Feast of Tabernacles . . .
As a child, my family was part of an organization that kept the seventh day Sabbath and the biblical festivals. Each year, as the festivals rolled around, we would pack up the car and spend the day, or in the case of the fall festival – the week – enjoying the fun, food, and fellowship that can only be had by observing the festival with many others of like mind.
I can remember one of my very first Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), camping with nearly fourteen thousand other people who were observing the festival in unity. During those days we heard occasional sermons about the calendar that we were following – God’s Sacred Calendar – as it was called. For the most part, everyone accepted the calendar without question. Each year we were given little business card sized calendars with the festival dates listed for the next 10 years. It was very orderly and worked well.
About 15 years ago, my wife and I left that organization because it had a fundamental change in practice and doctrine. We eventually found ourselves in a small home fellowship, and it was here that I learned that not everyone agreed on the calendar. I learned that what we had called “God’s Sacred Calendar” was simply the traditional Jewish calendar, and that “God’s” calendar was based on sightings of the moon. This was all new to me, and for the first time in my life people were asking “what do you believe?”.
As a result of these challenges, I began to study the subject. I quickly found that the Bible has very little to say about the calendar. Instead, I found that many of the calendar papers I was asked to read rely heavily on ancient Jewish scholars and historians such as Philo of Alexandria, Josephus, and even the Mishnah – the collection of Jewish traditional law, or so called “Oral Torah”. I found this quite interesting since most writers of calendar papers indicate they have issues with ‘rabbinic tradition’ and they imply that their papers are based on scripture. Never-the-less, I continued on and found that: 1) most people agree that some type of crescent moon sighting was being done in the first century, the day and age of our Messiah, and 2) for at least 1000 years before the first century, man was able to predict the appearance of the crescent moon based on calculations. Thus, I could see value in doing sightings, even though they were based on Jewish tradition, as well as using a calculated system based on the heavenly bodies. But by going with either method, or a combination of both, would mean that I had simply traded one Jewish tradition for another. What would I gain?
I finally decided that there was not enough evidence to make a change in my practice, and even though it appeared that Yeshua probably followed the tradition of basing the months on sightings, I asked myself “is it the right thing for us to do today”. Here are a few things I considered:
The above points were enough to convince me that, short of a clear scriptural mandate, there is no reason to change from what has worked for over 2000 years – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
But there is more to consider . . . There is no evidence in the scriptures that the Jewish leadership had any problems with the way Yeshua observed the calendar. It appears He was in unison with the rest of His Jewish brothers as far as which days the festivals were observed. We also know that in Yeshua’s day, if the sky were overcast on the night the authorities expected to see the New Moon, they would postpone the proclamation of the New Moon for up to two days. But have you considered . . . Yeshua, a man who could read the hearts of men, had an open door to The Father, and had created all the heavenly bodies, surely must have been able to tell if there was a crescent moon behind those clouds. Even though the Jewish authorities failed to proclaim it, He knew when the month began. Surely this scenario happened sometime in His life, yet we see no evidence that He observed the festivals differently from the rest of the Jews. It appears that even though Jesus knew what was the correct day, He went along with normative Judaism in order be in unison with them.
Another thing to consider is that God appears to be in the process, especially at this time, of restoring His people - Israel. He is opening the eyes of so many, people who had formally considered themselves to be Gentiles, to the fact that they are a part of Israel – more than likely part of the “Lost Tribes”. The Bible is filled with prophecies of the restoration of the Ephraim (representative of the northern “lost” tribes) and Judah (the southern tribes) in the last days.
For the most part, when God began calling those of us “Ephraimites” back from the strange ways we had been observing (Sunday Sabbath, Christmas, Easter, eating pork, etc.) to His ways (the Sabbath, festivals, Biblically clean foods, etc.), He introduced us to some of the Jewish traditions that had helped keep them together as a people. We began lighting candles to set apart the Sabbath, using traditional blessings for food and drink, and observing Passover using a Sedar based on the Jewish model. But after relying on the Jewish people for those foundational traditions, when it came to the determination of the new moon, we believed the Jews were all wrong. So - here we were on the path to restoring a relationship with Judah, and then we told them they are wrong about something that has helped maintain them as a people for all these years. Goodbye restoration!
Finally, take a look at what all these calendar issues are doing to our congregations. Groups that formed and came together after leaving the church mostly did so with a common belief about the calendar. For the most part, they followed the traditional Jewish calendar. As the groups grew and matured, some began to question the calendar. Being convinced that to follow the Jewish calendar was the same as “following a man”, they decide they can no longer do so. Even though their differences affect the timing of only 6 – 8 events each year, these people break off from the greater community, usually drawing others with them. Instead of restoration, there is further division. I don’t believe God is happy with us.
Is the traditional Jewish calendar 100% accurate? Probably not. But it has been a valuable tool in helping preserve the Jewish people. I see a time when the entire Hebraic/Messianic community comes together as a body to observe the festivals together. I see Judah looking at all of us Ephraimites, worshipping at the festivals together, singing praises to YHVH and His Jewish son, Messiah Yeshua, walking in the ways of Torah, and saying “maybe Yeshua really is Messiah”. But this will not happen as long as we are a divided people. We must agree to come together for the sake of unity, and in regards to when to observe the festival, the traditional Jewish calendar has served that purpose well for a long, long time.
Shalom Alechiem –
Tim