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.

Q. God brings us into struggles and battles. Why does He do this and how do we handle them?

A. The Lord brings us into struggles and battles to teach us something. It is an unpleasant business for sure, but that’s the way He does things. In Judges 3.1-2 it says “Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to test Israel by them (that is all who had not experienced any of the wars of Canaan: only in order that the generations of the sons of Israel might be taught war, those that had not experienced it formerly)”. You see, the Lord left some of the nations intact in Canaan because He wanted the inexperienced to learn about Him through warfare. He does the same thing today. He will purposely bring us into struggles and battles so that we learn how to fight and what it takes to win a battle. The problem is too many resist it and turn from the battle and run. If we don’t face the enemy and resist the Lord will continue to place you in situations and battles until you finally stand up and get strong in the Lord. That’s why some people keep going through the same struggles again and again. He wants to work out something in your life and you are going to have to stand and fight sometime, so you might as well get it over with. Israel today is making that mistake. Sooner or later they will have to realize who they are and who the Lord is, and fight His battles in His name. But they are trying to be political and they are afraid of the world’s opinions and certainly listen too much to the United States. Someday they are going to have all that stripped away, all their defenses will be of no use and they will be forced to turn to the God of their fathers for help and He will respond in a way they will understand. It’s the same with us. He will strip away our defenses until we acknowledge Him and turn to Him, so it’s better to enter the battle right away and learn what the Lord is trying to do. But, there is way to go to battle and way not to. First, we are to be obedient to Him before the battle begins. In Num 4.1-3 it says that they were to take a census from the sons of Kohath “from 30 years and upward, even to 50 years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the tent of meeting.” The word for “service” there is the word for warfare in Hebrew. In other words, as we are serving the Lord as He commanded, it is a type of spiritual warfare. The best spiritual warfare you can do is to obey the Lord and keep His commandments. Then He will be a shield and a buckler to you and drive out your enemies. What is taught today in many circles as “spiritual warfare” is not the biblical example. So, you will need to believe in the Lord and keep His commandments. When you have done that and a battle comes, there are several Scriptures I use. The first is found in 1 Sam 24.12. David had a conflict with Saul and he says “ May the Lord judge between you and me, and may the Lord avenge me on you, but my hand shall not be against you.” David left it all in God’s hand and did not seek his own revenge or justice, he left it up to the Lord. The second one is dealing with a battle between Israel and the sons of Ammon found in 1Chr 19.10-15. Ammon had hired the Syrians to fight with them against Israel and they surrounded Israel. Joab takes his elite forces and positions them against the hireling Syrian forces. Abshai is Joabs brother, and he takes his forces and positions them against the sons of Ammon. Joab says if you need help, I’ll come to you, and if I need help you come to me. After he has done all he can in the natural he says this: “Be strong and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and may the Lord do what is good in His own sight.” In other words, they have done all they can do in the natural to take on the enemies of the Lord, but what happens is up to the Lord. Well, the hireling Syrians took one look at the elite Israeli forces and they had no heart for the battle and they ran. When Ammon saw that the Syrians fled, they lost courage and ran also. The battle was never fought and Israel won the victory without a fight. That’s how we should approach our battles. Be obedient to the Lord, do what needs to be done in the natural and leave the rest up to the Lord. Having done all you can do, stand and be ready to fight and no matter what happens, leave it up to the Lord. There is so much more to the concept of biblical spiritual warfare but I hope this answers your question for the most part.

Q. In Zechariah 8.19 there are four fasts listed. What is their significance today?

A. These fasts are still done in many Jewish circles but they were never commanded by the Lord. In fact He has a very interesting take on them. These fast days commemorated the taking of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians. They were self-appointed times of mourning, which in and of themselves doesn’t make them bad, but they had become mundane rituals and a way to get God to do something for them. God sees them suffering without food, God feels sorry for them and owes it to the participants to grant their requests. But that is not how the Lord works. The key, from God’s point of view, on the fasts can be found in Zechariah 7.1-14. I won’t get into detail but the idea is that the Lord was not concerned over whether they continued the practice of fasting, He never commanded them to begin with, but over the reality of why the destruction happened . It was an empty ritual void of any real repentance over the things that caused the Temple and the city to be destroyed in the first place. If repentance was there, then the Lord would have found value in their fasting. The people needed to remember why the Temple was destroyed and repent, not weep and fast over the loss of a building with an empty ritual. In 7.9 He tells them what they should have done to avoid the destruction of the city by the Babylonians, but they didn’t do it. They hardened their hearts so that they would not hear the Torah or listen to the prophets (7.12). In Chapter 8.16 He told them what they should do instead of an empty, ritualistic fast. He then says in 8.19 that when genuine repentance is done, He is going to turn those fast days into days of feasting. This can be applied to us today in many ways. We tend to replace genuine repentance with traditions and rituals that make us feel like we are doing something or makes us feel good. Many fast for the same reason today, they feel that God must respond to their suffering, or what they have given up when He doesn’t have to respond to anything if he chooses not to.. These fasts would not even have been necessary had the people obeyed the Lord in the first place. That should have been the conclusion the people reached. When we find ourselves in similar situations, go before the Lord and find out what went wrong so you can correct it. Sometimes fasting is necessary because it helps us focus on the Lord so He can speak to us about what the real problem is, but it should never be the main focus in and of itself.

Q. What is Romans 14.4-6 speaking about?

A. This chapter is dealing with several groups of people. In the 1st century, Gentiles who believed in Yeshua went to the local synagogue to learn the Scriptures (Acts 15.21). There were also Jews who believed in Yeshua in these synagogues who went back to Rome after Acts 2.10. Another group consisted of Jews who did not believe that Yeshua was the Messiah. These three group co-existed in these synagogues and with that came contention. Paul is dealing with some of these contentions in those synagogues and Romans 14 is continuing with that thought. In Romans 14.1 he uses the term “weak” to describe those synagogue Jews who did not believe that Yeshua was the Messiah (Rom 4.19-20, 10.2, 15.1)). The believing Jews and Gentiles there were not to pass judgment on their opinions. So right there he is talking about their oral traditions, not written Scripture which were not the opinions of men but the commands of God. In verse 2 he discusses the fact that some of the Jews would not eat meat or drink wine sold by Gentiles. There is Jewish law today that says the same thing. That was a part of their “halakah” or how to walk their faith before the Lord and this was an oral law. So, they would just eat vegetables because vegetables could not be considered ritually unclean (Dan 1.8-16). This offended the believing Gentiles and Paul was telling them not to be offended. He is telling those who are “strong” (have faith in Yeshua –Rom 4.19-20, 15.1)) not to look with contempt on those who do not eat meat from Gentiles because God accepts the actions of the weak and the strong. They are serving God the best they know how and it is their opinion that their actions were correct, so leave them alone. God will make their actions stand or fall, in other words reveal truth to them eventually. In v5 he talks about certain days they regarded over other days. This has nothing to do with Sabbath days or biblical festivals, everyone in the synagogue agreed about those because they were not the opinions of men but written by God Himself. These days were certain days regarded by the synagogue Jews there as being important, like certain fast days (Lk 18.11-12). Others there didn’t regard them as that important. What Paul is saying is when it comes to certain traditions, let each man do what he considers right, and not to judge the other about it. After all, each person does it to the Lord so let the Lord deal with it. A modern example would be candle-lighting in Friday nights. There is no commandment to light candles and some do it and others do not. Those that do should not force others to do it or look down on them for not doing it, and those that don’t should not try to convince the others that they shouldn’t do it. When a tradition does not violate the Torah, it’s permissible to do it but it should not be imposed on others one way or the other. There are many traditions like that, and many different variations on how to do them, even today. On the other hand, if a man-made tradition violates or goes against written Scripture, then that is a different story and that is not what Paul is talking about. Modern examples of this is Sunday “Sabbath” over Saturday. The Scriptures are clear that Saturday is the Sabbath. Another issue is eating pork or not. Some will take these verses to justify eating pork and one should not judge the other. But again, the Scriptures are clear about eating pork and it is sin. If we are not to judge one another when it comes to sin you could never raise a child. If your child tells a lie, are we to judge it and deal with it, correct it or just let it go. Of course not, and it’s the same with any other clear commandment God gave. I’ve seen preachers get on homosexuals and quote Leviticus, then turn around and eat pork and tell someone they weren’t to judge them about it. I guess it depends on whose ox is getting gored! So, in conclusion, this portion in Romans is dealing with how to get along in a congregation where unbelieving Jews, believing Jews and believing Gentiles co-existed and that we were not to pass judgment on another’s opinions on how to walk before the Lord as long as the opinion was not in direct conflict with the Scriptures. I hope this answers your question. Keep this in mind as you read the book of Romans and the different groups he is addressing.

Q.In Revelation 16.13 three frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet

Q. In Revelation 16.13 it says that three frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. What does this mean and how does that relate to us today?

A. To fully understand this we will start in 16.13 and go to verse 16. The Scriptures teach that good and evil will exist together in the Kingdom of God. God uses the demonic realm to achieve His purposes and one of the purposes is to test the earth, to test His people and so on. He will use lying spirits to do it ( 2 Chr 18.19-21) if He wants, God is sovereign. I am going to give my opinion on these verses and why. In the verse you mentioned, a similar thing is going on and it is completely under the control of the Lord. Satan, the False Messiah and the False Prophet are not running out of control in the Birth-pains, it is all according to the Lord’s purpose. In V 13 it describes the power behind these beings in apocalyptic language and symbolism. Frogs are used because a frog captures it’s victim by the tongue and so do false prophets. These three will deceive many by their “tongues” also. The next verse tells you it is the power of demons and their job is to gather the world together for a war. This war has been going on since Eden, and notice it does not say “battle.” It is an ongoing war and during the Tribulation it is going to be even worse. I don’t really see a literal “Battle of Armageddon” here, as taught in many prophecy scenarios. These lying spirits will try to convince the world to go against God’s commandments and to embrace replacement theology Christianity, or whatever religion is in their country. The key verse in understanding their purpose is verse 16. John says they will try to gather them to a place called in the Hebrew Har-magedon. Now, why did he say “in the Hebrew” and not just say it in Greek. It’s because there is something to be understood about this and it can only be understood if you have been taught from the Torah and the Prophets and the concepts found there. The Greeks didn’t have these concepts (Jn 4.22). The term “har-magedon” has been used before in Scripture. You will find it in Isaiah 14.13. It talks about Satan’s desire to sit on the “mount of assembly” (har-moe-ghed) and be worshipped. It refers to the people coming up to Jerusalem, to the Temple on Mt. Moriah at the appointed times (Sabbath/Festivals) to meet with God. So this term is used again in Revelation 16.16 to describe why these lying spirits go out to deceive the world. This term does not mean “Mount Megiddo” because there is no Mount Megiddo in Israel. This is a war over whose holy days are the people going to keep. Dan 7.25 says the False Messiah and the False Prophet will replace the biblical festivals with other ones because he wants to be worshipped on the “Mount of Assembly (har-moeghed).” The war being described here is over obedience to the Torah. These lying spirits, described as frogs (because of their tongues) go out and tell people that the Law has been done away with, Sunday is the Lord’s Day, Christmas is godly, go ahead and eat unclean meats like pork, lobster, catfish, and that is just in this country. He has deceived the whole world with many different religions. Satan doesn’t care what you follow as long as it isn’t biblical. And if it isn’t what God said, then by implication you are really following Satan, and he is now on the “Mount of Assembly” (har-moeghed) and that is what he has wanted (Isa 14.13) and that is what the verse is saying. Notice God uses an unclean creature like a frog to signify a demon, and there are people reading this article right now who eat frogs and say God says it’s alright! The war has always been over whether you will obey the Lord or not. So, in short, these frogs signify demonic spirits/teachings, who go forth and try to capture victims with their tongues. The place for this war is the “the mount of assembly” or true worship as described in the Torah (Jn 4.19-24). Do you follow the Lord’s festivals or do you follow replacement festivals? I don’t really see a physical last “Battle of Armageddon” here. That is part of the deception. People are looking for a physical battle when the real war is spiritual and it is over obedience to the Word of God. That is not to say there won’t be physical battles in the Tribulation because there will be, but there is something greater going on in these verses. The world is being prepared right now to embrace these three frogs, the theology is in place and growing and there are plenty of “frogs” capturing their victims with their tongues right now in any religion that does not follow the written word of God as found in the Torah.