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Chapter One:
Introduction |
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Our
Heavenly Father judged Israel and
dispersed them to the four corners of the
earth for their transgressions. Our forefathers hid
their eyes from
His Sabbaths (Ezekiel 12,20,22,
22:26),
and because of Israel's transgressions against His Sabbaths, He took His
Sabbaths and Feasts away from us (Hosea
2:11, Isaiah 1:13,
Romans 11:26, Isaiah 59:20). In the last
days our Heavenly Father said He will re-gather his people
back to Him
(Isaiah 11:12).
Now He is revealing His true Sabbaths to
many as
an important step in the re-gathering of
the House of Israel and the House of
Judah to bring into fullness, the
unification of the Bride of Messiah
through the Greater Exodus of the last days.
There are four levels of Torah study
according to ancient Rabbis. They
are P'shat, Remez, Drash, and Sod.
P'shat is the explicit, straightforward,
simple meaning of scripture. Remez
is implied or hints in a thread of
allegories or symbols. Drash is
interpreting scripture based on
parables, homilies, gematria and
permutations (re-arrangement) of Hebrew
letters and numbers. Sod combines
the depth of the other three levels into
a meaningful understanding of the
scriptures that can be profound as the
Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) brings
depth to
principles and prophecy in scripture.1
At the "sod" level, or fourth level of depth in study of the scriptures, it
is revealed that the 144,000 and Two Witnesses will testify of Yahuah's true
Sabbaths. Obediently following the proper Biblical calendar and
understanding Biblical Timekeeping is one critical key to understanding the
timing of world events and recognizing the ministry of the Two Witnesses and 144,000 when
they complete the last half of Yeshua's 7 year ministry during the three and
half year Great Tribulation.
Our forefathers did not recognize
Messiah's First Coming and the first
half of His 7 year ministry.
Yeshua wept over Jerusalem because they
did not know the time of His coming, it
is written in Luke 19:41-44 (NIV), "41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42
and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day
what would bring you peace-but now it is hidden from your
eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build
an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every
side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children
within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another,
because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."
 The revealing of Yahuah's true Sabbaths is an important step in the
fulfillment of the
prophecy of the reunification of the House of Israel and the House of
Judah in the last days (Ezekiel
37:15-28). For an
in-depth understanding about the prophecy of the Restoration of the Two
Houses of Israel, I recommend the book,
"Restoring the Two Houses of Israel," by Eddie Chumney, ISBN
1-884369-77-4, from Serenity Books, P.O. Box 3595, Hagerstown, MD
21742-3595. You can also visit his ministry's web site, Hebraic Heritage
Ministries International, at www.hebroots.org.
It is written in
Daniel 2:20-22,
"Blessed
be the name of God forever and ever.
For wisdom and might are His. 21
And He changes the times and the
seasons; He removes kings and raises
up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise
And knowledge to those who have
understanding. 22 He
reveals deep and secret things; He
knows what is in the darkness, And light
dwells with Him."
Notice the association of the phrase
"times and seasons," "wisdom to the
wise," and "reveals deep and secret
things." Upon completion of this
study you will begin to understand why
these associations are important.
The taking away of our Heavenly Father's true Sabbaths may have occurred
when Israel was divided into two
kingdoms during the Assyrian and
Babylonian exiles. I'm strongly
impressed that the true Sabbaths set by our Heavenly Father, Yahuah, has been a hidden
secret because of Israel's continued disobedience to Yahuah's
Torah. It may very well be that the true Sabbaths has been lost in time
to most of Israel for about 2,900 years
since the exile of the "ten lost tribes" into Assyria, and the exile of
Judah into Babylon. The House of Judah may have lost sight of the true
Sabbath around 1900-1600 years ago.2 I recommend the video
by Arts & Entertainment titled, "Quest
for the Lost Tribes" directed by Simcha Jacobovici. It is a documentary of the exile of the
Ten Tribes
into Assyria and Babylon.
 Interestingly
enough, according to "The Universal
Jewish Encyclopedia" on page 410, there
is a reference to the Sabbath and New
Moons that states, "The New Moon is
still, and the Sabbath originally
was, dependant on the lunar cycle.
Both date back to the nomadic period of
Israel. Originally the New Moon
was celebrated the same way as the
Sabbath."
To your right is a scan of page 410 of
this encyclopedia.
The section under "Holidays" has been
magnified for readability.
It is written in Genesis 1:14-19
(KJV), "And
God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to
divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and
for seasons, and for days, and years. And God made
two great lights; the greater light to
rule the day, and the lesser light to
rule the night: he made the stars also.
And God set them in the firmament of the
heaven to give light upon the earth, And
to rule over the day and over the night,
and to divide the light from the
darkness: and God saw that it was good.
And the evening and the morning were the
fourth day."
These celestial bodies were created on
the fourth day. There is a
direct association between the fourth
day and the fourth commandment
which is, "Remember
the sabbath day, to keep it holy..."
(Exodus
20:8).
Psalm 89:34-37 (KJV)
reveals that the moon is a faithful witness in the heavens. It is written, "34
My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out
of my lips. 35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto
David. 36 His seed shall endure forever; and his throne as the sun before
me. 37 It shall be established forever as the moon and as a
faithful witness in heaven."
In these scriptures there is an
association of the words "My covenant,"
"the moon," and "faithful witness."
My covenant speaks about the covenant
made at Mount Sinai. The Sabbath
is a sign of this covenant (Exodus
31:12).
The moon was created on the fourth
day.
Our Heavenly Father
put these celestial bodies in the
heavens for a timekeeping system and the
moon as a faithful witness. We
will explore how this timekeeping system
works and why the moon is a faithful
witness to Abba's true Sabbaths.
The moon is symbolic of the Bride of Christ. It is written in
Jeremiah
31:22 (KJV), "22
How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD
hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man." In a traditional Jewish wedding, the woman compasses or circles the man
seven times. Similarly, as the moon circles the earth, it has a 7-day
cycle. This is an extremely important concept because in the context
our Heavenly Father's true Sabbaths, the
three pilgrimage festivals, Pesach
(Passover), Shavuot (Pentecost), and
Sukkoth (Feast of Tabernacles) all fall
on the 15th of the month during the full
moon. When we as a body keep
Abba's true Sabbaths and Feasts we truly
become the Bride of Christ as a people.
Consider
Revelation 12:1
where it is written, "Now
a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman
clothed with the sun, with the moon
under her feet, and on her head a
garland of twelve stars."
Symbolically, Israel, both natural and
spiritual, has as her foundation, the
moon which represents Abba's true
Sabbaths and Feasts.
The traditional
Jewish calendar establishes the Feast Days on a calculated lunar
calendar but yet the weekly Sabbath is
based on a solar-Gregorian calendar.
The scriptures we examine will reveal
that the moon is a faithful witness to both
Yahuah's Feast Days and weekly Sabbaths.
Scripture commands use to observe
Abba's Sabbaths. It is written in
Exodus 31:16 (KJV),
"Wherefore
the children of Israel shall keep the
sabbath, to observe the sabbath
throughout their generations, for a
perpetual covenant."
There is a profound difference between
calculation and observation and we will
explore this concept at a deeper level
later in this study.
Our
Heavenly Father's weekly Sabbaths
are based on observing the sighting of the first
crescent moon. The moon has a seven day
cycle that corresponds to the 1st
quarter moon, full moon, 3rd quarter
moon and last crescent moon. Each cycle
is instrumental in a 7 day moon-based
week. Yahuah's Sabbaths are based on the
sighting of the first crescent moon,
just as the Feast Days are based on
the sighting of the first crescent moon.
From one Biblical month to the next,
year after year, the weekly Sabbath are
always on the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th
days of the Biblical month. The renewed
moon days otherwise known as "no moon"
days are the 29th and sometimes
the 30th days of the month. They are observed
as an extension of the 4th Sabbath of
the Biblical month, and symbolize the
coming 8th day or millennium.
This study is the result of revelation
knowledge that began during the season
of Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread
and Shavuot on Aviv
15-21 (April 10-16, 2001). In this
study, we will identify key passages of
scripture that prove the Biblical months
are exclusively lunar based, plus
exciting revelation and discoveries will
be presented about this topic. Passages that
are explicit, implied and symbolic will be examined.
The names and number of the Biblical months in scripture
will be identified.
This is one revelation that rings true
of what is written in
Matthew 16:17,
"Blessed
are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and
blood has not revealed this to you, but
My Father who is in heaven."
As the mystery unfolded when Yeshua was
revealed to Simon-Peter as the Son of
God, so it is today, the true Sabbaths,
is being revealed in the same manner
before Messiah's Second Coming.
 It
is no coincidence that the fourth
word of the Torah, is the Alef-Tav, the
first and last letters of the 22
letter Hebrew Alphabet. This word,
which is not translated into English, is
also known as the "Word" and symbolizes
Yeshua. It is what John was
speaking about when he wrote in
John 1:1 (KJV),
"In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God,"
and in
John 1:14 (KJV),
"And
the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among
us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father,)
full of grace and truth."
Yeshua, the fourth word, is the embodiment of the Sabbath.
Are you now beginning to see a level of
Remez, Drash and Sod in the scriptures?
As we proceed, pay special attention to
the numbers 4, 10, 11, 14, 22, 29 and the
theme of the passages they are
associated with.
Pray and seek direct guidance from our
Everlasting Father, Yeshua HaMashiach of
Nazareth, as you endeavor to seek out
greater obedience to Him. It is
important to keep in mind a very
important and critical principle in
scripture - our Heavenly Father reveals
truth (Torah) to the extent we are
willing to follow it.
Yakov Levi |
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