Q. What does it mean when it says to “know the Lord?"

A. This is one of the most important concepts in the Scriptures to understand. In Jeremiah 9.23 it says that if we are to boast we are to boast in the fact that we know Him. So, I am going to develop this out some to give you a better understanding of what is to “know” the Lord. In Genesis 4.1 it says that Adam “had relations” with Eve and she conceived. The Hebrew word for “had relations” is “yada” and it is an intimate knowledge. It doesn’t get any closer than that physically speaking. Now,  in a spiritual sense how can this be applied? In Hosea 2.20 it says that the Lord is going to betroth Himself to His people and then they will “know” the Lord. But, the Hebrew word for know is “yada’at.” It combines “yada” with the another Hebrew word for knowledge “da’at”. So, this knowledge is intimate and deep. But what exactly is it and how do we know if we know the Lord. Now turn to Hosea 4.6 and you will recognize this verse because it is quoted by people all the time but they do not recite the whole verse. It says “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge” and most people stop there. They say it in the context that you need to buy their book on health or prosperity because you don’t have this knowledge and need it, or some other contrived reason. But, is that what the Lord is saying? When you read it in Hebrew it says my people are destroyed for the lack of “the knowledge” or “ha da’at, so what is “the” knowledge. The rest of the verse tells you the answer. It goes on to say that because they rejected “the” knowledge the Lord was going to reject them as “priests” (Exo 19.6; 1 Pet 2.9), since they have forgotten the Torah commandments of God. Do you see what He is saying? The Torah commandments are “the” knowledge that the people rejected. When the New Covenant is in full force, which it isn’t right now, it says that God is going to write the Torah commands on our hearts and then we will “all know the Lord.”. So, in other words, the Torah commands are the knowledge we need to acquire and to obey if we are to know the Lord. It is the evidence that we really do know the Lord. In 1 John 2.3-4 it says that “by this (the keeping of the commandments) we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one that says “I have come to know Him” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in Him.” In other words, if someone says they know the Lord and does not keep the commandments contradicts himself, his walk is inconsistent with his talk. You see, all this is the work of God, not just a rote, mundane ritual of observance void of any real intentions of the heart. When one becomes born again, the Spirit of God puts the desire to keep the commandments in that persons heart, also called the circumcision of the heart (Deut 30.6, Jer 31.31-34). Then you will have the desire to keep the Sabbath, to get away from paganism and idolatry, to observe biblical festivals and to love your neighbor and to follow the Torah because it is God who writes these on our hearts, and that is how we know we have truly come to know Him.

Q. Why do some people say Rosh Ha Shanah is the head of the year, and some say the head of the year is really in the spring.

A. The term Rosh Ha Shanah means “head of the year” but it is not the Biblical name for the festival. The name for the festival on Tishri 1 should be called “Yom Teruah” which means the “day of the awakening blast (teruah) of the shofar. It can be found in Num. 29.1. You will see it in Hebrew and it is translated in English as a “day of the blowing of trumpets.” The confusion you speak of comes from a basic misunderstanding of the Scriptures, which I will try to explain briefly but much more can be said. In Genesis 1 God creates the heavens and the earth. The first day of creation is seen by many to be Tishri 1, day 2 Tishri 2 and so on. Others see Tishri 1 beginning on day 4 when He created the moon, but no matter which way you look at it, time began that first week of creation. This is referred to as the civil year and the dates given up to Exodus 12 are according to the civil calendar. That’s how you figure the years. So, each Tishri 1 is called a rosh (head) shanah (year) or “new year”. In Exodus 12.2 God says this (new moon) shall be the beginning of months for you and He is referring to a religious calendar He is going to institute. The religious year begins on Aviv (Nisan) 1 with the new moon for that month. Every date given in the Bible after that will be according to the religious calendar. So, there are two calendars operating at the same time in the Bible, one civil and one religious. The civil year begins in Tishri in the fall and the religious year begins in Aviv (Nisan)in the spring. In Exodus 23.14-17 we see that the Lord commanded Israel to appear before Him three times a year. In V 16 He says that the Feast of Ingathering (Sukkot) will happen at the “turning of the year” and He is talking about the civil year in the fall. We know He said Aviv (Nisan) is the beginning of the religious calendar, but here he says there is another new year in the fall, which is the civil year beginning on Tishri 1. He says the same thing in Exo. 34.22 and Deut 14.28 so there is no mistake about it. We will see the two calendars in action again in Joel 2.23 where the Lord says He will send the early and Latter rain “as in the first month.”. Now, you can’t have the rains in the spring and the fall happen “in the first month” unless there are two calendars. These two calendars will directly relate to the coming of the Messiah. When you look up the Hebrew terms for early and latter rains you will find that is says “moray Tzedekah” which means “teacher of righteousness”. So, He says the teacher of righteousness (Yeshua) will come upon Israel in the spring and fall., during the religious and civil new years. When you check the dates given from Genesis 1.1 to Exodus 11.10 they will be according to the civil calendar. Every date given after Exodus 12.1 will be according to a religious calendar. So, those are some examples of two calendars operating together in the Bible. How does this concept relate to prophecy.Yeshua appears during the spring festivals, is crucified, buried and resurrected all on the first three festivals in the religious first month of Aviv (Nisan). He sends the Holy Spirit at Shavuot (Pentecost), but that is not in Aviv but it is the concluding festival of the spring season. He will also come the second time during the fall festivals that happen during Yom Teruah (rosh ha shanah), Yom Kippur and Sukkot, at the “turning of the year” according to the civil calendar. So, to understand eschatology and prophecy one has to know that there are two calendars in operation in the Scriptures. The confusion comes in when people don’t understand that and take Exodus 12 to mean the civil year when it is only referring to a religious calendar that the Lord is instituting, not meaning to replace the civil one, but to operate along side of it.

Q. When reading the commandments, how do you know which apply today and which ones don’t?

A. When reading and studying anything in the Scriptures, there are certain rules to go by. A simple set of rules that will help are called the “7 Rules of Hillel” and they are quite common and have been used for several thousand years. These rules existed long before Hillel. He lived in the 1st century along with another man called Shammai. They were leading figures in 1st century Judaism and both were heads of “schools’ named after them. Hillel’s grandson was Gamaliel, who taught Paul. These rules of interpretation can be found in Paul’s writings and was possibly what he was referring to in 2 Tim 2.15. I’m going to list them briefly here but further research can be done on your own.
1) Light to heavy: If A is true B, then how much more is C
2) equivalence of expressions: An analogy is made between two separate verses on the basis of similar words being used
3) Building a father (truth) from one verse: One very clear verse is the foundation for a rule for all other similar cases
4) Building a father from two or more texts: two verses or truths serve as a foundation for a conclusion
5) general and the particular: a general statement is made and is followed by a single statement which itemizes a particular rule. For instance Genesis one generalizes, Genesis 2 particularizes.
6) An analogy made from other verses: Two verses may conflict, so a third is brought in that solves the conflict
7) explanation obtained from the context. The total context in which the verse or passage is found has to be considered in order to get the proper meaning.
Now, how do you apply these to what commandments apply today. Let’s take sacrifices for instance. Do they apply today? The answer would be no because there is no Temple or priesthood. They can only be offered in the place where God chooses to put His name. At this point it is Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem and only when there is a functioning priesthood and Temple, in particular the Altar. However, just because a commandment cannot be done doesn’t mean we shouldn’t study them and find out what the meanings are. The biblical festivals cannot be kept exactly either because they involved Temple worship and sacrifices. You see, Yeshua’s death has nothing to do with whether or not sacrifices are offered, it has to do with the Temple, Altar and priesthood. Paul and the 1st century believers offered animal sacrifices 30 years after Yeshua’s death (Acts 21). Tithing is another commandment that is not valid today for many of the same reasons. Tithing was done only if you lived in the land, made a living in agriculture and the tithe was given to the Levites and they distributed it to the priests, and the needy. I think it’s funny how false teachers will tell you that the Law is done away with then tell you to tithe, and people fall for it because they don’t understand how to interpret the Scriptures. On the contrary, eating a biblically kosher diet does apply everywhere and you don’t have to have a functioning priesthood or Temple to avoid pork. The commandment to not murder, lie, commit adultery, not cheating your neighbor applies everywhere. You just have to ask yourself “how can I keep this commandment” and implement it into my life and go as far as you can. So, here is what I would do in order to understand what to do. Find yourself a good, balanced Torah teacher who you can interact with. You’ll learn more and a lot faster than doing it by yourself. Remember you can only rise to level of whoever is teaching you. If you find a teacher who knows much, you will learn much. Secondly use the 7 laws of Hillel, in particular number 7 which deals with context. Study the verses over and over again, it takes a lifetime. Read commentaries about the verse or commandment being studied. Ask yourself if it’s possible to keep this today in light of living outside the land, no Temple, priesthood and other applications. You need to find some group of like-minded believers who can help you study and understand the scriptures. Start there and see where the Lord leads you.

Q.Is there going to be a new Temple with sacrifices and why the need for sacrifices if "Jesus was the final sacrifice?"

Q. I've been debating with fellow messianic believers and gentile Christians alike over the new Temple and the sacrificial system in the coming Kingdom. Could you settle the debate once and for all and explain two things. Is there going to be a new Temple with sacrifices and why the need for sacrifices if "Jesus was the final sacrifice?"
A. This question is very multifaceted and rather than go back and lay a foundation with your friends, I'm going to let the Scriptures answer the question and let your friends do the homework. First of all the Scriptures are full of verses that talk about the coming Temple in the Messianic Kingdom. In Ezekiel Chapters 40 through 48 this Temple is described. We know it's the Messianic Temple because it has never been built yet. So, by logic, it has to be after Yeshua came. Tell your friends to read those chapters. It gives the exact measurements of the Temple, it talks about the animal sacrifices that will be offered there and the festivals being celebrated, none of which include any of the festivals Christians keep like Christmas and Easter. The festivals talked about are found in Leviticus 23. That alone shatters their false notions. But, for fun let's go to Zechariah 14.16-21. This describes what happens after Yeshua returns and it says that all the nations will come up to Jerusalem to worship at Jerusalem during the Feast of Sukkot. If you want to see what the worship is, I refer you back to Ezekiel and the chapters given above and find out what biblical worship is. Then it says in Zechariah that a plague will be sent on any nation that does not go up to Jerusalem to worship. Isaiah 2.1-4 talks about the Temple being established and the nations coming to worship. Isaiah 66.23-24 says that all mankind, Jew and Gentile will come to bow down before the Lord on the New Moons and the Sabbaths and the context is after Messiah comes. I could go on and on with verses but if they don't see it after 11 chapters they don't want to see it. Now, why the sacrifices? The sacrifices only cleansed the flesh from ritual impurity but never the conscience, only God can do that by being born from above. They were only pictures of what Yeshua accomplished and went through on the cross, the bread offerings spoke of the Word and provision, the wine offered spoke of blood, marriage, covenant, teaching, joy and many other things. To say that we don't need those things now is like saying we don't ever need to go back and look at a picture we took of a vacation, or of a relative. We don't need to look at videos of our children when they were younger, playing soccer or whatever. The sacrifices looked forward to what Messiah was going to do, now they are reminders at what He did. Didn't He say "Do this (Lord's Supper) in remembrance of Me?" The sacrifices never did take away sin and were never meant to. Scripture is very clear about that. They were educational because they taught that One was coming who was innocent and would substitute Himself in our place and offer His innocence to God because we couldn't (Ezekiel 43.10-12) and practical because the priests and the worshipper could eat and drink many of them. The skins were given to the priests and he could use or sell them and so on. If someone believes that Yeshua's death did away with the sacrifices, they must believe they took away sin and both concepts aren't even biblical. Paul and 4 other messianic believers did animal sacrifices 30 years after Yeshua's death (Acts 21.15-27 Acts 24.14-21) coming out of a Nazarite vow ( Acts 18.18, Num 6.1-21). The messianic believers in the first century went to the Temple daily (Acts 2.46). Peter and John were going to the afternoon Tamid service (Num 28) when a lame man was made to walk. Don't you think that the next Passover after Yeshua died had a little more meaning as they sacrificed an innocent lamb and basically reenacted everything they saw and were a part of the year before? So, this should answer their objections and if it doesn't, refer them to our congregation and we can help them further.