for eight days, allowing enough time for newly consecrated oil to be produced. Today a ninth candle or servant candle is used to light the eight candles of the to commemorate the eight days the was lit. , meaning "dedication," became the nation's commemoration of this miracle.
Purim- also known as the Feast of Esther is kept in commemoration of how queen Esther who was married to King Ahasuerus of Persia (who ruled over 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia), saved the Jewish people from his decree to kill every Jew in his kingdom. We read from the conclusion of the Book of Esther in Esther 9: 27 that those of us who are not Jewish, but who allied ourselves with them, should also celebrate these two days at the appointed time, as follows: ‘the Jews established and made a custom for themselves, and for their descendants, and for all those who allied themselves with them, so that they should not fail to celebrate these two days according to their regulation, and according to their appointed time annually.’

Those who profess to believe in Y’shua who came as Messiah ben Joseph should be careful to condemn all things Jewish, since we know that He was from the tribe of Judah himself. He like His Jewish disciples kept all the Feast Days of G-d with His Jewish Brothers of His day, according to the Hebrew calendar. However, He kept the last Passover before His death on the 14th of Aviv, as per the original Passover in Egypt, 24 hours beforethe Jewish Passover occurred. Y’shua the Nazarene or Messiah ben Joseph died at three o’clock the next afternoon, exactly the time when the Passover lambs, used for the Jewish Passover that next evening, was killed. Following His resurrection three days and three nights after His burial on the Wednesday afternoon, before the commencement of the First Day of Unleavened Bread the first annual Sabbath of the year, He told His disciples saying in Luke 24: 49, “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” We read accordingly then from Acts 2: 1 – 4: ‘And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. (2) And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. (3) And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.(4) And they were all filled with the Set-apart Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.’ Now before some get the wrong idea about the different tongues that people heard, let’s turn to verses 8 – 11 of Acts 2, where we are told what really happened, as follows: “And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? (9) Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesoptamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, (10) Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes (those who converted to Judaism), (11) Cretans and Arabs— we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of G-d.’So we see that the miracle spoken about here was in people hearing the others speaking as if they spoke the language in which the hearers were born. Also noteworthy is that those who attended this first Pentecost after Messiah ben Joseph’s resurrection were mostly Jews (or Jewish converts) together with believers in Him.

Now there might be some who will assert that this was the last and only Feast of Pentecost that believers kept after Messiah’s ascension to heaven. But, this is not true, since there are other passages showing that it was still being kept. We see that Rav Shaul or Paul as Churchianity refers to him, the apostle to the Gentiles and the one who according to many even Nazarene/Messianic Believers, supposedly did away with G-d’s Torah. Yet, Rav Shaul who was personally taught by Messiah ben Joseph did no such thing! Instead, Rav Shaul upheld the Torah of G-d, as witnessed in Acts 20: 16, as follows:‘For Shaul had decided to sail past Ephesus in order that he might not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.’ We see further from first Corinthians 16: 8 & 9 that Rav Shaul kept yet another Pentecost, in this way: ‘But I shall remain in Ephesus until Pentecost; (9) for a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.’ Before some think that Pentecost was the only Scriptural Festival that the congregation kept after Messiah’s ascension to heaven, let’s turn to Acts 27: 9, where we read: ‘And when considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even the fast was already over, Shaul began to admonish them.’ The fast spoken about here is the Day of Atonement in September or October, as the footnote in the New American Standard Bible tells us. It is understood that the book of Acts was written during the early 60s CE by Rav Shaul’s companion Luke. We also see that Rav Shaul commands believers in Messiah to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in first Corinthians 5: 7 & 8, saying: ‘Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Messiah our Passover also has been sacrificed. (8) Let us therefore celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.’

There is also a remarkable prophecy about the time during which Messiah ben David is coming to rule the world from Jerusalem in Zechariah 14: 16 – 19, in this way: ‘Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, HaShem of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. (17) And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, HaShem of hosts, there will be no rain on them. (18) And if the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which HaShem smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. (19) This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.’G-d required that His people keep His Feast Days in the distant past and He is going to require all nations to keep it in the near future. Every single human being alive on earth will soon learn to observe all of G-d’s Set-apart Days. Why do those of us who profess to be His people during this day and age not start keeping His Feast Days today? But, even with the preponderance of evidence, some will still object, saying that these are Jewish Feast Days. However, such people should think twice before discounting G-d’s Torah because it is Jewish. As mentioned before Messiah ben Joseph was Jewish whether we believe it or not. We see when He spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4: 21 – 24, saying:“Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father. (22) You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews. (23) But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. (24)G-d is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’Y’shua was not only telling this woman that He a Jew by birth was the prophesied Savior, but He also confirmed that the Jews preserved G-d’s Torah for all other true believers. All believers in Messiah ben Joseph should accordingly follow Him as the perfect example that HaShem gave us to follow and since He kept all of the Feast Days of G-d, with His Jewish Brothers, we should do the same. Once we start keeping the Set-apart Days of G-d, we will learn His plan of salvation for all mankind – and that is truly the good news about the coming Kingdom of G-d. All people who were ever born will have an informed opportunity to accept G-d’s way of life and to be born-again as spiritual children of G-d in His eternal kingdom.

Rav Shaul wrote about G-d’s plan of salvation for all mankind in Ephesians 1: 9 – 14, saying: ‘He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him (10) with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Messiah, things in the heavens and things upon the earth. In Him (11) also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, (12) to the end that we who were the first to hope in Messiah(ben Joseph) should be to the praise of His glory. (13) In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation – having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Set-apart Spirit of promise, (14) who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of G-d’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.’ Rav Shaul continues to explain about the mystery in chapter 3 of Ephesians saying in verses 8 – 12, ‘To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Messiah(ben Joseph), (9) and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in G-d, who created all things; (10) in order that the manifold wisdom of G-d might now be made known through the congregation to the rulers and the authorities in heavenly places. (11) This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Messiah ben Joseph Y’shua our Master, (12) in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.’ Most people are blind to G-d’s plan of salvation for all mankind, because Satan the fallen archangel blinds the minds of those whom G-d is not calling at this time, not understand the good news about the coming kingdom of G-d, as Messiah ben Josephtold His disciples in Matthew 13: 11, 12 & 19, saying ‘To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. (12) For whoever has, to him shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. (19)When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.’ A second witness to this comes from 2 Corinthians 4: 3 & 4, as follows:‘And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, (4) in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Messiah(ben Joseph), who is the image of G-d.’

One of the ways in which Satan has blinded the minds of this world is by inventing counterfeit holidays to take people’s attention away from G-d’s true Feast Days. This happened during the first century CE at the beginning of Christianity and again during the mid-1990’s when the Karaite Jews convinced many Messianic and like-minded believers to question the Hebrew calendar and start looking for the New Moon (which in their case refers to the first visible appearance of the crescent moon). They persuaded some that theirs was the so-called ‘Biblical calendar’. TheFeast Days of G-dpreserved for us by the Jews not only give those who obey and keep them a better understanding of His plan of salvation for all mankind, but it also provides us the opportunity to rest from our labors and to learn to fear Him always. Think carefully about it!