Happy New Year! Shana tova!

Yahshua said his “Yoke was easy and his burden is light”, so why do we create so much trouble for ourselves trying to start the year on the right day? We know YHVH’s months start when the moon is just beginning to reveal itself (or better phrased…as He is revealing it to us). We know that the center of YHVH’s geographical universe is the Land of Israel. We know he wants us to dwell in Unity. So…shouldn’t we all agree that when the moon is first sighted in Israel (or could realistically be sighted with the naked eye if the sky were clear), that would be the ‘head of the year’?

So despite that the moon could have been spotted in California the night before last, it could not have been seen in Israel. Despite that many Hallmark and even ‘Messianic’ calendars had it pre-printed a day early… Despite the fact that Summertown, Tennessee was overcast for full days surrounding the true day…”We calls it as Israel sees it”.

What I love about watching the moon instead of the calendar on the fridge is the object lessons of grace, sovereignty, and community that reveal themselves (or better phrased…as He reveals them to us), when you care enough about HIS day-timer to look. My wife and I have come to understand that YHVH is a master performance artist. He wants us to be deeply impacted by His actions through nature, and our own actions by following His commandments. His people are called to become ‘performance artists’ as well as we attempt to portray His image, acting out His precepts for the world to witness; The ‘nations’ are supposed to be drawn to us, and the Jews are supposed to be jealous of us. Watching the moon and adapting our lives and schedules around His schedule is a perfect example of this peculiar art.

His Sovereignty: “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons and for days and years”. YHVH does not need to see the stars or the moon. Like the Sabbath, they were made for our benefit. How prideful of humanity to ignore these celestial gifts, in favor of our own calendars. Yet, while most of the world seems to be in a hurry to create even more artificial light to block out even the very light from these heavenly bodies (how’s that for Satan’s performance artists), there are those who are using every means necessary to track, anticipate, even “re-live” Biblical events through the lens of astronomy. Obviously the present creation has not yet passed away, so there must be more important events yet to come…all keyed to and revealed through these heavenly signs. The amount of white-out and cross-outs on the calendars of even well-seasoned Messianic believers is a sign of our willingness to adapt to His schedule, not pray He adapts Himself to ours.

His Community: As his set-apart people, we have a responsibility to join together in unity through Him. Since our brethren and sisteren (?) in Israel are the only ones who can confirm the actual sighting of the new moon, we truly rely on them to help the worldwide community set the standard. Like many parts of our restoration to the Torah, without the modern day technology to research the Scriptures, predict the night sky, and instantly connect with one another world wide, we would be stuck relying simply on imperfect tradition, rather than truth. As Daniel prophesied [in those days (these days)],“…many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase." While on-line communities may lack intimacy, they are instramental to the furthering of His Kingdom.

His Grace: The word for “new” as when used in the term “new” moon is really better translated as “renewed” moon…as the moon itself is obviously very old---as evidenced by all the dust. Likewise the same Hebrew word for new in Jeremiah 31:31 “"The time is coming," declares YHVH, when I will make a new [in other words “renew my”] covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, declares YHVH.” The new moon serves as a reminder that even though we blow it consistently with our attempts to mirror Yahshua’s flawlessness, our walk with him is a process. Every day we are transformed a little more…sometimes unnoticed to the naked eye. Even if we inadvertently, yet joyfully blow our shofars on the wrong day, if we are watchful we’ll notice around the time of the full moon that we were a little off and have a chance for a date calibration. His mercies are new every morning, but his grace seems to be renewed every two weeks or so.
With all the focus put upon the first of the Biblical year, it’s worth noting that this day is not an official “appointed time”. There is no commandment to rest, celebrate, or otherwise make a big deal about today. However, the 14th day of this month starts the actual cycle of YHVH’s Feasts, and you can’t count to 14 without starting at 1.

This got me thinking about the reasons that mainstream Christianity has completely ignored His Feasts, and replaced them with man-made holidays and pagan celebrations. As a wise man once said, “he who controls the language controls the conversation”. While contemporary Christians are becoming “seeker sensitive” and dumbing-down Biblical principles to enlarge their congregations, we followers of the true Messiah are still trying to reach our Greek-minded brothers with foreign words like “Pesach” and “Shavuot”. Here are some rebranding suggestions to help open the eyes and hearts of our Lawless friends and family.

Note: These are supposed to be light-hearted, so relax…

Try these catchy “Seeker Sensitive” names for YHVH’s Feasts:

Rosh Hoshana
Biblical New Year
Lunatic Calibration Celebration (get it 'luna'tic...)
Confuse a Jew Day

Passover
Remembering The Last Supper
The Worldwide Holy Communion Celebration
Let My People Go! Day
Come Out of Babylon Day

Unleavened Bread
Blood of the Lamb Freedom Festival
Bun Burning Day
Free Matzah!

First Fruits
Resurrection Day
Yes! Finally, Sunday is Biblically Significant Day!

Shavuot
Pentecost (not currently working as a brand - even for Pentacostals)
Replace our Hearts-of-stone With Hearts-of-flesh Day!
Holy Spirit Day!
Restoration Day!
'Did we hit 50 yet?' Day.

Yom Turruah
Post-Tribulation (you’ll see) Rapture Day
What’s that…up in the sky… Day
Blow Like There Ain't No Tommorow (because you might be right) Day

Yom Kippur
Judgment Day (not so happy)
Oh-darn! The-Torah-keepers-were-right Day
Apologize to a Torah-keeper Day

Tabernacles
The Week Long Feast of Yahshua’s Birth
Millennial Reign Preperation Week
‘Dwell With Us’ Camping Week
Refugee Camp Rehearsal Week (maybe not so attractive)

The Last Great Day
The Last Great Day (You can’t change that---it’s too good!)
Creation Restoration! (invitation only)
Lake of Fire Day (no invitation required, BYOB)
Bind Satan Day

Feel free to send us your ideas via comments! That was fun. (Wasn't it?)