Participants: Alex Schlussler (Host), Rachel Hyman (Host), Sasha Bolotnikov
Series Code: BTOR
Program Code: BTOR000009
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00:01 Have you ever wondered what the Jewish holidays are all about?
00:04 And what can we learn from them? 00:06 Come sit with us and find out. 00:33 I am Pastor Alex Schlussler of Plantation SDA Church. 00:37 And I'm Rachel Hyman, minister of music. 00:39 And we're so happy that you've joined us today. 00:41 Today our program is a very special one, Rachel. 00:45 Today we are going to be talking: are the Jewish holidays 00:48 really Jewish? Sounds interesting. 00:51 It is. You know, we want to get into what are the Jewish 00:55 holidays as most people call them. 00:58 What are they all about? And I want to start off 01:01 right away by saying that this idea that these holidays 01:05 that we find in Leviticus 23 are the Jewish holidays 01:08 is not what the Bible says. 01:11 In fact, Rachel, what the Bible says is these are the feasts 01:14 of the Lord. Now right at the beginning... right up front 01:18 I want to make it very clear that this program today 01:21 in no way we will be promoting that you must keep 01:25 the feast unto salvation. No way. OK? 01:28 We want to show you that how by understanding 01:32 the Levitical feasts... these feasts found not just in 01:35 Leviticus but in other portions of the Old Testament 01:39 and actually appearing even in the New Testament... 01:41 that they will enhance your experience as you seek 01:45 to follow Jesus. Rachel, what... Growing up 01:49 as a young Jewish girl in California 01:52 what were your experiences with the feasts? 01:55 Well I have a lot of nice memories and remember 01:58 a big long table of a ton of Jewish food 02:01 and family and lot of tradition. 02:05 My family wasn't particularly religious. 02:07 We were more secular Jews so it was more of a traditional 02:09 experience rather than really the inclusion of God. 02:14 But yeah, they were nice experiences. 02:17 Yeah. For me I guess my strongest memories 02:21 would have been around Passover time 02:24 which is I'm sure what you're talking about. 02:26 It was almost for the Jew whether you were secular 02:29 and someone who doesn't really follow the religious customs 02:32 but we are culturally Jewish and that compels us 02:37 that around Passover we're going to have this big event. 02:40 And typically for me, that was at my grandparent's house. 02:43 And previously I have mentioned how I remember a huge table 02:49 and all the relatives - aunts and uncles and cousins 02:51 and everyone - and of course the matzo ball soup. 02:53 You can't forget the matzo ball soup! 02:55 Yes... all the food. And remembering, you know, 02:58 my mom and aunts and everyone - all the women - in the kitchen 03:02 cooking and all the men out talking... which just was 03:05 the way it was. And then it taking like an hour and a half 03:07 to finally eat because the liturgical readings 03:10 take forever. Reading through the Passover book, you know. 03:13 And the big question for all the kids is: "Is it time to eat yet? 03:16 Come on. " Totally. When I was young 03:19 we did go to the temple for what's known as the High 03:23 Holidays. From a Jewish perspective it's 03:27 Rosh Hashanah but from a Biblical perspective... 03:30 Rosh Hashanah by the way means head of the year... 03:32 but as we're going to find out when we get into this 03:35 in just a little bit the Biblical correct term 03:39 is Yom HaShoah or the day of blowing. 03:42 Hmmm. And then of course that leads to Yom Kippur 03:45 which most people in some way are familiar with that. 03:47 Day of Atonement. I remember having to go 03:50 to the synagogue and spending almost all day there. 03:53 Dressing in a special way. 03:56 That we weren't allowed to wear anything leather. 03:59 Interesting. And you know just all these religious customs 04:02 because the idea behind Yom Kippur was to afflict yourself. 04:05 So - right - you know there were certain things that we did. 04:08 But you know I have to tell you that Rachel, 04:11 becoming a believer, finding Jesus, 04:14 finding Yeshua as my Messiah 04:16 turned around how I began to understand and see 04:20 how beautiful these feasts really are. 04:25 And you know, when we think about this idea of... 04:29 You hear people saying: "Do you keep the feasts? " 04:31 and what the implication of that is 04:34 you know the truth of it is is that even if we wanted to 04:39 we couldn't keep the feasts as they're described in the Bible. 04:43 because - of course - there's no sacrificial system any more. 04:46 Right. Are we going to start running around killing cows 04:49 and slaughtering sheep? I mean it's just not possible. 04:53 Right. So we can't keep the feasts 04:57 even if we wanted to. 04:58 But we certainly can celebrate them. 05:02 And you know, there's a Hebrew word zikaron... to remember. 05:06 And that's really what God says about these feasts. 05:09 That they are to be a remembrance for you 05:12 and for your families and for your children 05:14 throughout all your days. And that in the context 05:17 of understanding what God is doing 05:20 is a really, really beautiful thing. 05:23 So was it a religious experience for you growing up 05:27 when your Jewish family was keeping the feast? 05:29 Or was it more like a traditional-type thing? 05:32 You know, I don't think... Because again, I was young. 05:36 By the time I got older my family had kind of moved 05:38 away from the practice of it. And I think it was 05:42 as my grandparents passed away I think it was them, 05:46 their influence, that kept the family doing these things 05:50 and once they passed away we kind of pulled away. 05:53 My memories? I don't know that I could say 05:57 I remember it as a religious experience. 06:00 That it was more family getting together. Right. 06:03 And yeah, I remember my grand- father reading from the book 06:05 on Passover. And I do remember going to the synagogue 06:09 when I was younger. But it wasn't ingrained in me 06:12 that way. Yeah. I'm curious how coming to Jesus 06:16 changed that experience for you. 06:18 Well, as we're going to see as we unfold more in this 06:22 program, it really became understanding what the true 06:27 significance for us as believers... what the 06:32 significance of these feasts really are. 06:34 So before we go much deeper 06:37 I would like to bring out 06:39 our good friend Alexander Bolotnikov. 06:41 He is as we say our resident theologian. 06:43 He adds just tons and tons to the discussion. 06:46 We call him Sasha. Sasha, why don't you come out and join us? 06:49 Our Russian bro... Yeah. 06:53 I'm glad to be with you again. Thank you, Sasha. 06:56 It's great to see you again. Brother, it's such a pleasure 06:59 to have you with us. You always add such a depth 07:02 to our conversation. Sasha, today we're talking about 07:06 Are the Jewish holidays really Jewish? 07:09 And you know, my perspective is no! 07:12 They really aren't. These are - as Leviticus 23 says - 07:16 it says these are the festivals of the Lord. The Lord! 07:19 So we want to get into talking about these festivals. 07:23 OK. And I want to start off because they run in order 07:26 starting from what we know as the spring festivals. 07:29 And of course the first one is Passover. 07:33 If you were Jewish, it would be pesach. 07:36 And I'm going to go through... We have Passover 07:40 and then following that is firstfruits, 07:43 and then following that is what's known as Shavuot... 07:46 and you may know that as Pentecost. 07:48 And those are known as the spring festivals. 07:50 So let me back and just talk a little bit... 07:52 and Shasha, when you want to interject something of course 07:55 don't hesitate. The spring festivals beginning 07:59 with Passover. First of all all of the festivals 08:04 have this agricultural component. 08:07 They have a historic component. 08:10 They have a literal component 08:15 and they also have a prophetic component. 08:17 Right? There is the prophecy and there is what's called 08:20 by theologians the antitypical fulfillment of it 08:24 in the New Testament. Exactly. 08:26 So let me talk just a little bit about the Passover. 08:29 So without opening the whole story, you know this comes 08:33 at the tail end of the Exodus. 08:35 And the reason it's called Passover is because God has 08:38 instructed the Hebrews on this last plague 08:41 which was going to be the killing of the firstborn 08:42 to... with very specific instructions to bring a lamb 08:46 for each family. That they were to watch this lamb. 08:49 This was to happen on the 14th of Nissan 08:51 that they would slaughter the lambs. 08:54 So three days prior to that they would bring them in 08:57 and they would watch them because God said they had to be 08:59 perfect, right? They had to be unblemished, no marks. 09:02 So for three days this little lamb... which by the way, 09:06 I don't know how many of you have actually seen - physically 09:09 seen - a lamb, not pictures. 09:10 I once had the opportunity to... People in those years 09:14 in this region people didn't have dogs or cats as pets. 09:18 The little lambs or little goats were pets. 09:21 Let me tell you something: I saw a little lamb 09:24 following this lady. And I'm telling you, this was 09:27 like one of the cutest things I've ever seen in my life. 09:29 And right away my mind jumped to "Lord have mercy. 09:33 What a picture You were painting. " 09:35 When these families had to bring this little lamb 09:38 into their family and for three days... Can you imagine 09:41 how the kids would have bonded with this little lamb? 09:43 Like killing your dog. And then on that last... on the 14th 09:47 all of a sudden God commands them. They have to 09:50 take them out and slaughter it. 09:52 And the kids would have watched and seen this little lamb die. 09:55 And then the blood would have been painted on the doorpost 09:58 of the house. 'Cause God said: "This is the marking 10:01 so that when the angel of death would pass over. 10:04 And that's where the term to pass over... to go by them. 10:07 And the great idea about this is if you don't 10:13 slaughter the lamb your firstborn will die. 10:16 So you choose who you want to die: 10:19 either the lamb or the firstborn. 10:21 And that's the great lesson long, long before Calvary. 10:26 That's a great lesson about the substitutionary sacrifice. 10:29 Wow! Interesting. So then we move way forward 10:34 in time and we move to the story of Jesus. 10:37 And it's typically called the Triumphal Entry 10:40 when Jesus comes into Jerusalem those last days 10:46 before He's going to go to the cross. 10:47 He returns back and the people are crying out "Hosanna 10:51 or Hosiana... save us now. " 10:53 And they're believing the Messiah is coming. 10:57 And Jesus then spends three days 11:01 where we see the Pharisees and the leaders are questioning Him. 11:06 And you have to picture the lamb being looked at, 11:10 being judged. Are you spotless? Are you perfect? 11:13 This is what's happening... even though the people don't 11:15 realize. And even in the temple times 11:19 people basically stopped bringing their own animals 11:23 into the temple just because the inspection was so so rigid 11:27 that, you know, no animal... no animal from private household 11:33 could even think being passed through this. 11:36 So it had to literally be perfect. 11:38 So here are the religious leaders and the people 11:41 accusing Him of all kinds of things. And we see Jesus 11:44 responding in such a way that He is being found perfect 11:47 all the way. And then of course we follow the story 11:52 and we know He ends up on the cross. Um-hmm. 11:55 And at that point I believe that 12:00 this is exactly the time when the lambs are being slaughtered 12:04 that our Savior is hung on the cross and is dying. 12:08 Yeah, exactly; exactly. The Passover sacrifice 12:11 was actually performed by the evening 12:15 at the end of Nissan 14, and that's when this happened. 12:20 And Jesus died and you know... 12:23 Right. And we know that the timing is perfect 12:26 because He surrenders His life because He says: 12:29 "No man takes My life. " 12:30 Nobody killed Him. He released His spirit to God. 12:33 He completed His task. And He dies, and the scripture 12:39 tells us that He is removed from the cross before 12:41 the Sabbath begins. 12:44 And then He is carried and He's placed into a tomb. 12:46 And then we move to the next of the feasts which is called 12:50 firstfruits. And the scripture even says that Jesus... He rose 12:54 on that morning. And He is as the scripture calls Him 12:58 "the firstfruits of the new resurrection" 13:01 again fulfilling this idea of firstfruits. 13:04 Becoming the new Adam... 13:08 which to me has always been an amazing concept. 13:11 That you know, when we look back all the way to the garden 13:15 and we look back to Adam and Eve... to the fall... 13:18 this fellowship is broken with God. 13:21 And from that point until the point that Jesus is resurrected 13:26 It wasn't upon His death but it was upon His resurrection 13:29 now that all who believe in Him, all those who are born again 13:33 receive this new spirit and literally - scripture says - 13:36 we are "a new creation. " 13:38 We're a different species - as it were - of human being. 13:41 And then we're counting... from Passover we're counting 50 days 13:47 which is why it's called Pentecost 13:49 which in Greek is fifty and the Hebrew is Shavuot 13:52 which also within the Hebrew culture Shavuot happens to be 13:57 a memorial or the anniversary of the giving of the Torah. 14:03 The giving of God's law happens on that same day. 14:06 Exactly. According to Exodus 19 we have a count of the days. 14:11 And the people of Israel approached Mt. Sinai 14:16 and Moses went up and exactly on the 50th day 14:20 The Lord has spoken His Ten Commandments 14:25 with His own voice... the unique experience. 14:29 Now again, you've got to put this in context. 14:32 How amazing this is that on the day - the anniversary - 14:36 of God giving His Ten Commandments, His law, 14:39 to the people - on that very day He fulfills the prophecy 14:42 that "I will take what was written in stone 14:46 and I will write it upon your hearts. " 14:48 And God pours out the Holy Spirit on that day. 14:52 We know it as Pentecost. Right. Shavuot. 14:55 The outpouring of the Spirit. Right. Amazing! 14:58 So as we're going through this we want you to begin to 15:01 understand how this timetable that God has placed out 15:05 and how every year we cycle through these feasts 15:09 and we remember. God has said "remember. " 15:11 We remember the Passover lamb. 15:13 We remember that Jesus is the firstfruits of the resurrection. 15:17 We remember how God fulfilled His promise. 15:20 Not just that there would be law in stone 15:23 but now the law would be poured into our hearts. 15:26 And now we have this period of six months that it goes quiet 15:30 so to speak and then we pick it up with what we know as... 15:34 as the fall festival. 15:35 And I'm going to throw this one over to Sasha 15:37 and let's continue. Talk to us, Sasha, about the fall feasts. 15:41 Which I know it begins with... as I said at the beginning 15:44 of the show... with Yom HaShoah 15:46 which is literally called the day of blowing. 15:48 Yeah, the first day of the seventh month 15:51 yes - the month of Tishri - 15:54 starts with the blowing of the trumpet. 15:59 And this day of the trumpet blast 16:02 begins a 10-day period 16:06 of repentance. Now that's known within Judaism as 16:10 the Days of Awe. Yeah, the Days of Awe. 16:13 And even up to these days all the orthodox Jews 16:17 every day they go to the synagogue 16:20 and they have a special service which is called Selichot 16:24 where they pray for forgiveness. 16:26 And we will be talking on our programs about the sin and 16:31 repentance. These are the days in Jewish communities today 16:36 where they remember and they want to remove their sins. 16:41 And so the culmination of this 10-day period 16:44 is during the Day of Atonement. 16:48 And that's known as Yom Kippur. 16:51 Yes. And it is very well known in the book of Leviticus... 16:56 In fact, the ritual of the Day of Atonement 17:00 it's right in the middle of the entire Torah. 17:03 So it's like a central piece of the entire Levitical system. 17:09 It's like it's right in the middle of the book of Leviticus. 17:12 Right in the middle of all five books of Moses. 17:15 Everything is centered on the Day of Atonement. 17:20 Everything points to atonement and to what that means. 17:22 Yeah, and what happens on this day: 17:26 that's the only day when the high priest would enter into the 17:29 Most Holy. Right; exactly. 17:31 And he enters with the blood... 17:33 Eventually he enters with the blood of the final sin offering. 17:38 Yeah. And this blood is sprinkled 17:43 upon what is known in English as the mercy seat. 17:47 But it is interesting that the day is called 17:53 the Yom HaKippurim - day of the covering. 17:57 Kippurim is not the covering. It's actually Kippur 18:01 is the removal of sins because what happens is 18:04 all these days of the year the priests would basically 18:10 take upon themselves the sins of the people. Yeah. 18:12 And now the high priest removes it from the priest, 18:16 takes them to the Most Holy place, 18:19 and then eventually makes his way back 18:22 unto the goat... which is then sent to the desert. 18:27 And this signifies the elimination of sin. 18:33 Removal from the camp. Exactly! Exactly. 18:37 And so we have this beginning with Passover. 18:41 On the Passover we have redemption from sin. 18:46 And Yom Kippur is the culmination of this plan of 18:51 redemption which culminates 18:55 in complete elimination of sin. 18:58 And so then we have an interesting tradition - 19:03 Jewish tradition - mentioned in the epistles 19:08 to the Thessalonians: the final trumpet blast. 19:12 You don't have it in the Bible but Paul talks about this. 19:15 And that tradition exists even today that in synagogues 19:19 when Yom Kippur has been completed and it's all done, 19:23 the final prayers are chanted, there is a great... 19:26 it's called the great blast of the shofar, correct? 19:29 Yeah; yeah. The ram's horn. 19:30 Yeah. When it blasts it signifies - it heralds - 19:35 the coming of the Messiah. 19:37 And what we have after that... 19:41 And in fact we have after that the Feast of Tabernacles, 19:47 the Sukkot. Right. And again, this feast initiates 19:51 from the remembrance of wanderings in the desert. 19:55 But in reality it shows 19:58 our fellowship with God. Right; right. 20:04 It is interesting that the last chapter of the Bible - 20:08 book of Revelation chapters 21 and 22- 20:12 it speaks about the New Jerusalem as a tabernacle, 20:17 as a Sukkot, where God would dwell with His people. 20:22 Right. Now that Hebrew word Sukkot - to tabernacle 20:27 or to dwell - that was part of the Messianic expectation 20:30 even from the Jewish perspective 20:32 that this is what's going to happen: that we will 20:34 dwell - we will Sukkot - with Him, right? 20:37 Yeah, that's the new beginning. 20:41 That's the new earth; new heaven; 20:44 the full elimination of evil and sin. Right. 20:47 So that in some ways maybe can help. 20:50 One of the passages that I know some people are confused 20:53 exactly why it happens and this is called the Mountain 20:57 of Transfiguration. Um-hmm. Right when Jesus was on the 21:00 mountain and Peter and the other apostles are together there. 21:04 Have been with Jesus... His closest apostles. 21:08 And they see Jesus on the mountain and the glory of God 21:11 begins to break out through Him. 21:14 And there is Elijah and Moses standing there with Him. 21:18 And Peter's response is: "Should I build Sukkot? " 21:22 "Should I build little tabernacles? " 21:24 Because wasn't it that they were seeing and thinking 21:27 that the Messianic era is coming, it's happening. 21:31 Was that correct that that was their response? 21:33 Yeah, yeah... that's what they wanted. 21:34 OK, let's get it over with. We're fine up on this mountain. 21:38 Just leave us there. Jesus said: "Not yet. " 21:42 And you know, in the New Testament Paul says Christ 21:45 is our Passover. Would you say it would therefore be 21:49 offensive or wrong for Christians to participate 21:51 in the Passover feast or to keep - or to celebrate - 21:55 or to celebrate - exactly - to celebrate these feasts? 21:58 And if it's not wrong, what could we learn from them? 22:00 How could we benefit from celebrating them? 22:03 It is interesting that when we talk about Paul's words 22:06 "Christ is our Passover" 22:08 Paul talks about the Passover lamb... 22:12 not exactly the whole celebration of the Passover. 22:16 Because there is a ritual part 22:18 which is done at the temple. But as Alex mentioned 22:22 there is a remembrance part - hmmm - which is recorded 22:25 in the Bible. And the remembrance part is necessary 22:30 because these are the signposts of the plan of redemption. 22:36 Without full proper understanding 22:39 of these rituals... how they were done in the temple 22:43 and what they signify, we cannot have a full appreciation 22:48 of the redemption as it's described in the New Testament 22:53 because it's based on them. Exactly. And this whole idea 22:57 of God's signposts of redemption... 22:59 You know, there's a lot of discussion about what should we 23:03 as believers, as Christians... 23:04 what in fact should we celebrate? 23:07 What's right to celebrate? What isn't right to celebrate? 23:10 And I want to suggest that as we've said that thinking of 23:15 these feasts as God's signposts 23:18 is somewhat like if you're driving on the expressway 23:22 and you've never been to this place, 23:23 imagine if all of a sudden they removed all of the 23:26 expressway signs. And someone told you: "You need to get off 23:29 on such and such a road" if there wasn't signs 23:32 how would you know even where to get off? 23:34 You would be lost. 23:35 You wouldn't know what was the correct direction. 23:38 And I just want to propose that one of the things that 23:41 God has done through these feasts is that He has placed 23:45 these markers through history 23:48 for us to be able to look back and go: 23:50 "This is My plan... this is the way. " 23:53 And learn from this. Exactly. 23:55 That's the educational experience. And learn from it. 23:57 That's what's significant for every Christian. 24:01 Exactly. And you know, and that's the reason why 24:04 to celebrate them. And it's not to go back and look 24:08 at a religious perspective - 24:11 you know - it's to see God's perspective. 24:13 That's right. So Alex, I hear you've got a song for us today. 24:15 What are you singing? I do. I'm actually singing 24:17 a little melody of Kai Adonai and Key Mession. 24:21 Sasha, why don't you tell us a little bit about it 24:22 while I get ready, OK? 24:24 Key Mession Tet Se Torah. 24:26 This is taken from the book of Isaiah. 24:29 We talked about this verse. "For from Zion 24:32 the Torah shall come. " 24:35 This shows God's plan of salvation - 24:39 you know - for it's the source of our law. 24:42 Awesome. Amen. 27:10 Amen. A beautiful happy song about God's law. 27:13 Right, and rejoicing! That's what it's all about. 27:16 Right. Praising God and rejoicing in His Torah. 27:19 So Rachel, what a great program today. 27:21 And friends, I really pray that there was no confusion here. 27:27 That this is all about rejoicing in what God has said. 27:31 And as we said His signposts to show His plan of redemption. 27:35 So on behalf of myself, Rachel, and Sasha 27:39 I want to say to you: May the Lord bless you 27:41 and may He keep you. 27:42 May the Lord make His face to shine upon you 27:45 and be gracious to you. 27:46 May the Lord lift His countenance upon you 27:49 and bring you His peace. God bless you. 27:52 And join us again next time on Back To Our Roots. 27:56 Shalom and goodbye. |
Revised 2014-12-17