The Biblical Days Checklist

I have created a "holy day success checklist" from the law to help you remember all of the things you've done throughout the year in the observance of God's laws of the annual biblical days.

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So, the annual festival days are over. That was the best Feast ever. You're back at home from the Feast of Tabernacles. You're probably dealing with that post-Feast depression that grips you once your normal schedule resumes and the bitter disappointment in the modern world sets in. But at least you can know you obeyed God by observing the things He commanded in the law.

To help you fight that post-Feast depression, I've created this handy checklist of the laws regarding the holy days so you can check off the ones you obeyed and recapture that sense of accomplishment you might not be seeing right now due to the general malaise and disenchantment. Just print this out and check off 100% the boxes.

OK, not 100%. I've made this list inclusive so that if you happen to be a Levitical/Aaronic priest, you too can use this list to make sure you've performed your parts. Since all 613 laws don't apply to all people, most people can just skip these ones. Just check off 100% of the non-priestly boxes.

Next year in Jerusalem!

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Biblical Days Success Checklist

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Before the Feasts

☐ Take caution that you complete any necessary rituals to become an Israelite so you may participate.

☐ Take caution that you observe cleanliness rituals so you may participate.

☐ Have the appropriate calendar, with new moons and etc. (Not the modern Jewish calendar.)

For the priests:

☐ Have the Levitical priesthood available.

☐ Have the Aaronic High Priest available.

☐ Have the Temple in Jerusalem (the place where God chose to place His name).

☐ Have the Holy Place in the Temple.

☐ Have the Most Holy Place in the Holy Place in the Temple.

☐ Have the altar.

☐ Have all the prescribed items necessary for the sacrificial system.

☐ Have a shofar.

☐ Have the priestly silver trumpets.

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Passover

☐ Select the prescribed Passover animal.

☐ Select it at the prescribed time.

☐ Keep it until the appointed day.

☐ Bring it to Jerusalem (the place where God chose to place His name).

☐ Have it slaughtered according to the prescribed procedure.

☐ Roast the Passover animal. Do not boil it.

☐ Wait until the appropriate evening on the 14th day of the 1st month.

☐ Eat it at the place God chose.

☐ Eat it with unleavened bread.

☐ Eat it with bitter herbs.

☐ Do not break its bones.

☐ Do not leave any of it until morning.

☐ Return to your dwelling place after the Passover meal.

☐ Observe the restrictions governing who may eat it (hint: not Gentiles).

☐ Observe the prescribed memorial of Israel's bondage in Egypt, and how God rescued them.

For the priests:

☐ Slaughter the animals according to the prescribed procedure.

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Unleavened Bread

☐ Remove leaven as commanded.

☐ Eat unleavened bread for seven days.

☐ Observe the first day as a holy convocation.

☐ Do no ordinary work on the first day.

☐ Observe the seventh day as a holy convocation.

☐ Do no ordinary work on the seventh day.

For the priests:

☐ Proclaim the first day to be holy. If it's not consecrated, then it's not holy.

☐ Proclaim the last day to be holy. If it's not consecrated, then it's not holy.

☐ Present the prescribed offerings throughout the seven days.

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Firstfruits

☐ Decide whether to follow the Pharisees or the Sadducees in determining when to count the Omer.

☐ Cut the first sheaf of the wheat harvest.

☐ Bring it to the priest.

☐ Give the prescribed portion to the poor, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.

☐ Do not eat the new grain before the prescribed offering is made.

For the priests:

☐ Have the priest wave the sheaf before God.

☐ Present the prescribed lamb.

☐ Present the prescribed grain offering.

☐ Present the prescribed drink offering.

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Weeks / Pentecost

☐ Travel to Jerusalem (the place where God chose to place His name).

☐ Count seven complete weeks / seven Sabbaths / fifty days.

☐ Observe the day as a holy convocation.

☐ Do no ordinary work/activities.

☐ Rejoice before God at the place He chose.

☐ Bring the prescribed new-grain offering.

For the Priests:

☐ Proclaim the day to be holy. If it's not consecrated, then it's not holy.

☐ Priests bake the two prescribed loaves with leaven.

☐ Have the priest wave the two loaves.

☐ Have the priest wave the prescribed lambs.

☐ Present the prescribed burnt offerings.

☐ Present the prescribed sin offering.

☐ Present the prescribed peace offerings.

☐ Make the required freewill offering.

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Trumpets

☐ Observe the first day of the seventh month as a holy convocation.

☐ Do no ordinary work/activities.

For the priests:

☐ Proclaim the day to be holy. If it's not consecrated, then it's not holy.

☐ Have the Aaronic priests perform the prescribed shofar blowing (remember, it doesn't say 'trumpet' in Hebrew).

☐ Have the Aaronic priests blow the two silver trumpets when required for the appointed assembly.

☐ Present the prescribed burnt offerings.

☐ Present the prescribed sin offering.

☐ Present the prescribed grain offerings.

☐ Present the prescribed drink offerings.

☐ Perform the regular daily offering.

☐ Perform the prescribed new-moon offering.

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Day of Atonement

☐ Observe a holy convocation.

☐ Do no ordinary work/activities.

☐ Afflict yourself.

☐ Observe the day as a Sabbath rest.

For the priests:

☐ Proclaim the first day to be holy. If it's not consecrated, then it's not holy.

☐ Have the High Priest perform the prescribed atonement ritual.

☐ Have the High Priest enter the Most Holy Place.

☐ Have the High Priest wear the prescribed sacred garments.

☐ Make atonement for the sanctuary.

☐ Make atonement for the altar.

☐ Make atonement for the priesthood.

☐ Make atonement for the people.

☐ Provide the two prescribed goats.

☐ Sacrifice the prescribed goat.

☐ Confess Israel's sins over the live goat.

☐ Send the other goat away according to the prescribed ritual.

☐ Perform the prescribed annual sacrifices.

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Tabernacles / Booths

☐ Go to Jerusalem (the place where God chose to place His name).

☐ Bring the prescribed offerings, the firstfruits of the fall harvest.

☐ Observe the first day as a holy convocation.

☐ Do no ordinary work/activities on the first day.

☐ Take the prescribed branches.

☐ Rejoice before God for seven days.

☐ Dwell in booths for seven days.

☐ Observe the prescribed memorial of Israel's wilderness dwelling.

☐ Include the household in the rejoicing.

☐ Include the Levites.

☐ Include the resident foreigner.

☐ Include the fatherless and widow.

☐ Bring the required offerings.

For the priests:

☐ Proclaim the first day to be holy. If it's not consecrated, then it's not holy.

☐ Offer thirteen bulls on the first day.

☐ Offer twelve bulls on the second day.

☐ Offer eleven bulls on the third day.

☐ Offer ten bulls on the fourth day.

☐ Offer nine bulls on the fifth day.

☐ Offer eight bulls on the sixth day.

☐ Offer seven bulls on the seventh day.

☐ Offer the prescribed rams each day.

☐ Offer the prescribed lambs each day.

☐ Offer the prescribed goat each day.

☐ Offer the prescribed grain offerings.

☐ Offer the prescribed drink offerings.

☐ Perform the regular daily offerings.

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Eighth Day

☐ Observe the entire eighth day as a solemn assembly in Jerusalem. (Do not leave until the day is over.)

☐ Do no ordinary work/activities. (Including driving home.)

For the priests:

☐ Proclaim the day to be holy. If it's not consecrated, then it's not holy.

☐ Present the prescribed burnt offerings.

☐ Present the prescribed sin offering.

☐ Present the prescribed grain offerings.

☐ Present the prescribed drink offerings.

☐ Perform the regular daily offering.

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How did you do? Did you miss any?
Did you keep 100% of the laws that apply to you?

I bet there is someone out there who is taking umbrage with my list. Perhaps it makes you feel as if you aren't keeping the law. I do regret that. But my list is a simple list taken from the Father's laws. Laws "which Jesus didn't remove", right? "Until heaven and earth passes away, not one jot or one tittle," right? It's hardly fair to fault my list. Isn't keeping the law up to you?

Perhaps someone out there thinks most of these things are no longer necessary in the New Covenant period because they are ceremonial and Jesus did remove them. (Wait. What happened to "not one jot or one tittle?") Would it surprise you that I agree? The difference is, I believe none of these things are necessary any longer, not one, because absolutely all of it was Old Covenant law, all of it was for physical Israel alone, all of it was ceremonial, all of it pointed to Jesus Christ, and all of it was fulfilled by Him.

But nevertheless, if we wish to participate in the singular and indivisible body of Old Covenant law that was given to the people of Israel, then we cannot take it upon ourselves to carve it up into the parts we want to keep, the parts we skip because we know we cannot keep, and the parts we change to make it more possible to keep.

For example, would we be saying, "Next year in Jerusalem," if we kept the law, which states every year in Jerusalem? In fact, three times every year in Jerusalem. The law of travelling three times a year to the place where the Lord places His name wasn't intended as some millennial hope. It was the command. A command you could have kept (if indeed you feel you must keep these commands). If you didn't go to the one designated location for the Feast, did you go to the Feast at all? Should we be picking and choosing fine vacation destinations as "the place where the Lord places His name" when the law already sets that place? Should we be camping in our back yards and making things up as we go along? The goal is to keep the law, right? Well, that list above is from the law. Check those boxes! Or don't.

People say, "God commands and we must obey." OK. Then obey.
But they can't.
People say, "We have to keep the parts we can keep." OK. Then do it.
But they don't.
People say, "The ceremonial law is not necessary in the New Covenant." OK. Then don't do it.
But they still try.
But more importantly, 'keep some, skip some, change some' is not how the law worked.

(DEU. 12:32) Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.
(JAS. 2:10) For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.

Keep all the law or you're not keeping the law at all.

I will concede this: if attempting to keep some of the law helps you develop a closer relationship with God, then hey, I wish you the best. Even though it might not seem like it, As Bereans Did has always made the distinction that we are free to do what our conscience dictates. So, if you feel you must do what you do, then do so. (But must you?) Or, if you feel it's a benefit to your faith, then we have no quarrel with this. Our two main concerns in all of this are really: 1) the gravely dangerous mistake that we must earn something or qualify for something through [partial] law-keeping, and 2) the judgment and condemnation that so frequently goes along with such things. We recommend Paul's advice:

(ROM. 14:6,12-13) 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.
12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.

It's the judgment and condemnation Paul is against. We know from experience that what starts as, "Keep the law," tends to end in, "...like I do, and you're a sinner if you don't." The elephant in this room is: you're not actually keeping the law that you say you keep. So, since neither of us keep the law, let's not beat each other up over it, eh?

But! There is an even better solution available to you. I invite you to investigate it. See, "For Paul, Jesus Is The Answer".

(DEU.12:8-11a) 8 “You shall not at all do as we are doing here today—every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes— 9 for as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. 10 But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, 11 then there will be the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the Lord. 12 And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you. 13 Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; 14 but in the place which the Lord chooses, in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.

For more, I suggest:

Why Not Keep Biblical Days?
What Do You Mean... 'Holy Convocation'?
Is Ceremonial Law Removed?
You SHOULD Keep the Feast of Tabernacles
Shadows, Nails and the Fall Holy Days
Three Times in the Year part1
The God’s Law Controversy
Common Legalist Arguments - Part II
Editing the Commandments
Temple of God / Law of God
The Sabbath Rest of Isaiah 66
Confusing the Covenants

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )

Acts 17:11

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Evils of Adventist Sabbatarianism

(Matthew 7:19) Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

If you have bought into deceptions, believing them to be truth, then you will not recognize real truths; spiritual truths. Spiritual truths are substituted with things more physical in nature, where the carnal mind can grasp things physical, being physical.

A deceptive ideology needs to have one, overarching belief upon which all else is built; this sand castle built of sand. It must contain biblical elements, rearranged into a convincing belief model.

With Adventism, this overarching belief upon which all else is built upon is the weekly Sabbath; seen as the ‘missing link’ of true Christianity, with the balance of the Decalogue held together with it… the Commandment with the special aura surrounding it by the balance of the Decalogue.

The indoctrination of Sabbatarianism results in a near impenetrable barrier of the core belief. The escape from Sabbatarianism begins in the outer fringes of the belief model, where things don’t add up. Given enough time and exposure, some begin to see a picture develop that is inconsistent with much of what is ancillary to the basic belief model, chipping away at the foundation. Quite a number who leave Sabbatarianism do so not over the Sabbath but the administration of it, and all that flows downstream from it, so that it is the Sabbath that is the last thing that is abandoned, if ever.

My opening citation points out the necessity to produce good fruits; good works that can only be carried out in and through the Holy Spirit, which of course necessitates having the Holy Spirit in you to begin with; working through you. The Holy Spirit does not operate in a false system. What a false religion must do as a result is convince the minions within the system of some substitute for the Holy Spirit; in this case that is keeping the of the Sabbath and the Decalogue is a demonstration of love for God and fellow man. No critical thinking examination of either the claim or the results of keeping them is permitted.

If you refrain from murdering others, is that an expression of love, and if so, then how? Realistically, how is refraining from doing an evil act the same as doing a good act? How does that producing good fruits? Good works? Did not the Pharisees, whom Jesus labeled as evil children of the devil doing the will of their father the devil. not keep the law; the Decalogue? Yes. Even the Apostle Paul relates that when he was an active, practicing Pharisee that when it came to the law, he was blameless... so blameless that he saw putting Stephen the Martyr to death and persecuting the church as being a good work, following the dictates of the Decalogue as he understood it.

As an analogy, the Adventist core belief of keeping the Decalogue can be visualized as a tree that produces no fruit either good or evil. It is a fruit tree in the grove we will refer to as the “murder tree” that produces murderous fruit. If it stops producing fruit, now Adventists label it a good tree because it no longer produces murder fruit. It is now, however, a fruitless tree. It is as that fig tree that Jesus cursed, that withered and died in one day, ready for kindling.

Thus, if you are being honest with yourself, keeping the Decalogue is not about expressing love for anyone. They are commandments that require restraint from doing evil. For, again, bad trees cannot produce good fruit. Bad trees can only stop producing bad/evil fruit.

If you are the typical person who bought into the idea that keeping the Decalogue is the same as expressing good works, you will think of the commandment to honor one’s parents, where not honoring one’s parents in Jewish society was considered an evil thing of neglect. It is, upon careful examination, another example of refraining from doing evil by not at least giving your parents their due respect, despite any abuse you might have suffered at their hands, seeing as they too are bad trees, producing only bad fruits even in child rearing.

The next kink in the armor of Sabbatarianism is expressly an issue with Adventism. I will set the scene thus.

In discussing good and evil works done on the Sabbath, Jesus pointed out expressly that the “destruction of life” was evil; a sinful act.

In 1970, Adventist hospitals began carrying out elective abortions, starting with Castle hospital, an Adventist hospital in Hawaii, in the Kailua area, less than two miles from where I lived at the time, and I have walked the halls of that hospital.

Abortion; especially elective abortions is the destruction of life. There is no way to side-step this, morally. But an evil person, devoid of the Holy Spirit, will find self-justification for just about any evil.

Adventists claim and insist the Decalogue; the 10 Commandments are “moral law” without exception, especially the Sabbath, whereas the destruction of life, reprehensible in the sight of God, has been performed in Adventists hospitals, and carried out by Adventist doctors for profit, in pursuit of the ‘Almighty Dollar.’ The Adventist church has even recognized the “work” of Adventist doctors in this regard, with accolades, while the dumb sheeple divert their attention, and continue the mantra that it is “God’s church” and thus somehow this is acceptable to the rank and file of Adventism.

Evil people busy themselves with outward appearance, so they ignore the appearance of evil while embracing it privately and internally. Every Adventist is complicit when it comes to the evil works of Adventism, where the destruction of life carried out by their hospitals and Doctors is ignored; burying the evil fruit they produce, then declaring publicly they produce good fruit by keeping the Sabbath; a “work” where they do no “work.” A day where they refrain from evil works, such as the destruction of life even in their hospitals, doing that the other six days.

An evil tree produces only evil fruit; evil works, and the destruction of life was specifically addressed by God Incarnate; Jesus Christ, as evil works.

If you are an Adventist, I remind you of what you yourselves repeat constantly; that you are duty-bound to keep the law; be obedient to it. That law says not to do murder. Jesus said murder; the lawless destruction of life, is evil. Both the law and Jesus testify against you. The Sabbath does not negate the rest of the law, or the rest of the Decalogue you now claim to be the “whole” law when you read and cite James 2:10, and where verse 11 condemns you.

(James 2:10-11) For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

Now, go ahead. Do what you commonly do… vilify those who shine a light on your evil deeds. That is what evil people do; lash out when the spotlight is on them. Whatever you do, do not repent of your evil participation; your silent assent to the evils of Adventism. Your just ‘reward’ awaits.

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )

Acts 17:11

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The Gospel: The First, The Last, and the Kingdom

There is an interesting aspect of the Gospel that I am just now beginning to comprehend. It is not just a message of Christ’s salvation through His sacrifice and a call to repent and believe the Gospel. It goes much deeper than that.

It is a message that has in essence a two fold meaning and purpose. It is the means by which God makes known those He is calling now, and those He is not, yet holding them responsible for its rejection by the faithless that make up the vast majority of mankind.

The faithless, stiff-necked and rebellious hear the Gospel. Those with the “deceitful and desperately wicked hearts” which all are born with hear the Gospel. Those with evil hearts of unbelief hear and are exposed to the Gospel, and they reject it. Not outright, but through what a deceitful heart does, taking it and transforming it into a message palatable to an evil heart, that is also an evil mind and soul – an evil ego.

The ego demands “participation” because the ego demands credit for accomplishments; real or imagined. That God would grant salvation, grant righteousness, grant repentance takes all the spiritual wind out of the sails of those whose egos demand recognition. They must present salvation as a goal to be achieved through personal effort, where they elevate the self and debase those less capable; less determined, and less talented as they. They must have bragging rights. They must acquire the medal on the chest where they have succeeded where others have failed. Pride.

Jesus told the ‘righteous’ Pharisees that they were going to stand there and watch the ones they despised; the ones they looked down upon, enter into the kingdom of God in their sight.

(Matthew 21:28-32) But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. °He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. °And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. °Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. °For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.

I would mention here the Pharisees kept the law to a degree where they would not have had any need to “repent of sin”, where 'sin' is defined as transgressing the law, like some here view repentance, but their lack of repentance was in relation to what John the Baptist was preaching, letting it be known He was preparing the way for One to follow. You could hardly claim John was preaching the law and repentance of sin/transgressions of the law to those who were devoted to the law. But some here will make the attempt anyway…

People indeed confessed their sins that were related to their having turned away from God, where their hearts, minds, and souls were far from God. The important issue here however is when Pharisees showed up where John was preaching and baptizing…

(Matthew 3:5-10) Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, °And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. °But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? °Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: °And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. °And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Fruits of repentance are not found in the law; they are found in good works later expressed by Jesus and reiterated by Paul in regards to works wrought in and through the Holy Spirit. But again those who resist the Holy Spirit conclude what is palatable to their condition, where keeping the commandments was good fruit, when in reality, keeping the law was to be fruitless when it came to good works. Or was John here mistaken with the Pharisees who kept the law? Was John falsely indicting them? Their reliance was with the law, like those Jews who passed by the severely injured man in the parable of "The Good Samaritan" which Jesus gave. The crux of the parable was about one Samaritan, whom the Jews despised, stopping and aiding the injured man. Who did the good work, the Jews who had the law or the Samaritan who had humility and loved his enemy? The Samaritans act was a good work.

Back to the Gospel then.

Those few who hear the Gospel and begin to comprehend the significance of it may well be astonished, for here was Christ Jesus declaring salvation - eternal life - to be had by simply believing Him and believing IN Him. This was completely apart from the law; to the exclusion of the law. Those being ‘granted’ comprehension would have already realized that no matter how devoted to the law one is, they still sin; they are still flawed and lacking, especially when compared to a holy God who is perfect. Those who respond to the actual Gospel, without modification or parsing, see how a Holy, Just, Righteous God would have an unbounded mercy for those who place their true and real faith in Him only, knowing now that the law they thought would lead to life had the opposite effect.

(Romans 7:10) And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.

The carnal mind; the evil mind enamored with his own ego, doesn’t perceive the law as that which condemns him to death. He sees life and reward there; an opportunity to prove himself worthy and to be placed in the kingdom of Heaven due to his elevated, sinless state.

(Genesis 3:4-6) And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: °For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. °And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

What imparts a knowledge of good and evil? What imparts a modicum of wisdom?

The law.

What was the sin of the devil, found IN him? His desire to become like God is God; to elevate himself to be on par with God and to share in the glory of God.

False prophets have been known to preach parity with God; be like God by becoming perfect through the law.

But Jesus described a different route of becoming “perfect” and that was through faith; following Him, deriving our righteousness through Him, His righteousness imparted to us by Him, where a Christian’s righteousness is an imputed righteousness, founded in faith and not law, for the law is NOT of faith.

The true Christian is a child of God who inherits eternal life through Jesus’ “Testament” put in force by His death, where eternal life is bequeathed to the heirs. Eternal life is not a payment or compensation for “work” performed; for keeping the law.

One must be born again, of the Spirit; become a child of God, on that spiritual plane. Being in this condition, good works, wrought in the Spirit, become possible. The children of God are led by the Holy Spirit, not an outdated law given to, and required of those Hebrews who did not have the Spirit of God, but where led by their evil flesh, given a law that condemned them, being evil in heart, where all their works were motivated by that heart.

All these things are in Scripture, beyond the grasp of those led by the flesh, held by the law. They have a veil before the eyes, unable to see the true Christ, seeing only what Moses both wrote and taught, written down in the book of the law. You can find that written in 2Corinthians chapter 3.

The first will be last, and the last will be first when it comes to entry into the kingdom of God, and those who believe they should be first are going to find themselves in an embarrassing situation when those they believe will be excluded from the kingdom of Heaven walk past them into it.

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )

Acts 17:11

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What Do You Mean... ‘Holy Convocation’?

Does the phrase 'holy convocation' mean we are all commanded to go to church on Saturday? Does it even have anything to do with church? This article explores the meaning of this phrase and what its implications are for the weekly Sabbath.

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As I mentioned in my recent post, "Be Your Own Harshest Critic", Bill posted a comment on social media that said, "Going to synagogue on Sabbath is not a command from God but a man-made tradition." Bill is absolutely right. We've got articles on this.
In response, a random person protested, and what could loosely be called a discussion ensued. He ended up basing his entire case on the phrase "holy convocation". His claim was that holy convocation means "going to church," and therefore the laws of holy convocation are laws of church attendance.

Well, let's look into that. He can't be the only one making these kinds of claims. And what good timing, since this topic has Fall holy days written all over it.

HOLY TERMS

Word studies are dry and academic. I know. My apologies in advance. I'll make this short and as simple as I can. We need a few things in the ol' toolbox before we can proceed.

The Hebrew phrase usually translated “holy convocation,” “sacred assembly,” or “sacred occasion” is miqra qodesh (מִקְרָא־קֹדֶשׁ). This is a singular noun. The plural is miqra'ei qodesh (מִקְרָאֵי־קֹדֶשׁ). I am just going to refer to them both as miqra qodesh because it makes things easier.
Miqra (מִקְרָא) is a noun meaning calling, proclamation, summons, or convocation.
Qodesh (קֹדֶשׁ) is a noun meaning holiness / something holy / set-apartness.

The singular and plural Hebrew phrases appear a total of 19 times in the Old Testament, and they refer to the weekly Sabbath and the annual holy days.
Interestingly, miqra qodesh only refers to the weekly Sabbath once (LEV. 23:3). Most of today's article is going to focus on the annual festivals because that's where most of the details are. If you are going to use miqra qodesh to support going to church on the weekly Sabbath, then you are going to have a very difficult time.

"Holy", strictly speaking, is not really a synonym of "righteous". The word holy indicates something was ceremonially set apart for use only in the worship of God and never for mundane, everyday purposes. For example, pots and priestly vestments were called holy, but they were not righteous. Those weren't morally upstanding pots. Also, just because something is holy does not mean it is permanently holy. Holy things could be defiled and lose their holiness. Holy things could also perish in their use, like sacrifices.

Final note:
Do not get confused that you can just interchange 'festivals' with miqra qodesh. For example, take the Feast of Tabernacles. The first day was a miqra qodesh, and the final day was also a miqra qodesh. The days in between were not. The same applies to the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The first day of Unleavened Bread was a miqra qodesh and so was the final day, but the days between were not, Passover itself was not, and the Day of Firstfruits was not. The festival period and the specific days designated as a miqra qodesh are not always the same thing.

Word study over. See? Easy peasy! Now, with that knowledge, let's move forward.

HOLY SUMMONS

I am not going to spend much time here since surely this is something we all know already, but miqra qodesh designates a religious gathering, distinct from more general assemblies that might include political or legal matters. The Septuagint often renders it with terms conveying a summoned or invited assembly (e.g., klētē hagia).

The traditional way to understand miqra qodesh is a holy convocation or sacred gathering together of people. We might ask, how many people? The Bible doesn't always specify, but sometimes it is all the males and sometimes it reads as the gatherings were on the household scale. We will get more into this in a bit.

One might get the impression that the assembly is proclaimed to be holy. Many scholars believe that is not how it should be understood, since the people need atonement. But if not the assembly, then what?

HOLY TIME

Jacob Milgrom (preeminent Jewish biblical scholar who specialized in Leviticus and purity laws) and Baruch Schwartz (biblical scholar at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and co-author of a study titled “Miqra’ Qodesh and the Structure of Leviticus 23") have argued that miqra qodesh is not really talking about the people at all, but the time. They would lean more toward the "sacred occasion" definition rather than "sacred assembly."

The time itself was declared holy, and Israel was to use the holy time for appropriate purposes. The number one feature of all is that no normal, regularly assigned work was to be done during miqra qodesh. Remember, the word holy indicates something was ceremonially set apart for use only in the worship of God and never for mundane, everyday purposes.
I will refer you to Bill's posts where he explores how the time could be used for good as opposed to evil, for example "Good and Evil Works on the Sabbath". (Hint: pay attention to what God considers good vs. evil.)

God blessing time is not unusual. Notice how we agree that it is the time that is holy when we say "holy days" (even though that phrase isn't really in the Bible) or, "God blessed and sanctified the seventh day." When you read through the list of verses where miqra qodesh appears, you will see the days themselves are referred to. For example:

(LEV. 23:4) These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations [miqra qodesh] which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.

Why is the time holy? If you read carefully, you will see that God expected the Priests of Israel to proclaim the time to be holy (LEV. 23:2, 4, 21, 37). That leads many scholars to believe the time was not holy until it was proclaimed holy, just as people and objects were not holy until they were consecrated by the Priests. Then, it was up to the people to make appropriate use of the holy time.

Baruch Schwartz says this:

"Nor are [miqra'ei qodesh] to be explained as “sacred proclamations,” since the proclamations would not be sacred at all; it is the [mo'ed], the times themselves, that become sacred, and they achieve this status as a result of being proclaimed. Rather, [miqra'ei qodesh] must mean something that has become a sanctum by virtue of proclamation, i.e., a thing pronounced, and thereby rendered, sacred."
-Baruch Schwartz, “Miqra’ Qodesh and the Structure of Leviticus 23", p.17

So, according to Schwartz and others, the time was consecrated through a priestly proclamation made by offering the prescribed sacrifices. It is common among Sabbatarians to think of the time as simply being holy in and of itself, but that is not really what the Bible says. Proclaiming the time to be holy is an integral part of the law; a part you cannot simply skip by using romanticizing phrases like "God's holy days."

I should briefly note, these scholars also make an exception for the weekly Sabbath. They do not see the weekly Sabbath as needing to be proclaimed holy, only the annual days, since the weekly Sabbath was built to reflect the seventh day of creation which God Himself sanctified. 

The problem that I am trying to highlight is: modern Sabbatarians are ignoring integral details in the law and importing their own ideas and traditions backward into ancient Israel. They go to church and they see modern Jews going to synagogue and they conclude that must be what ancient Israel did and therefore that must be what the law was about. So, they end up where they began - going to church is how one "keeps" a Sabbath. This person on social media was doing just this; trying to turn 'holy convocation' into 'go to church' when it is really about time and making appropriate use of it.

Going to church is not one of the commanded ways to use this time. We will see this more clearly when we look at those assemblies.

HOLY PLACE

Understand that neither assembly (the who/what) nor the time (the when) are about the place (the where). Church in this context is a place.

It is only natural that an assembly had to assemble somewhere, but the location is an additional detail in the law. The Bible does give this information, but it isn't always obvious. And holy time only sometimes pairs with holy place. Since this is true, how can it be all about going to church? It cannot.
I will explain.

Three of the annual holy days did have a specific location. Three times a year (not just one), every Israelite male was required to travel to the place where the Lord placed His name, where a priest would offer certain offerings for them (DEU. 16:16-17): at Passover/Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. (For more, see "Three Times in the Year".)
Yet, read through the commands for miqra qodesh and you will see this place is not explained anywhere near these verses.

Moses set no location at all. He didn't need to; they were all together in the wilderness. So, he said Israel would seek the place (DEU. 12:5). Joshua set the place at Shiloh (JOS. 18:1). This was only temporary, because notice God did not say He placed His name there. It was in Solomon's time that the place was set at Jerusalem (II CHR. 6:6). Why Jerusalem? Because of the Temple, not churches. The Temple is the place where the Lord placed His name. None of the commanded rituals happened 'at church' (or the Holiday Inn).

The Temple was absolutely not just a big church, and going to Temple was not similar to what we think of as church.

When you go to church, you are [hopefully] in God's immediate presence. You go there to be with other people, hear a sermon, sing, and pray.
When one went to Temple, they prepared ahead of time to be in an acceptable condition to occupy that sacred space to begin with. They visited close to the presence of God Himself, but unless they were the High Priest and it was the Day of Atonement they were never in the immediate presence of God. They prayed, certainly. But if they wanted a sermon, they had to go find a street preacher. And they absolutely did not arrive before the God of the Universe empty handed. Meaning, they brought a sacrifice. (This wasn't about money.)

It gets more complicated than just this. Oddly enough, it appears Israel's worship was both centralized as one singular nation at the Temple and decentralized to individual families and gatherings, all at the same time.

For example, take the Feast of Tabernacles again. Some portions of miqra qodesh were required to be performed at the Temple and some were required to be done at their temporary shelters. They weren't merely allowed to feast and celebrate in their shelters, they were commanded to do so.
Or take Unleavened Bread for example. Eating this bread was not optional; it was commanded. They did not just eat unleavened bread while they were at the Temple. Where do you eat? You eat wherever you happen to be when you eat.

That is just the three pilgrimage holy days. What about the other times?

The rest of the year, the common Israelite was not required to go to Jerusalem. There was no specific location for the remaining miqra qodesh at all. And I really want to emphasize this: that includes the regular weekly Sabbath.

(LEV. 23:3) 3 ‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation [miqra qodesh]. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings [moshevoteykhem].

We have another Hebrew word now: moshevoteykhem (מוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם) which means dwelling places, habitations, places where people live - be that homes or home towns. The result of this is the opposite of being commanded to travel to Jerusalem. For the non-pilgrimage holy days there were no large gatherings. They were all smaller.

So, we have two places where miqra qodesh can happen: at the Temple in Jerusalem, and wherever you dwell. Neither of those are 'at church'. Some portions of miqra qodesh were national and some familial. Some large assemblies and some small assemblies. Some at designated places and some wherever you happen to be.

Let us ask... where is the Temple now? (I COR. 3:17; REV. 21:22)

This also brings up a final point. With the coming of the New Covenant, the Old Covenant law has changed. I believe all of the Old Covenant laws are obsolete because I believe the law was a singular whole. Sabbatarians do not. But where we can agree is that the "ceremonial law" is obsolete. The laws of miqra qodesh fall into "ceremonial law". Therefore, these laws of miqra qodesh are obsolete. So now we must ask, why are we building New Covenant doctrines from obsolete laws? Why are we fighting to keep some of it and discard some of it, but build what we keep on what we've discarded? How are we even having this discussion in the first place?

CONCLUSION

We've looked at the term miqra qodesh. We've looked at what it is, when it is, where it is. Then we contrasted that with how it is used by Sabbatarians (one in particular). We have seen how "go to church" is not an accepted definition of miqra qodesh to begin with. And we have seen how Sabbatarian practices are being built on certain Old Covenant laws which it seemed like everyone agreed are obsolete. The laws of miqra qodesh are inherently ceremonial.

The Bible does not command anyone to go to church on Saturday or any other day. The laws of sacred assemblies are not commands to go to church at all. What did Scripture do? It made certain time into a ceremonially holy time. For whom? For Israel, to whom that law was given. For where? Sometimes that was at the Temple, sometimes it was wherever you happened to be. But never synagogue, which was a much later development. (That is not to say attending synagogue is wrong, just not commanded.) For when? For the Old Covenant period. These are not laws for the New Covenant church. 

Some modern Gentile Christians say they are keeping the law, but when we look critically we see they are not. They are adding to and taking away from the law, which is contrary to the law. Without a priesthood and without a Temple, keeping the laws of miqra qodesh is impossible (and I for one believe this is by design). Without a priest and a Temple, how will the time be properly proclaimed holy with sacrifices? If it isn't consecrated, then how is it holy time? These are not laws where we can take 'Israel' out and plug 'us' in, and take the original calendar out and plug the modern Jewish calendar in, and take 'sacrifice' out and plug 'money' in, and take 'Jerusalem' out and plug 'feast site' in, and take 'Temple' out and plug 'church' in. And in all of it, picking and choosing from ceremonial laws which I thought everyone agreed were abrogated. God is not going to praise us as obedient to the law when we are treating the law like a buffet. As I've said a million times, if you're not keeping all the law, then you're not keeping the law at all.

The person I mentioned in my "Be Your Own Harshest Critic" post went through traditions, Commandments, proof-texting, and finally landed on holy convocation - all to avoid Bill's accurate observation that, "Going to synagogue on Sabbath is not a command from God but a man-made tradition." What does "holy convocation" mean? Certainly not "going to church."

For more, I suggest:

Common Legalist Arguments - Part VIII
Is Ceremonial Law Removed?
Why Not Keep Biblical Days?
Temple of God / Law of God
Physical vs Spiritual
Shadows, Nails and the Fall Holy Days
Three Times In The Year - Part I
The Sabbath Rest of Hebrews 4
Acts 15:21 - More Law Later?
Lawlessness and I John 3
Editing the Commandments
Established and Imposed

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )

Acts 17:11

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Righteous Versus Unrighteous Judgment

How does God say He judges mankind?

(1 Samuel 16:7) But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

What did Jesus have to say about those who judged according to outward appearance?

(John 7:24) Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

If judging according to appearance is contrasted with righteous judgment, what does that make judging another according to appearance?

Unrighteous judgment.

What then is righteous judgment?

Looking to the heart; judging according to the heart, mind, and soul of a person; what motivates them.

(Matthew 12:35) A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

If someone is judging others according to appearance, which is unrighteous judgment, this constitutes being among the “evil things” men bring forth. And if a man brings forth what Jesus has identified as evil, then the person doing those things is evil hearted.

Apply this understanding now to those who claim those who would worship God on a Sunday are practicing sun worship and under the influence of the beast mentioned in the book of Revelation who stands against God and the people of God.

Is this righteous judgment, based on an understanding of the intent of heart of those who worship God on the first day of the week, or is this judgment based on outward appearance; What they see and witness others doing?

What about those who worship on the last day of the week, that some refer to as the Sabbath? Those who judge righteous judgment would not think anything of it, seeing as that is the choice of the one’s doing so.

What about those who worship God on a Saturday who judge and condemn others for not worshiping on a Saturday, insisting those others refuse to do so based on an evil intent of their hearts, that being a hatred of God?

Jesus let it be known that those who judged and condemned Him for working on the Sabbath were doing so according to appearance; unrighteous judgment. They neglected to judge righteous judgment, judging others according to how mankind as a whole judges, as God brought out in 1 Samuel, cited above.

God pointed out that mankind collectively have deceitful and desperately wicked hearts. As such, they judge others according to appearance; observation, where an evil person will put on an outward act that results in people concluding they are good.

What would an actual good person do? They would not put on an act; put on airs in order to appear upright to others. They would let their good works / fruits speak for themselves, where sometimes, their good works would appear to be evil by evil people, who judge according to outward appearance; who conclude they sinned or did evil, should they too perform their good works on the day those others believe to be the Sabbath, even as those who witnessed Jesus working on the Sabbath declared He sinned and did evil.

Evil people, being evil, will charge good people as being evil over good works perceived by them as sinful and evil; judging according to appearance.

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )

Acts 17:11

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Temple of God / Law of God

(John 2:19-21) Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. °Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? °But he spake of the temple of his body.

Jesus was at the temple. What else would they conclude based on the setting? It would never occur to them that He was referring to something other than the temple that was right there.

(Jeremiah 31:33) But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

This, stated by God right after He declared the new covenant would not be like the old. But the only covenant they knew of was the one they were in with God. They would never make the leap of comprehending the nature of the new any more than those Jews present when Jesus spoke what He did cited above were able to grasp He was not talking about the temple standing in their midst there in Jerusalem. There was one ‘temple of God’ and that was it, standing on the temple mount in Jerusalem.

The New Covenant law is God Himself, for it is the Holy Spirit that God places within a believer that leads and guides them; a covenant law of life.

(John 5:39) Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

Jeremiah 31:33 is just that. It’s about God in you. Residing in you. Leading you. Guiding you. It is a testament of God dwelling within a person; a believing, faithful person. A person who truly loves God.

(John 14:23) Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Now consider the outcome:

(1 Corinthians 3:16) Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Jesus pointed out that the Pharisees, who administered the law and kept the law, hated Him and the Father. (John 15:24) They always resisted the Holy Spirit. (Acts 7:51) They loved another, and it wasn’t God. That OC law was the “master” they obeyed; the object of which they were obedient and dedicated. Those among them who believed Christ and followed Him were labeled by these same Pharisees as being cursed, not knowing the law; the law the Pharisees relied upon. (John 7:49)

(Matthew 6:24) No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Those who embrace the OC law insist that obeying the law is to obey God; the two are equivocated as one and the same. God is that law, and that law is God. Keeping the law where the result is to ignore God does not compute in the legalist mindset. And yet, God stated to Moses that by giving that law to the Hebrews, they would believe Moses “for ever” and not God. (Ex. 19:9)

And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? — Exodus 16:28

This was before they were given the covenant law. That does not stop legalistic minded people from concluding that God was referring to that covenant law. Up to this point, it was all about what God declared, verbally to them through Moses. They were collectively refusing to believe and act upon what God had been telling them up to that point.

God is not embodied in the OC law, and the OC law is not embodied in God. The law is, in reality, ‘another god’ besides God; along side-of; graven images of stone, and it is interesting, to say the least, that this is exactly what God spoke to those same Hebrews who were refusing to listen to Him which they heard and also ignored.

In case you were not paying close attention, consider what Adventists, who are legalistic, have done in regards to the Decalogue, imbuing it with the characteristics; the traits of God: Eternal, unchanging, a “transcript of God’s Character.” It cannot get any more blatant than that.

The ‘law of God’ prior to the giving of the old covenant law at Mt. Sinai was none other than God Himself and what He was commanding and declaring, verbally. With this understanding, take a good, hard look at the following, often cited by Adventists.

(Romans 8:7) Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

In this passage, God IS equivocated with “God’s law”. And like the “temple” those with a legalistic mind-set conclude, erroneously, this speaks of the OC law, despite the context.

The carnal mind is enmity against God, even as was the minds of those Hebrews who left Egypt. The same Hebrews who refused God and what all He commanded, aka “My law” that was extant prior to the giving of the old covenant law that was a blood covenant law where any violation, no matter how small or trivial, resulted in their condemnation. They were disobedient to God, and obligingly embraced the law, putting that noose around their own necks that would condemn them to death, seeing as they were adept at confessing God with their lips, yet their “deceitful and desperately wicked hearts” were far from Him. They were no more likely to keep that law than they were when it came to keeping what God had verbally communicated to them.

The letter of the law that kills, spells everything out in writing in specific ways. ‘Do this’ and ‘don’t do that.’ It is the language used by parents addressing their children and animal trainers addressing animals. Sit. Don’t touch. Lie down. Come.

The concept of an internalized law is outside the realm of comprehension of those who are still carnal natured and led by their flesh, having no reference points spiritually, that come from the Holy Spirit. All they know and can understand is related to them by a law that deals with the carnal nature, motivated by their flesh. They understand murder and why it is wrong from a carnal perspective. Same with other points of OC law that deal with the pulls of the flesh.

In this, carnal people continue the same game through equivocation. The Sabbath; the sign of that covenant God made with the faithless Hebrews, demanded none of them do any work on the Sabbath. They equivocated this as no different than committing a murder. Yet over the course of time, they realized that leaving an animal penned up during the Sabbath was to subject the animal to undue stress and discomfort; suffering on the Sabbath. Which then was the greater wrong? Working a little by turning them out to pasture, or leaving them suffering in their stalls?

They felt the need to be compassionate with their animals (that had value) but when it came to Jesus having compassion on those suffering from debilitating conditions by healing them on the Sabbath, those same ‘compassionate’ people denied compassion for their fellow man. A man with a neighbor suffering over the course of decades was of no value to him. Let the neighbor suffer one more day before being healed.

Take now what Christ said about good works on the Sabbath, being legal; lawful, in the context of the ruler of a synagogue who chastised Jesus for healing a man there on the Sabbath.

“Do your good works the other six days, and not on the Sabbath.”

Can you perceive the evil heart in the background? Or is the Sabbath more important to you than God and doing good works wrought in and through the Holy Spirit, always; every day?

The ‘Temple of God’ which is what a Christian now is, does not close on the Sabbath.

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )

Acts 17:11

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