Have you ever wondered what the Jewish holidays are all about? 00:00:01.40\00:00:04.11 And what can we learn from them? 00:00:04.31\00:00:06.16 Come sit with us and find out. 00:00:06.46\00:00:08.45 I am Pastor Alex Schlussler of Plantation SDA Church. 00:00:33.16\00:00:36.98 And I'm Rachel Hyman, minister of music. 00:00:37.18\00:00:39.39 And we're so happy that you've joined us today. 00:00:39.59\00:00:41.72 Today our program is a very special one, Rachel. 00:00:41.92\00:00:44.86 Today we are going to be talking: are the Jewish holidays 00:00:45.06\00:00:48.39 really Jewish? Sounds interesting. 00:00:48.59\00:00:51.28 It is. You know, we want to get into what are the Jewish 00:00:51.48\00:00:55.85 holidays as most people call them. 00:00:55.95\00:00:58.21 What are they all about? And I want to start off 00:00:58.42\00:01:01.08 right away by saying that this idea that these holidays 00:01:01.28\00:01:05.64 that we find in Leviticus 23 are the Jewish holidays 00:01:05.84\00:01:08.60 is not what the Bible says. 00:01:08.80\00:01:11.18 In fact, Rachel, what the Bible says is these are the feasts 00:01:11.28\00:01:14.14 of the Lord. Now right at the beginning... right up front 00:01:14.25\00:01:18.21 I want to make it very clear that this program today 00:01:18.42\00:01:21.42 in no way we will be promoting that you must keep 00:01:21.55\00:01:25.25 the feast unto salvation. No way. OK? 00:01:25.45\00:01:28.73 We want to show you that how by understanding 00:01:28.93\00:01:32.59 the Levitical feasts... these feasts found not just in 00:01:32.79\00:01:35.74 Leviticus but in other portions of the Old Testament 00:01:35.84\00:01:38.84 and actually appearing even in the New Testament... 00:01:39.04\00:01:41.44 that they will enhance your experience as you seek 00:01:41.64\00:01:45.35 to follow Jesus. Rachel, what... Growing up 00:01:45.45\00:01:49.66 as a young Jewish girl in California 00:01:49.86\00:01:52.18 what were your experiences with the feasts? 00:01:52.38\00:01:55.37 Well I have a lot of nice memories and remember 00:01:55.67\00:01:58.08 a big long table of a ton of Jewish food 00:01:58.28\00:02:00.82 and family and lot of tradition. 00:02:01.02\00:02:03.11 My family wasn't particularly religious. 00:02:05.13\00:02:07.23 We were more secular Jews so it was more of a traditional 00:02:07.43\00:02:09.73 experience rather than really the inclusion of God. 00:02:09.83\00:02:13.51 But yeah, they were nice experiences. 00:02:14.84\00:02:17.39 Yeah. For me I guess my strongest memories 00:02:17.59\00:02:21.34 would have been around Passover time 00:02:21.54\00:02:24.10 which is I'm sure what you're talking about. 00:02:24.30\00:02:25.80 It was almost for the Jew whether you were secular 00:02:26.10\00:02:29.81 and someone who doesn't really follow the religious customs 00:02:29.91\00:02:32.44 but we are culturally Jewish and that compels us 00:02:32.64\00:02:37.48 that around Passover we're going to have this big event. 00:02:37.68\00:02:40.28 And typically for me, that was at my grandparent's house. 00:02:40.49\00:02:43.27 And previously I have mentioned how I remember a huge table 00:02:43.47\00:02:49.46 and all the relatives - aunts and uncles and cousins 00:02:49.66\00:02:51.78 and everyone - and of course the matzo ball soup. 00:02:51.98\00:02:53.62 You can't forget the matzo ball soup! 00:02:53.72\00:02:55.45 Yes... all the food. And remembering, you know, 00:02:55.66\00:02:58.69 my mom and aunts and everyone - all the women - in the kitchen 00:02:58.79\00:03:02.49 cooking and all the men out talking... which just was 00:03:02.59\00:03:05.78 the way it was. And then it taking like an hour and a half 00:03:05.88\00:03:07.72 to finally eat because the liturgical readings 00:03:07.83\00:03:10.00 take forever. Reading through the Passover book, you know. 00:03:10.10\00:03:13.62 And the big question for all the kids is: "Is it time to eat yet? 00:03:13.82\00:03:16.87 Come on. " Totally. When I was young 00:03:16.97\00:03:19.23 we did go to the temple for what's known as the High 00:03:19.43\00:03:23.68 Holidays. From a Jewish perspective it's 00:03:23.78\00:03:27.72 Rosh Hashanah but from a Biblical perspective... 00:03:27.92\00:03:30.00 Rosh Hashanah by the way means head of the year... 00:03:30.10\00:03:32.37 but as we're going to find out when we get into this 00:03:32.57\00:03:34.90 in just a little bit the Biblical correct term 00:03:35.00\00:03:39.03 is Yom HaShoah or the day of blowing. 00:03:39.23\00:03:42.15 Hmmm. And then of course that leads to Yom Kippur 00:03:42.35\00:03:44.92 which most people in some way are familiar with that. 00:03:45.02\00:03:46.88 Day of Atonement. I remember having to go 00:03:47.08\00:03:49.95 to the synagogue and spending almost all day there. 00:03:50.15\00:03:53.42 Dressing in a special way. 00:03:53.62\00:03:55.94 That we weren't allowed to wear anything leather. 00:03:56.14\00:03:59.22 Interesting. And you know just all these religious customs 00:03:59.52\00:04:02.85 because the idea behind Yom Kippur was to afflict yourself. 00:04:02.95\00:04:05.44 So - right - you know there were certain things that we did. 00:04:05.64\00:04:07.87 But you know I have to tell you that Rachel, 00:04:08.07\00:04:11.01 becoming a believer, finding Jesus, 00:04:11.31\00:04:14.42 finding Yeshua as my Messiah 00:04:14.62\00:04:16.30 turned around how I began to understand and see 00:04:16.34\00:04:20.53 how beautiful these feasts really are. 00:04:20.73\00:04:24.35 And you know, when we think about this idea of... 00:04:25.31\00:04:29.62 You hear people saying: "Do you keep the feasts? " 00:04:29.76\00:04:31.79 and what the implication of that is 00:04:31.99\00:04:34.58 you know the truth of it is is that even if we wanted to 00:04:34.78\00:04:39.22 we couldn't keep the feasts as they're described in the Bible. 00:04:39.35\00:04:43.44 because - of course - there's no sacrificial system any more. 00:04:43.54\00:04:46.30 Right. Are we going to start running around killing cows 00:04:46.50\00:04:49.02 and slaughtering sheep? I mean it's just not possible. 00:04:49.22\00:04:52.98 Right. So we can't keep the feasts 00:04:53.18\00:04:57.21 even if we wanted to. 00:04:57.34\00:04:58.71 But we certainly can celebrate them. 00:04:58.83\00:05:02.08 And you know, there's a Hebrew word zikaron... to remember. 00:05:02.28\00:05:05.93 And that's really what God says about these feasts. 00:05:06.13\00:05:09.01 That they are to be a remembrance for you 00:05:09.11\00:05:12.07 and for your families and for your children 00:05:12.27\00:05:14.46 throughout all your days. And that in the context 00:05:14.66\00:05:17.42 of understanding what God is doing 00:05:17.62\00:05:20.45 is a really, really beautiful thing. 00:05:20.75\00:05:23.36 So was it a religious experience for you growing up 00:05:23.96\00:05:26.83 when your Jewish family was keeping the feast? 00:05:27.03\00:05:29.18 Or was it more like a traditional-type thing? 00:05:29.39\00:05:32.50 You know, I don't think... Because again, I was young. 00:05:32.60\00:05:35.99 By the time I got older my family had kind of moved 00:05:36.12\00:05:38.69 away from the practice of it. And I think it was 00:05:38.79\00:05:42.31 as my grandparents passed away I think it was them, 00:05:42.51\00:05:46.08 their influence, that kept the family doing these things 00:05:46.28\00:05:50.36 and once they passed away we kind of pulled away. 00:05:50.56\00:05:53.36 My memories? I don't know that I could say 00:05:53.56\00:05:57.78 I remember it as a religious experience. 00:05:57.98\00:06:00.43 That it was more family getting together. Right. 00:06:00.57\00:06:03.15 And yeah, I remember my grand- father reading from the book 00:06:03.28\00:06:05.64 on Passover. And I do remember going to the synagogue 00:06:05.84\00:06:08.93 when I was younger. But it wasn't ingrained in me 00:06:09.13\00:06:12.65 that way. Yeah. I'm curious how coming to Jesus 00:06:12.85\00:06:15.77 changed that experience for you. 00:06:16.27\00:06:18.48 Well, as we're going to see as we unfold more in this 00:06:18.58\00:06:22.00 program, it really became understanding what the true 00:06:22.10\00:06:27.76 significance for us as believers... what the 00:06:27.86\00:06:32.06 significance of these feasts really are. 00:06:32.16\00:06:33.89 So before we go much deeper 00:06:34.09\00:06:36.71 I would like to bring out 00:06:37.11\00:06:38.80 our good friend Alexander Bolotnikov. 00:06:39.00\00:06:41.13 He is as we say our resident theologian. 00:06:41.23\00:06:43.67 He adds just tons and tons to the discussion. 00:06:43.77\00:06:46.56 We call him Sasha. Sasha, why don't you come out and join us? 00:06:46.76\00:06:49.57 Our Russian bro... Yeah. 00:06:49.97\00:06:53.51 I'm glad to be with you again. Thank you, Sasha. 00:06:53.71\00:06:56.58 It's great to see you again. Brother, it's such a pleasure 00:06:56.68\00:06:59.86 to have you with us. You always add such a depth 00:06:59.96\00:07:02.24 to our conversation. Sasha, today we're talking about 00:07:02.44\00:07:06.67 Are the Jewish holidays really Jewish? 00:07:06.88\00:07:09.24 And you know, my perspective is no! 00:07:09.44\00:07:12.58 They really aren't. These are - as Leviticus 23 says - 00:07:12.78\00:07:16.53 it says these are the festivals of the Lord. The Lord! 00:07:16.73\00:07:18.96 So we want to get into talking about these festivals. 00:07:19.16\00:07:23.06 OK. And I want to start off because they run in order 00:07:23.26\00:07:26.56 starting from what we know as the spring festivals. 00:07:26.76\00:07:29.39 And of course the first one is Passover. 00:07:29.59\00:07:32.61 If you were Jewish, it would be pesach. 00:07:33.92\00:07:35.97 And I'm going to go through... We have Passover 00:07:36.17\00:07:40.17 and then following that is firstfruits, 00:07:40.37\00:07:43.00 and then following that is what's known as Shavuot... 00:07:43.20\00:07:46.65 and you may know that as Pentecost. 00:07:46.75\00:07:48.12 And those are known as the spring festivals. 00:07:48.15\00:07:50.57 So let me back and just talk a little bit... 00:07:50.77\00:07:52.48 and Shasha, when you want to interject something of course 00:07:52.58\00:07:55.50 don't hesitate. The spring festivals beginning 00:07:55.70\00:07:59.44 with Passover. First of all all of the festivals 00:07:59.54\00:08:04.11 have this agricultural component. 00:08:04.21\00:08:07.46 They have a historic component. 00:08:07.66\00:08:10.11 They have a literal component 00:08:10.31\00:08:15.10 and they also have a prophetic component. 00:08:15.30\00:08:17.38 Right? There is the prophecy and there is what's called 00:08:17.58\00:08:20.80 by theologians the antitypical fulfillment of it 00:08:20.91\00:08:24.36 in the New Testament. Exactly. 00:08:24.46\00:08:26.22 So let me talk just a little bit about the Passover. 00:08:26.42\00:08:29.11 So without opening the whole story, you know this comes 00:08:29.31\00:08:33.59 at the tail end of the Exodus. 00:08:33.69\00:08:35.06 And the reason it's called Passover is because God has 00:08:35.23\00:08:38.19 instructed the Hebrews on this last plague 00:08:38.29\00:08:40.96 which was going to be the killing of the firstborn 00:08:41.16\00:08:42.78 to... with very specific instructions to bring a lamb 00:08:42.98\00:08:46.78 for each family. That they were to watch this lamb. 00:08:46.98\00:08:49.32 This was to happen on the 14th of Nissan 00:08:49.52\00:08:51.64 that they would slaughter the lambs. 00:08:51.84\00:08:53.87 So three days prior to that they would bring them in 00:08:54.08\00:08:56.83 and they would watch them because God said they had to be 00:08:57.03\00:08:59.61 perfect, right? They had to be unblemished, no marks. 00:08:59.71\00:09:02.36 So for three days this little lamb... which by the way, 00:09:02.39\00:09:05.99 I don't know how many of you have actually seen - physically 00:09:06.10\00:09:08.95 seen - a lamb, not pictures. 00:09:09.05\00:09:10.72 I once had the opportunity to... People in those years 00:09:10.92\00:09:14.23 in this region people didn't have dogs or cats as pets. 00:09:14.43\00:09:17.88 The little lambs or little goats were pets. 00:09:18.02\00:09:21.18 Let me tell you something: I saw a little lamb 00:09:21.28\00:09:24.02 following this lady. And I'm telling you, this was 00:09:24.12\00:09:26.93 like one of the cutest things I've ever seen in my life. 00:09:27.03\00:09:28.98 And right away my mind jumped to "Lord have mercy. 00:09:29.19\00:09:33.76 What a picture You were painting. " 00:09:33.96\00:09:35.70 When these families had to bring this little lamb 00:09:35.91\00:09:38.52 into their family and for three days... Can you imagine 00:09:38.72\00:09:40.97 how the kids would have bonded with this little lamb? 00:09:41.17\00:09:43.48 Like killing your dog. And then on that last... on the 14th 00:09:43.58\00:09:47.23 all of a sudden God commands them. They have to 00:09:47.43\00:09:50.73 take them out and slaughter it. 00:09:50.83\00:09:52.54 And the kids would have watched and seen this little lamb die. 00:09:52.74\00:09:55.50 And then the blood would have been painted on the doorpost 00:09:55.64\00:09:58.63 of the house. 'Cause God said: "This is the marking 00:09:58.83\00:10:01.20 so that when the angel of death would pass over. 00:10:01.40\00:10:04.17 And that's where the term to pass over... to go by them. 00:10:04.37\00:10:07.26 And the great idea about this is if you don't 00:10:07.36\00:10:12.95 slaughter the lamb your firstborn will die. 00:10:13.05\00:10:16.44 So you choose who you want to die: 00:10:16.65\00:10:19.27 either the lamb or the firstborn. 00:10:19.47\00:10:21.64 And that's the great lesson long, long before Calvary. 00:10:21.84\00:10:25.80 That's a great lesson about the substitutionary sacrifice. 00:10:26.00\00:10:29.65 Wow! Interesting. So then we move way forward 00:10:29.85\00:10:34.08 in time and we move to the story of Jesus. 00:10:34.19\00:10:37.75 And it's typically called the Triumphal Entry 00:10:37.95\00:10:40.15 when Jesus comes into Jerusalem those last days 00:10:40.35\00:10:46.03 before He's going to go to the cross. 00:10:46.23\00:10:47.68 He returns back and the people are crying out "Hosanna 00:10:47.88\00:10:51.20 or Hosiana... save us now. " 00:10:51.30\00:10:53.33 And they're believing the Messiah is coming. 00:10:53.53\00:10:56.81 And Jesus then spends three days 00:10:57.01\00:11:01.18 where we see the Pharisees and the leaders are questioning Him. 00:11:01.38\00:11:06.27 And you have to picture the lamb being looked at, 00:11:06.47\00:11:10.65 being judged. Are you spotless? Are you perfect? 00:11:10.76\00:11:13.05 This is what's happening... even though the people don't 00:11:13.25\00:11:15.51 realize. And even in the temple times 00:11:15.61\00:11:18.88 people basically stopped bringing their own animals 00:11:19.08\00:11:22.95 into the temple just because the inspection was so so rigid 00:11:23.15\00:11:27.76 that, you know, no animal... no animal from private household 00:11:27.96\00:11:33.01 could even think being passed through this. 00:11:33.21\00:11:36.10 So it had to literally be perfect. 00:11:36.20\00:11:38.03 So here are the religious leaders and the people 00:11:38.23\00:11:41.02 accusing Him of all kinds of things. And we see Jesus 00:11:41.22\00:11:43.95 responding in such a way that He is being found perfect 00:11:44.15\00:11:47.25 all the way. And then of course we follow the story 00:11:47.45\00:11:52.20 and we know He ends up on the cross. Um-hmm. 00:11:52.40\00:11:55.08 And at that point I believe that 00:11:55.18\00:11:59.88 this is exactly the time when the lambs are being slaughtered 00:12:00.08\00:12:03.97 that our Savior is hung on the cross and is dying. 00:12:04.17\00:12:08.01 Yeah, exactly; exactly. The Passover sacrifice 00:12:08.04\00:12:11.74 was actually performed by the evening 00:12:11.94\00:12:15.79 at the end of Nissan 14, and that's when this happened. 00:12:15.99\00:12:20.26 And Jesus died and you know... 00:12:20.46\00:12:23.65 Right. And we know that the timing is perfect 00:12:23.85\00:12:25.90 because He surrenders His life because He says: 00:12:26.10\00:12:28.99 "No man takes My life. " 00:12:29.09\00:12:30.46 Nobody killed Him. He released His spirit to God. 00:12:30.65\00:12:33.43 He completed His task. And He dies, and the scripture 00:12:33.64\00:12:38.94 tells us that He is removed from the cross before 00:12:39.04\00:12:41.77 the Sabbath begins. 00:12:41.97\00:12:44.14 And then He is carried and He's placed into a tomb. 00:12:44.34\00:12:46.66 And then we move to the next of the feasts which is called 00:12:46.86\00:12:50.19 firstfruits. And the scripture even says that Jesus... He rose 00:12:50.29\00:12:54.23 on that morning. And He is as the scripture calls Him 00:12:54.33\00:12:58.61 "the firstfruits of the new resurrection" 00:12:58.81\00:13:00.75 again fulfilling this idea of firstfruits. 00:13:01.05\00:13:04.65 Becoming the new Adam... 00:13:04.85\00:13:08.41 which to me has always been an amazing concept. 00:13:08.61\00:13:11.52 That you know, when we look back all the way to the garden 00:13:11.72\00:13:15.24 and we look back to Adam and Eve... to the fall... 00:13:15.45\00:13:18.64 this fellowship is broken with God. 00:13:18.84\00:13:21.58 And from that point until the point that Jesus is resurrected 00:13:21.78\00:13:26.29 It wasn't upon His death but it was upon His resurrection 00:13:26.49\00:13:29.72 now that all who believe in Him, all those who are born again 00:13:29.92\00:13:33.70 receive this new spirit and literally - scripture says - 00:13:33.91\00:13:36.36 we are "a new creation. " 00:13:36.46\00:13:37.83 We're a different species - as it were - of human being. 00:13:38.03\00:13:41.68 And then we're counting... from Passover we're counting 50 days 00:13:41.88\00:13:46.89 which is why it's called Pentecost 00:13:47.09\00:13:48.85 which in Greek is fifty and the Hebrew is Shavuot 00:13:49.05\00:13:52.30 which also within the Hebrew culture Shavuot happens to be 00:13:52.50\00:13:57.07 a memorial or the anniversary of the giving of the Torah. 00:13:57.28\00:14:03.08 The giving of God's law happens on that same day. 00:14:03.28\00:14:06.40 Exactly. According to Exodus 19 we have a count of the days. 00:14:06.60\00:14:11.45 And the people of Israel approached Mt. Sinai 00:14:11.65\00:14:16.42 and Moses went up and exactly on the 50th day 00:14:16.62\00:14:20.60 The Lord has spoken His Ten Commandments 00:14:20.80\00:14:25.26 with His own voice... the unique experience. 00:14:25.46\00:14:28.81 Now again, you've got to put this in context. 00:14:29.01\00:14:31.81 How amazing this is that on the day - the anniversary - 00:14:32.01\00:14:35.85 of God giving His Ten Commandments, His law, 00:14:36.05\00:14:38.81 to the people - on that very day He fulfills the prophecy 00:14:39.02\00:14:42.57 that "I will take what was written in stone 00:14:42.87\00:14:46.62 and I will write it upon your hearts. " 00:14:46.65\00:14:48.63 And God pours out the Holy Spirit on that day. 00:14:48.83\00:14:52.48 We know it as Pentecost. Right. Shavuot. 00:14:52.68\00:14:54.95 The outpouring of the Spirit. Right. Amazing! 00:14:55.16\00:14:58.50 So as we're going through this we want you to begin to 00:14:58.70\00:15:01.06 understand how this timetable that God has placed out 00:15:01.16\00:15:05.41 and how every year we cycle through these feasts 00:15:05.61\00:15:09.19 and we remember. God has said "remember. " 00:15:09.39\00:15:11.61 We remember the Passover lamb. 00:15:11.81\00:15:13.64 We remember that Jesus is the firstfruits of the resurrection. 00:15:13.84\00:15:16.93 We remember how God fulfilled His promise. 00:15:17.13\00:15:20.24 Not just that there would be law in stone 00:15:20.64\00:15:23.12 but now the law would be poured into our hearts. 00:15:23.32\00:15:25.91 And now we have this period of six months that it goes quiet 00:15:26.11\00:15:30.66 so to speak and then we pick it up with what we know as... 00:15:30.86\00:15:34.37 as the fall festival. 00:15:34.47\00:15:35.84 And I'm going to throw this one over to Sasha 00:15:35.88\00:15:37.42 and let's continue. Talk to us, Sasha, about the fall feasts. 00:15:37.62\00:15:41.26 Which I know it begins with... as I said at the beginning 00:15:41.40\00:15:44.04 of the show... with Yom HaShoah 00:15:44.14\00:15:46.11 which is literally called the day of blowing. 00:15:46.31\00:15:48.68 Yeah, the first day of the seventh month 00:15:48.89\00:15:51.47 yes - the month of Tishri - 00:15:51.67\00:15:54.78 starts with the blowing of the trumpet. 00:15:54.98\00:15:59.51 And this day of the trumpet blast 00:15:59.71\00:16:02.50 begins a 10-day period 00:16:02.70\00:16:06.34 of repentance. Now that's known within Judaism as 00:16:06.54\00:16:10.79 the Days of Awe. Yeah, the Days of Awe. 00:16:10.99\00:16:13.25 And even up to these days all the orthodox Jews 00:16:13.45\00:16:17.79 every day they go to the synagogue 00:16:17.99\00:16:20.37 and they have a special service which is called Selichot 00:16:20.57\00:16:24.32 where they pray for forgiveness. 00:16:24.52\00:16:26.61 And we will be talking on our programs about the sin and 00:16:26.91\00:16:30.92 repentance. These are the days in Jewish communities today 00:16:31.02\00:16:36.09 where they remember and they want to remove their sins. 00:16:36.29\00:16:41.18 And so the culmination of this 10-day period 00:16:41.38\00:16:44.67 is during the Day of Atonement. 00:16:44.87\00:16:48.55 And that's known as Yom Kippur. 00:16:48.75\00:16:50.89 Yes. And it is very well known in the book of Leviticus... 00:16:51.09\00:16:56.43 In fact, the ritual of the Day of Atonement 00:16:56.54\00:17:00.21 it's right in the middle of the entire Torah. 00:17:00.41\00:17:03.29 So it's like a central piece of the entire Levitical system. 00:17:03.60\00:17:09.47 It's like it's right in the middle of the book of Leviticus. 00:17:09.67\00:17:12.42 Right in the middle of all five books of Moses. 00:17:12.62\00:17:14.98 Everything is centered on the Day of Atonement. 00:17:15.18\00:17:20.22 Everything points to atonement and to what that means. 00:17:20.42\00:17:22.45 Yeah, and what happens on this day: 00:17:22.65\00:17:26.22 that's the only day when the high priest would enter into the 00:17:26.32\00:17:29.24 Most Holy. Right; exactly. 00:17:29.34\00:17:31.33 And he enters with the blood... 00:17:31.43\00:17:33.47 Eventually he enters with the blood of the final sin offering. 00:17:33.68\00:17:38.24 Yeah. And this blood is sprinkled 00:17:38.45\00:17:43.59 upon what is known in English as the mercy seat. 00:17:43.79\00:17:47.60 But it is interesting that the day is called 00:17:47.63\00:17:53.57 the Yom HaKippurim - day of the covering. 00:17:53.67\00:17:56.90 Kippurim is not the covering. It's actually Kippur 00:17:57.10\00:18:00.92 is the removal of sins because what happens is 00:18:01.12\00:18:04.60 all these days of the year the priests would basically 00:18:04.80\00:18:10.09 take upon themselves the sins of the people. Yeah. 00:18:10.29\00:18:12.78 And now the high priest removes it from the priest, 00:18:12.89\00:18:16.67 takes them to the Most Holy place, 00:18:16.87\00:18:19.39 and then eventually makes his way back 00:18:19.59\00:18:21.81 unto the goat... which is then sent to the desert. 00:18:22.01\00:18:27.28 And this signifies the elimination of sin. 00:18:27.68\00:18:33.04 Removal from the camp. Exactly! Exactly. 00:18:33.24\00:18:37.65 And so we have this beginning with Passover. 00:18:37.85\00:18:41.38 On the Passover we have redemption from sin. 00:18:41.58\00:18:46.66 And Yom Kippur is the culmination of this plan of 00:18:46.86\00:18:51.84 redemption which culminates 00:18:51.94\00:18:54.90 in complete elimination of sin. 00:18:55.10\00:18:58.31 And so then we have an interesting tradition - 00:18:58.51\00:19:03.73 Jewish tradition - mentioned in the epistles 00:19:03.93\00:19:07.90 to the Thessalonians: the final trumpet blast. 00:19:08.00\00:19:12.30 You don't have it in the Bible but Paul talks about this. 00:19:12.50\00:19:15.47 And that tradition exists even today that in synagogues 00:19:15.67\00:19:19.39 when Yom Kippur has been completed and it's all done, 00:19:19.59\00:19:22.86 the final prayers are chanted, there is a great... 00:19:23.06\00:19:25.83 it's called the great blast of the shofar, correct? 00:19:26.03\00:19:28.89 Yeah; yeah. The ram's horn. 00:19:29.00\00:19:30.67 Yeah. When it blasts it signifies - it heralds - 00:19:30.81\00:19:35.89 the coming of the Messiah. 00:19:35.99\00:19:37.77 And what we have after that... 00:19:37.97\00:19:40.76 And in fact we have after that the Feast of Tabernacles, 00:19:41.16\00:19:47.00 the Sukkot. Right. And again, this feast initiates 00:19:47.10\00:19:51.25 from the remembrance of wanderings in the desert. 00:19:51.45\00:19:55.51 But in reality it shows 00:19:55.71\00:19:58.46 our fellowship with God. Right; right. 00:19:58.67\00:20:04.35 It is interesting that the last chapter of the Bible - 00:20:04.49\00:20:08.34 book of Revelation chapters 21 and 22- 00:20:08.54\00:20:12.07 it speaks about the New Jerusalem as a tabernacle, 00:20:12.27\00:20:17.73 as a Sukkot, where God would dwell with His people. 00:20:17.93\00:20:22.30 Right. Now that Hebrew word Sukkot - to tabernacle 00:20:22.50\00:20:26.84 or to dwell - that was part of the Messianic expectation 00:20:27.04\00:20:30.45 even from the Jewish perspective 00:20:30.65\00:20:32.62 that this is what's going to happen: that we will 00:20:32.82\00:20:34.67 dwell - we will Sukkot - with Him, right? 00:20:34.87\00:20:36.99 Yeah, that's the new beginning. 00:20:37.19\00:20:41.20 That's the new earth; new heaven; 00:20:41.33\00:20:44.48 the full elimination of evil and sin. Right. 00:20:44.58\00:20:47.34 So that in some ways maybe can help. 00:20:47.54\00:20:50.34 One of the passages that I know some people are confused 00:20:50.55\00:20:53.73 exactly why it happens and this is called the Mountain 00:20:53.93\00:20:57.15 of Transfiguration. Um-hmm. Right when Jesus was on the 00:20:57.25\00:21:00.34 mountain and Peter and the other apostles are together there. 00:21:00.44\00:21:04.57 Have been with Jesus... His closest apostles. 00:21:04.77\00:21:08.00 And they see Jesus on the mountain and the glory of God 00:21:08.20\00:21:11.45 begins to break out through Him. 00:21:11.65\00:21:13.87 And there is Elijah and Moses standing there with Him. 00:21:14.07\00:21:17.83 And Peter's response is: "Should I build Sukkot? " 00:21:18.04\00:21:22.12 "Should I build little tabernacles? " 00:21:22.22\00:21:24.18 Because wasn't it that they were seeing and thinking 00:21:24.49\00:21:27.55 that the Messianic era is coming, it's happening. 00:21:27.75\00:21:31.11 Was that correct that that was their response? 00:21:31.21\00:21:33.02 Yeah, yeah... that's what they wanted. 00:21:33.12\00:21:34.49 OK, let's get it over with. We're fine up on this mountain. 00:21:34.52\00:21:38.25 Just leave us there. Jesus said: "Not yet. " 00:21:38.45\00:21:42.54 And you know, in the New Testament Paul says Christ 00:21:42.74\00:21:45.35 is our Passover. Would you say it would therefore be 00:21:45.45\00:21:49.11 offensive or wrong for Christians to participate 00:21:49.21\00:21:51.76 in the Passover feast or to keep - or to celebrate - 00:21:51.86\00:21:55.77 or to celebrate - exactly - to celebrate these feasts? 00:21:55.87\00:21:58.07 And if it's not wrong, what could we learn from them? 00:21:58.18\00:22:00.51 How could we benefit from celebrating them? 00:22:00.72\00:22:02.93 It is interesting that when we talk about Paul's words 00:22:03.03\00:22:06.69 "Christ is our Passover" 00:22:06.89\00:22:08.38 Paul talks about the Passover lamb... 00:22:08.58\00:22:12.17 not exactly the whole celebration of the Passover. 00:22:12.37\00:22:16.61 Because there is a ritual part 00:22:16.71\00:22:18.46 which is done at the temple. But as Alex mentioned 00:22:18.66\00:22:22.44 there is a remembrance part - hmmm - which is recorded 00:22:22.65\00:22:25.57 in the Bible. And the remembrance part is necessary 00:22:25.67\00:22:30.59 because these are the signposts of the plan of redemption. 00:22:30.69\00:22:35.83 Without full proper understanding 00:22:36.03\00:22:39.39 of these rituals... how they were done in the temple 00:22:39.49\00:22:43.70 and what they signify, we cannot have a full appreciation 00:22:43.90\00:22:48.73 of the redemption as it's described in the New Testament 00:22:48.93\00:22:53.10 because it's based on them. Exactly. And this whole idea 00:22:53.20\00:22:57.46 of God's signposts of redemption... 00:22:57.66\00:22:59.73 You know, there's a lot of discussion about what should we 00:22:59.93\00:23:02.96 as believers, as Christians... 00:23:03.16\00:23:04.70 what in fact should we celebrate? 00:23:04.80\00:23:07.14 What's right to celebrate? What isn't right to celebrate? 00:23:07.34\00:23:09.91 And I want to suggest that as we've said that thinking of 00:23:10.11\00:23:15.39 these feasts as God's signposts 00:23:15.59\00:23:18.45 is somewhat like if you're driving on the expressway 00:23:18.65\00:23:22.06 and you've never been to this place, 00:23:22.26\00:23:23.77 imagine if all of a sudden they removed all of the 00:23:23.87\00:23:26.82 expressway signs. And someone told you: "You need to get off 00:23:26.92\00:23:29.82 on such and such a road" if there wasn't signs 00:23:29.92\00:23:32.51 how would you know even where to get off? 00:23:32.61\00:23:34.27 You would be lost. 00:23:34.37\00:23:35.74 You wouldn't know what was the correct direction. 00:23:35.77\00:23:37.89 And I just want to propose that one of the things that 00:23:38.10\00:23:40.94 God has done through these feasts is that He has placed 00:23:41.04\00:23:44.92 these markers through history 00:23:45.02\00:23:47.99 for us to be able to look back and go: 00:23:48.19\00:23:50.09 "This is My plan... this is the way. " 00:23:50.29\00:23:52.95 And learn from this. Exactly. 00:23:53.05\00:23:54.90 That's the educational experience. And learn from it. 00:23:55.00\00:23:57.24 That's what's significant for every Christian. 00:23:57.44\00:24:01.02 Exactly. And you know, and that's the reason why 00:24:01.22\00:24:04.19 to celebrate them. And it's not to go back and look 00:24:04.29\00:24:08.40 at a religious perspective - 00:24:08.50\00:24:10.85 you know - it's to see God's perspective. 00:24:11.05\00:24:13.15 That's right. So Alex, I hear you've got a song for us today. 00:24:13.35\00:24:15.60 What are you singing? I do. I'm actually singing 00:24:15.70\00:24:17.37 a little melody of Kai Adonai and Key Mession. 00:24:17.47\00:24:20.90 Sasha, why don't you tell us a little bit about it 00:24:21.10\00:24:22.54 while I get ready, OK? 00:24:22.64\00:24:24.14 Key Mession Tet Se Torah. 00:24:24.35\00:24:26.15 This is taken from the book of Isaiah. 00:24:26.25\00:24:28.85 We talked about this verse. "For from Zion 00:24:29.05\00:24:32.71 the Torah shall come. " 00:24:32.91\00:24:35.17 This shows God's plan of salvation - 00:24:35.37\00:24:38.88 you know - for it's the source of our law. 00:24:39.08\00:24:42.35 Awesome. Amen. 00:24:42.55\00:24:45.19 Amen. A beautiful happy song about God's law. 00:27:10.65\00:27:13.49 Right, and rejoicing! That's what it's all about. 00:27:13.59\00:27:16.03 Right. Praising God and rejoicing in His Torah. 00:27:16.16\00:27:18.98 So Rachel, what a great program today. 00:27:19.29\00:27:21.64 And friends, I really pray that there was no confusion here. 00:27:21.94\00:27:27.08 That this is all about rejoicing in what God has said. 00:27:27.21\00:27:31.24 And as we said His signposts to show His plan of redemption. 00:27:31.44\00:27:35.15 So on behalf of myself, Rachel, and Sasha 00:27:35.35\00:27:39.28 I want to say to you: May the Lord bless you 00:27:39.48\00:27:41.19 and may He keep you. 00:27:41.30\00:27:42.67 May the Lord make His face to shine upon you 00:27:42.70\00:27:45.16 and be gracious to you. 00:27:45.26\00:27:46.63 May the Lord lift His countenance upon you 00:27:46.66\00:27:49.45 and bring you His peace. God bless you. 00:27:49.65\00:27:52.48 And join us again next time on Back To Our Roots. 00:27:52.68\00:27:56.42 Shalom and goodbye. 00:27:56.53\00:27:58.83