The Ecclesiastical year versus God’s Moedim understanding God’s rhythm for living and its connection with Salvation History

The solar year

? the pagan year ?

The lunar year

The agricultural/-farming year year

The lunar year The agricultural/-farming year year The calendar through which God establishes His Moedim

What are God’s Moedim – His appointed meeting points with His People – and how do these Moedim speak of Yeshua ha Massiasch – Jesus the Messiah?

What are the seven Moedim – appointed by God? The following notes are from Rosemary Bamber’s helpful study “In Time With God”

What are the seven Moedim – appointed by God? The following notes are from Rosemary Bamber’s helpful study “In Time With God” Published by In Time with God Publications (2012)

The Biblical feasts, as given to Moses in Exodus 12, Leviticus 23, Numbers 28, 29 and Deuteronomy 16, are called in Hebrew Moedim, which means appointed times They were times appointed by God to give specific revelation to Mankind, and for something to happen God gave the Jewish people particular commandments concerning what to do on these appointed times Rosemary Bamber

God did this so He could reveal truth about Himself and His plan to redeem and bring people into His kingdom, not only from the Jewish nation, but to save people from ‘every tribe and tongue’ The seven main appointed times detailed in Scripture form two main clusters – the first three ‘feasts’ occur in the Spring, the fourth in early summer, then the final three occur in the autumn in the seventh month Rosemary Bamber

At His first coming Yeshua (Jesus) fulfilled the symbolism of the feasts that come in the Spring, on the exact days they occurred on the lunar calendar of the Old Testament. But the symbolism of the autumn Moedim has yet to be fulfilled in its entirety. Rosemary Bamber

There are two awkward questions that modern Christians are beginning to ask: (1) Is it in any way right or justifiable that the death and resurrection of Jesus is marked by the use of a pagan feast dedicated to a fertility goddess named Ēostre (from which we get our word “Easter”)? (2) Does the traditional ecclesiastical year serve God’s purposes adequately – or does it indeed obscure God’s purposes?

There are two awkward questions that modern Christians are beginning to ask (1) Is it in any way right or justifiable that the death and resurrection of Jesus is marked by the use of a pagan feast dedicated to a fertility goddess named Ēostre (from which we get our word “Easter”)? (2) Does the traditional ecclesiastical year erve God’s purposes adequately – or does it indeed obscure God’s purposes? Eostre is the root from which we get our modern word oestrogen (or estrogen) – the hormones associated with the menstral- reproductive cycle

These two awkward questions are ones of which most church-attending Christians remain unaware ……… Are we missing a wonderful opportunity to better appreciate God’s Salvation purposes, as they are prefigured throughout the Scriptures? Is the ecclesiastical rhythm – comprised of its numerous “feasts” and “holy days” – one that God has authorised, or does it stand in such a way as to obscure God’s Salvation purposes?

God’s Moedim Let’s take another look at God’s rhythm for living, based on the lunar calendar …..

The solar year

? the pagan year ?

The lunar year

God’s Moedim What does the Jewish calendar look like? The Jewish calendar begins in our March-April months, in the spring time ….

Passover

Passover Un-leavened bread

(1) Passover (2) Un-leavened bread (3)First Fruits

(1) Passover (2) Un-leavened bread (3) First Fruits These first three Moedim are clustered just days apart

(1) Passover (2) Un-leavened bread (3) First Fruits (4) Shavuot

(1) Passover (2) Un-leavened bread (3) First Fruits (4) Shavuot Shavuot is set at Passover PLUS 50 days, and covers that entire period

(1) Passover (2) Un-leavened bread (3) First Fruits (4) Shavuot The latter First fruits

(1) Passover (2) Un-leavened bread (3) First Fruits (4) Shavuot (5) Trumpets

(1) Passover (2) Un-leavened bread (3) First Fruits (4) Shavuot (5) Trumpets (6) Atonement

(1) Passover (2) Un-leavened bread (3) First Fruits (4) Shavuot (5) Trumpets (6) Atonement (7) Tabernacles

God’s Moedim So that’s it! That’s God’s “rhythm” for the worshipful year These are the times that God has Scripturally set aside to reveal to us His Salvation purposes Let’s take another look:

(1) Passover (2) Un-leavened bread (3) First Fruits (4) Shavuot (5) Trumpets (6) Atonement (7) Tabernacles

God’s Moedim But what’s all this got to do with Jesus?! Actually, it got everything to do with Jesus ……..

God’s Moedim As commented by Rosemary Bamber, these Moedim, these appointed meeting points during the year, each speak of Jesus the Messiah – and they speak of the entire purpose of God’s Salvation plan. We will not un-pack this fully here, but we can summarise as follows:

(1) Passover (2) Un-leavened bread (3) First Fruits (4) Shavuot (5) Trumpets (6) Atonement (7) Tabernacles (1)Deliverance (2)Redemption (3)Messiah (4)Redeemed harvest (5)Re-gathering / repentance (6)Atonement (7)Thanksgiving for latter harvest

(1) Passover (2) Un-leavened bread (3) First Fruits (4) Shavuot (5) Trumpets (6) Atonement (7) Tabernacles (1)Deliverance (2)Redemption (3)Messiah (4)Redeemed harvest (5)Re-gathering / repentance (6)Atonement (7)Thanksgiving for latter harvest It’s all about Jesus!

God’s Moedim But what about the institutional church’s ecclesiastical year? Whilst its development was no doubt well- meaning, and perhaps was designed to meet certain exigencies of the past, where is any of it commanded by God? What “rhythm” does it establish? And does it actually obscure the true “rhythm” that God has appointed for ALL Mankind?

God’s Moedim Let’s have a quick look at how the ecclesiastical year “over-writes” God’s Moedim.

Lent Epiphany Epiphany

Lent Epiphany Ash Wednesday Epiphany

Lent Palm Sunday Ash Wednesday Epiphany

Lent Palm Sunday Ash Wednesday Epiphany Holy Week Easter Day Ascension

Lent Palm Sunday Ash Wednesday Epiphany Holy Week Easter Day Ascension Pentecost (WhitSun) Trinity Sunday Transfiguration Harvest Festival Advent Christmas

God’s Moedim Whilst the development of the institutional church’s ecclesiastical year was no doubt well-meaning, it does obscure the “rhythm” of the Moedim that God has appointed –and which speaks so directly of Jesus and of Salvation History – first for the Jew and then for the Gentile. And all this is before you add in the literally hundreds of “saints days” ………….

God’s Moedim By comparison with this complexity, God’s commanded rhythm, which points toward Jesus the Messiah and His completed ministry, looks disarmingly simple! We summarise this rhythm in the next slide, but will un-pack it fully in a subsequent lesson:

Eternal home Forgiveness and new life Second coming Eternal Harvest Resurrection Burial Crucifixion

God’s Moedim It would undoubtedly be a blessing to individual believers to have a greater sense of God’s Moedim Does the church today need to move away from some of its “festivals” that have pagan antecedents – especially “Easter” and “Christmas”?

God’s Moedim We come back to our two awkward questions ……………..

There are two awkward questions that modern Christians are beginning to ask: (1) Is it in any way right or justifiable that the death and resurrection of Jesus is marked by the use of a pagan feast dedicated to a fertility goddess named Ēostre (from which we get our word “Easter”)? (2) Does the traditional ecclesiastical year serve God’s purposes adequately – or does it indeed obscure God’s purposes?

There are two awkward questions that modern Christians are beginning to ask: (1) Is it in any way right or justifiable that the death and resurrection of Jesus is marked by the use of a pagan feast dedicated to a fertility goddess named Ēostre (from which we get our word “Easter”)? (2) Does the traditional ecclesiastical year serve God’s purposes adequately – or does it indeed obscure God’s purposes? Surely the answer to this is “No”. We should mark Passover – when the sins of mankind pass-over those who place their trust and faith in Messiah Jesus

There are two awkward questions that modern Christians are beginning to ask: (1) Is it in any way right or justifiable that the death and resurrection of Jesus is marked by the use of a pagan feast dedicated to a fertility goddess named Ēostre (from which we get our word “Easter”)? (2) Does the traditional ecclesiastical year serve God’s purposes adequately – or does it indeed obscure God’s purposes? The answer to this is certainly debatable – is your church debating it?

Interim Conclusion: God’s Moedim speak of every aspect of the ministry of the Lord Jesus – from pre-history to His return in glory We will pursue this through seven further slide-sets, looking at each of the biblical Moedim in turn

God’s Moedim – study materials