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PROPHETICCAL_FINAL

2/11/09

3:50 PM

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A PROPHETIC CALENDAR: THE FEASTS OF ISRAEL

your heart as you read this book. If nothing stirs, then perhaps the Lord is not directing you to celebrate them at this moment, and there is no moral failing, guilt, or obligation laid upon you by Him or by any other person. His love is unconditional and unwavering. All of these biblical celebrations contain deep treasures of understanding. They unveil the Lord’s intense desire for fellowship with His people, as living parables. They paint a prophetic picture of the Lord Yeshua’s eternal redemptive purposes on the earth. On the road to Emmaus, we see that the risen Lord Yeshua opened all the Scriptures to the two disciples, and explained everything to them which was written about Him in the Law and the Prophets (see Luke 24:13-32). Much of what Moses and the prophets wrote about Him was hidden in the feasts and their symbolism. It is no coincidence that the disciples did not recognize Yeshua until they sat down together for a meal and He broke bread and blessed it. We know the Lord through the fellowship of sharing a meal with Him. The feasts of the Lord point to Yeshua, and they give us specific wisdom into what He has done for us, a unique revelation that becomes visible only through the lens of these holy festivals.

T HE ROMAN C ALENDAR Most nations operate on a Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. This was a corrected form of the Julian calendar, as regulated by Julius Caesar. Obviously, both of these calendars are of Roman origin. Therefore, it is not surprising that many of the names of our weekdays and months are the names of Roman gods or Caesars (who were also considered gods). For example, the month of March is named after the god Mars, and January for the god Janus; Wednesday is named for Woden, the chief Teutonic god, and Thursday is for Thor, the old Norse god of thunder. Saturday is named after the god of agriculture, Saturn, and Sunday was named “the Venerable Day of the Sun” by Constantine in A.D. 321. Monday is the “Moon’s Day.” Why are we uttering the names of foreign gods every time we name a day of the week or a month? (See Exodus 23:13.)

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