Category: God’s Holy Days

Is it a Matter of Salvation?

God means what He says and says what He means! My hermeneutics are “literal”, however, that being said…study the scriptures yourself and make up your own mind! Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit…

John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2 The same was in the beginning with God.3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Scriptures from the KJV – King James Version of the Bible.

The first verses in the first chapter of the Gospel of John makes it perfectly clear the identity of Christ – Jesus Messiah – Yeshua Ha Mashiach (Hebrew). If you had any question in your mind before now…these Scriptures answer the question.

Do you believe in millions and billions of years and have you convinced yourself that it’s okay as long as you believe that Jesus – Yeshua is the Son of God? I’ve been told that it’s not a matter of SALVATION…make up your own mind.

The belief in millions and billions of years spawned the belief of evolution! When you believe that the dinosaurs died millions of years ago, what does that do to the reason why mankind and all of creation face death as a consequence of Adam’s sin against God? What does that do to the Scripture in Genesis that says “in the beginning God created man in HIS IMAGE? When Adam and Eve believed the serpent over the WORD of GOD they broke HIS trust and disobeyed HIM! Now I ask you to read John 1:1 again and if you haven’t thought about it before now, maybe now is the time to rethink your position on millions and billions of years as well as evolution.

John 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

I ask you – WHO do you actually believe in if you don’t believe HIS WORD? The belief in millions and billions of years and evolution are the Secular PAGAN Religion of the era that we live in. Can’t you see that the conception of this belief which began in the early 1700’s and continues to grow momentum day by day in the 21st century is destroying the foundation laid down for us in Genesis?

Psalm 11:3 3 If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

Can’t you see that this is Satan’s last ditch effort to pull us away from Jesus who summed it up in one verse, John 14:6 “I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE.” Isn’t Satan saying again…God didn’t really mean what He says? This secular – science motivated pagan religion is being indoctrinated into our children’s minds from the time they’re 2 or 3 years old and it’s only becoming worse as they get older and have access to the technological and mainstream medias or what is referred to as SCREEN-TIME. When we believe in Secular Science rather than the infallible WORD of GOD aren’t we calling God and Jesus Liars? I ask you – WHO do you actually believe in if you don’t believe HIS WORD entirely? Do you think the Bible is a buffet where you can pick and choose whatever you like and then make it fit into your idea of God and Jesus? He’s been specific right from the beginning! He doesn’t leave one jot or tittle for us to figure out, he speaks to us plainly and we don’t need an interpreter, we only need the HOLY SPIRIT to guide us and help us understand HIS WORD.

2 Timothy 4:1-4 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom 2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Did you hear that…GOD’S WORD will be turned into FABLES? That is what I call the indoctrination of Secular Paganism Religion (so called science) into the church. When we don’t believe HIS WORD, are we truly loving Him as Jesus instructed?

Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

If you spend anytime at all reading the Old Testament – Tanakh (Hebrew), you will see that every time, the Israelites chose to follow and invite the pagan religions into God’s WORD, they didn’t fair well at all! They stirred His wrath to the point of death!

Today’s world scoff’s at the idea of a 6,000 year old earth being created in 6 days by THE WORD. Our children have been indoctrinated by the merging of this Pagan Religion into the secular schools as well as the Christian Schools. From the first day of kindergarten until they graduate from secular college and even in our Christian schools and seminaries our children have been told that the history of the Bible is wrong and that the secular historical science is correct. According to Lifeway Research, around 1/3 of Pastors have incorporated into their Bible teaching the doctrine of millions and billions of years proclaimed by the secular scientists.

2 Peter 3-7 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

“YOM” is a DAY in the Beginning

I’m now going to address the subject of a “young earth”…from my investigation and study of YOM used in the Hebrew Bible means a literal day! I recognize that there are some out there who in their zeal to promote millions and billions of years as well as evolution within the Biblical timeline will argue otherwise. However, MY ZEAL lies in the WORD of GOD and I don’t find anyplace where there’s room in the Biblical text for an “old earth”.

GENESIS

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

***it’s obvious from the text that Genesis 1:5 is talking about a 24 hour day…He calls it day and night, He calls it evening and morning and He numbers it “1”.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

***In Genesis 1:8 God numbers it day “2” and qualifies it with evening and morning (the Hebrew day started at sunset and still does today).

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

***in Genesis 1:13, God once again numbers the day “3” and references evening and morning.

14 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:

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

16 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.

***One of the arguments I hear is that there had to be light from the sun at the very beginning and I’m here to say that the WORD is light and He has no need of a sun. The sun is for our benefit…not HIS! Revelation 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18 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.

19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

***In Genesis 1:19, God uses the exact same pattern as days 2 & 3. I believe this is because, he’s already explained to us in Genesis 5 exactly what he means by day.

23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

***Genesis 1:23 is the number of day “5” in the exact pattern as days 2,3,4.

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

***SAME PATTERN

Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

As you can see with Genesis 1:31 God is consistent and doesn’t change His pattern. Another argument is from the misinterpretation of 2 Peter 3:8 which says a day is a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day. Peter is saying that GOD is outside of time and if you think about it, the two statements cancel themselves. But for arguments sake, lets say a day is a 1000 years…this would still make the earth at most only 13,000 years old which is a far cry from millions and billions. It also says God rested on the 7th day, do you really believe that GOD made a day of rest to last a 1000 years? First of all, HE doesn’t need rest, He made the day of rest HOLY as a model for man to follow…another sign of our obedience to HIM that because he made a day HOLY and gave it to us as a gift so that we could rest from our work is just one more example of how loving and patient our GOD is!

If you read on into Genesis 2 and when you come to verse 4, the WORD tells us “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,”

The only place in the Bible where people have an issue with the meaning of the word DAY (YOM) is in the 1st Chapter of the book of Genesis. Yôm is used over 2,300 times in the Old Testament (making it the most common noun in the Old Testament) (apologeticspress.org), more than 100 of these times, the words evening and morning go along with the usage. Anyplace else in Scripture, when yôm is joined with a number, it references an actual 24 hour day! Nobody questions the meaning of yôm (Hebrew for day) in similarly structured passages in the rest of the Bible. Everywhere else in the Old Testament, when the Hebrew word for “day” (יוםֹ, yom) appears with “evening” or “morning” or is modified by a number (e.g., “sixth day” or “five days”), it always means a 24-hour day. (answersingenesis.com)

Now if you’re asking “How important is this?” I can only tell you how important it is to me! When I asked you at the beginning of this blog “WHO DO YOU BELIEVE?” Recall how Adam and Eve fell for the lies of the serpent. Satan, our enemy, who is alive and well and doing his best to destroy mankind.

Genesis 3:1-4 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

Here’s the question: Did GOD really say that in 6 days he created the Heavens and the Earth and on the 7th day he rested?

When man adds millions and billions of years from the secular world to the Bible, he’s rewriting the WORD of GOD!  We have been warned not to take away from or add to His WORD.  Who and what you believe makes a difference in whether or not you’re following GOD’S book written by The WORD or Man’s Book written by Satan!

Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Spiritual Warfare

The Passion of Christ

God means what He says and says what He means! My hermeneutics are “literal”, however, that being said…study the scriptures yourself and make up your own mind! Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit…

Nisan 14 – the Passover lamb is Sacrificed

It was the custom since Moses gave the law and the statutes that 3 in the afternoon is the time of the day that the Jewish Priests sacrificed the Passover lamb. It’s no coincidence that this is the time that Jesus – Yeshua said “it is finished” and died on the cross. Nisan 14 is preparation day for the High Sabbath which is the 1st day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, commemorating the time of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt.

John 19:28-30 After this, when Yeshua knew that all things were now completed, to fulfill the Scripture He said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar full of sour wine was sitting there, so they put a sponge soaked with the sour wine on a hyssop branch and brought it to His mouth. 30 When Yeshua tasted the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

All four of the Gospels in the New Testament give an account of the time from the arrest to the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Messiah – Yeshua Ha Mashiach: Matthew 26:36—27:56, Mark 14:32—15:41, Luke 22:39 – 23:49, and John 18:1—19:37.

I’ll be taking scriptures from all 4 Gospels to paint a picture of what happened, but equally important is why…

The passion of the Christ was prophesied by Isaiah in the Old Testament:

Isaiah 53:4—12 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our pains. Yet we esteemed Him stricken, struck by God, and afflicted.5 But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities. The chastisement for our shalom was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.6 We all like sheep have gone astray.Each of us turned to his own way. So Adonai has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted yet He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter, like a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.8 Because of oppression and judgment He was taken away. As for His generation, who considered? For He was cut off from the land of the living, for the transgression of my people—the stroke was theirs9 His grave was given with the wicked, and by a rich man in His death, though He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth.10 Yet it pleased Adonai to bruise Him. He caused Him to suffer. If He makes His soul a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the will of Adonai will succeed by His hand. 11 As a result of the anguish of His soul He will see it and be satisfied by His knowledge. The Righteous One, My Servant will make many righteous and He will bear their iniquities.12 Therefore I will give Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoil with the mighty—because He poured out His soul to death, and was counted with transgressors.For He bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.

Here’s the WHY:

Isaiah 53:5 But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities. The chastisement for our shalom (peace) was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Scriptures from the TLV – Tree of Life Version (TLV is a new Bible translation produced by Messianic Jewish and Christian Scholars.) I have just recently become acquainted with the Tree of Life Version, so far what I appreciate the most is that is that Jesus is called by His Hebrew name Yeshua.

Here’s what Happened:

John 3:19-20 “Now this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world and men loved the darkness instead of the light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed.

Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour, darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour.

Mark 15:33 When the sixth hour had come, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.

Luke 23:44-45 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 for the sun died out.

I marvel at the miracle of darkness that covered the land (earth). It became dark at noon and it wasn’t an eclipse (The darkness cannot have been a solar eclipse, because the full Passover moon is always on the wrong side of the earth for that to be possible). After solemn thought, I recognized that there can only be one reason for the darkness. Jesus – Yeshua is the Light of the world and when He became sin for us and He bore the weight of the sin of the entire world as he hung on the cross, His light was momentarily gone as he was clothed in our dark hideousness called sin. Throughout the Bible, we are told that Sin is darkness and the only light in this world is found in Christ.

Doesn’t it chill you to think of what this world will be without the Light of Christ?

1 John 1:5 Now this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you – that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.

He endured the wrath of God:

2 Corinthians 5:21 He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Because of our sin, the Father couldn’t even look upon His own Son! However, thankfully for us, Jesus’s death on the cross satisfied the wrath of God. He swathed Himself in our sin and paid the price in full! When we believe that He’s the Son of God, we are covered in His blood – His righteousness and Heavenly Father can’t see our sin! In order to continue in His light, we must all repent (turn away from) our sin and trust in the blood of Christ. In Christ we can truly see the light and there is NO darkness anymore…that is unless we seek it out!

Matthew 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Doesn’t the pain of Jesus’ anguish when He cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” cause you to fall to your knees and beg forgiveness? Doesn’t it make you want to Live for Jesus – Yeshua because HE died for you?

Before the trial and His crucifixion:

Luke 22:44 And in His anguish, He was praying fervently; and His sweat was like drops of blood falling down on the ground.

Matthew 26:39 Going a little farther, He fell face down and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me! Yet not as I will, but as You will.”

In the beginning Jesus – Yeshua and the Father, who are one, agreed on this plan, because They are “ALL KNOWING”, and They new that man would be tempted and therefore fall away. Jesus – Yeshua had walked this earth as a human and he fully understood what lie before Him! It wasn’t that His pleas fell on deaf ears, it was that once God says this is how it’s going to be, he doesn’t change his mind.

Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades.
But the word of our God stands forever.”

Malachi 3:6 “For I am Adonai. I do not change, So you, children of Jacob, are not consumed.

John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were made through Him, and apart from Him nothing was made that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it.

Hebrews 13:8 Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The new man who lives for Yeshua:

Romans 6:6-8 knowing our old man was crucified with Him so that the sinful body might be done away with, so we no longer serve sin. 7 For he who has died is set free from sin.8 Now if we have died with Messiah, we believe that we shall also live with Him.

Romans 12:1–2 I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice—holy, acceptable to God—which is your spiritual service. 2 Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Galatians 2:20 and it is no longer I who live, but Messiah lives in me. And the life I now live in the body, I live by trusting in Ben-Elohim—who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Ephesians 4:24 and put on the new self—created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Jesus – Yeshua’s Last Passover or “Last Supper”

***All Jewish days go from Sunset to Sunset… this makes it difficult for those of us who are orientated to the Gregorian calendar and not the the Judean Calendar. I will try to help you understand…

Nisan 13 (March 26th) started at sunset on March 25th until sunset of the 26th.

Last evening just after sunset, my husband and I ate the a commemorative “Last Supper” of Jesus and his disciples. We ate fish, romaine lettuce with bitter dressing, dill pickle, olives and leavened bread and wine. (we believe that leaven bread was eaten at this meal because ALL leavening must be removed from the house (premises) before the feast of Unleavened bread starts on the 15th of Nisan. We’ve been told all of our lives: “to waste not is to want not” (not scriptural).

Nisan 14 (March 27th) started at sunset on March 26th until sunset of the 27th.

Today, my husband and I are reading scriptures and remembering the period of time that is referred to today as the Passion of Christ. The time before his crucifixion and the day of his crucifixion. As I write this (PST), we are well into the 3 hours of darkness that started at the 6th hour and waiting for the 9th hour when Jesus – Yeshua gave up the ghost.

I’ve been wanting to share this with the readers of this blog for quite some time. I’m not going to tell you that it has anything to do with Salvation as I honestly don’t know…although I’m going to tell you that it has everything to do with truth. We can’t understand the times when Jesus – Yeshua walked on this earth if we don’t understand and recognize the customs that were practiced during His time. Once we recognize the correct timing, it also changes the time of His resurrection from our traditional custom of “Easter”.

ALL Scriptures taken from the TLV – Tree of Life Version (TLV is a new Bible translation produced by Messianic Jewish and Christian Scholars.)

The Passover is to be celebrated at the close of Nisan 14th, which is in March or April ( Ex. 12:128 & Lev. 23:47) .

All throughout the Bible we find Passover being celebrated, including by Yeshua and His disciples. Upon reading about Yeshua’s last Passover, it seems as if Matthew 26:17 , Mark 14:12 , and Luke 22:78 are saying that the Last Supper was a Passover Seder, eaten at the end of Nisan 14th.

But John 13:12 & 18:28 indicates that the Last Supper was not the Seder because it was eaten a night earlier, at the beginning of Nisan 14th. To find the answer we need to look closely at the Gospels and a Galilean Jewish tradition.

The Gospels and Yeshua’s last Passover

Matthew 26:35 and Mark 14:2 both state that the leaders who conspired to have Yeshua put to death did not want His death to occur “ during the feast , lest there be an uproar among the people”.

Luke 22:15-16
“(15) And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. (16) For I tell you, I will never eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” TLV

After the last lamb was sacrificed on the evening of 14th (before the Seder) the High Priest would say “ it is finished . ”

John 19:30 “When Yeshua tasted the sour wine, He said, “ It is finished !” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” TLV

The Galilean Jewish Tradition for Passover

The Mishnah records that Galilean Jews had a different tradition than the Judean Jews for celebrating Passover. This Galilean tradition is very important for understanding the Gospels telling of Yeshua’s “Last Supper” with His disciples. For the Galilean Jews, Nisan 13th was preparation day for Passover, not the Nisan 14th. All preparation for the Feast was finished by the start of Nisan 14th. Matthew 26:2 and Mark 14:1 could be referring to this tradition when it says in “two days is the Passover ” (Nisan 13th). Then the celebration of the Passover started at the beginning of Nisan 14th with a traditional “Last Supper” before the start of the Fast Of The Firstborn (Ta’anit Bechorot). This fast was a tradition for all firstborn males in order to remember the tenth plague that came upon Egypt in the book of Exodus. The fast was to be broken with the Passover Seder at the close of Nisan 14th or Nisan 15th

Yeshua’s Last Supper

Yeshua was the firstborn of Mary and Joseph. Both Yeshua and the disciples were Galilean Jews. Therefore they followed the tradition to prepare for Passover on Nisan 13th and keep the Fast Of The Firstborn with a “Last Supper”at the start of Nisan 14th. Prayer is a very important part of fasting, so after the Last Supper, Yeshua and the disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Therefore Yeshua’s Last Supper was a traditional way that He started the Passover celebration each year, not the Seder as we know it today. That year Yeshua used the traditional Last Supper to show His disciples a new revelation about Him known today as the Lord’s Supper or Communion ( Matt. 26:2628;
Mark 14:2224; Luke 22:1920; 1 Cor. 11:2325). He also taught at the “Last Supper” that the Master is the Servant and that we’re all to Love one another as He loved us.

Today, Judaism has placed the Galilean last supper meal within the Seder, not the night before. But some in Judaism still keep this traditional way of starting the Passover with a last supper meal the night before the Seder and then the fast. In Closing Chronological order of the Last Supper and Crucifixion
(1.) On Nisan 13th, Yeshua and His disciples kept the Galilean preparation day for the Passover.
(2.) At sunset, the start of Nisan 14th, Yeshua and the disciples had the traditional Galilean “Last Supper” before the start of the traditional “Fast Of The Firstborn”.
(3.) The next afternoon, still on Nisan 14th, Yeshua was crucified at the exact time that the lambs was being sacrificed for the Passover Seder.
(4.) At sunset, the start of Nisan 15th when the Passover Seder was to be eaten, Yeshua (sinless and unleavened) was placed in the tomb at the start of the week long Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover), fulfilling these Feasts.

Thank you to https://www.olivetreemessianic.org/

YHWH’s Appointed Holy Days ~ Levitcus 23

Scriptures from the NIV (New International Version)

The Appointed Festivals

23 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.

The Sabbath

3 “‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.

The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread

4 “‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: 5 The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. 6 On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. 7 On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. 8 For seven days present a food offering to the Lord. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’”

Offering the Firstfruits

9 The Lord said to Moses, 10 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. 11 He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. 12 On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect, 13 together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. 14 You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

The Festival of Weeks

15 “‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. 16 Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. 17 From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the Lord. 18 Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings—a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. 19 Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering. 20 The priest is to wave the two lambs before the Lord as a wave offering, together with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the Lord for the priest. 21 On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

22 “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.’”

The Festival of Trumpets

23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. 25 Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the Lord.’”

The Day of Atonement

26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the Lord. 28 Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God. 29 Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people. 30 I will destroy from among their people anyone who does any work on that day. 31 You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. 32 It is a day of sabbath rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”

The Festival of Tabernacles

33 The Lord said to Moses, 34 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. 35 The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. 36 For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the Lord. It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work.

37 (“‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing food offerings to the Lord—the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings required for each day. 38 These offerings are in addition to those for the Lord’s Sabbaths and in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings you give to the Lord.)

39 “‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days; the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest. 40 On the first day you are to take branches from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees—and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters 43 so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”

44 So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed festivals of the Lord.