Chag Shemini Atseret Sameach kol beit Yisra'el and Mishpachah and Shabbat Shalom - welcome back! Like the spring season of festivals which has 8 days, so too does Sukkot, only as we have seen the last two times, we are today meeting on the eighth day of the Tabernacles season which is the mirror of the first day of the Passover Season. The annual moedim start with Pesach (Passover) and end with Shemini Atseret. We have to tarry an extra day, anyway, as the first day after Sukkot (Tabernacles) finishes is a Sabbath and pilgrims would not be able to travel home on the Sabbath. But Shemini Atseret is more than just an 'extra tag-on' as its name suggests - it's the 'Last Great Day'. It, too, is a Feast Day, though whether it's a part of Sukkot or a feast all of its own is warmly debated. My answer is that it's both...and neither: it's the first day and sabbath of the Millennium so what better way to begin a new Æon than together with the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) and Elohim (God) in worship and fellowship!

Speaking of 'feast days', it occurs to me that I have never once explained what the Hebrew chag - which we translate as 'feast' or 'festival' - actually means. When in English we hear the words 'feast' or 'festival' our default thinking is that it's exclusively refers to 'a celebratory meal' and that's certainly part of what a chag is. But the word itself, like most Hebrew nouns, is derived from a verb denoting circularity of motion or form because central to the idea of a chag is that of dancing around in circles. This is distinct from the word moed (plural moedim) which is used to mean an appointment, specifically, 'a time and a place to assemle'. Yahweh's divine Moedim are special appointment times He sets for His people to congregate to meet together with Him. He makes these appointments once a week at the Sabbath, once a month at the New Moon (Rosh Chodesh), and seven times a year in the three of the four seasons of spring, summer and autumn (fall).

But a chag is more than just an appointment - a time to meet - as one might meet with a friend on a street corner at a pre-arranged time: the moed (appointment) for a chag (festival) formed - and still forms - an integral part of the true worship of Elohim (God), being prescribed or commanded by His qadosh, holy, or set-apart people in, and for, all generations: we always know where we are supposed to be on these days and what we are supposed to be doing.

These appointments and assemblies for worship distinguish Yahweh's people from those of the world. And nowhere does Yahweh ever command His people to weekly asssemble on Sundays (as orthodox Christians do), Saturdays (as Jews and most Messianics do), or on Fridays (as Moslems do); nor does He anywhere command us to assemble to celebrate Christmas, Hogmany, Boxing Day, Easter, Lent, Epiphany, Halloween, Santa Lucia, Valentine's Day, the various New Year's Days of the world like 1 January, Saints' days, 'Chag Yeshua' and the Jewish Rosh haShanah, Hanukkah, Purim, Lag B'Omer or the thousands of other 'festivals' man has invented (like mothers' day) with not a little demonic assistance. Yahweh doesn't attend any of them because He doesn't recognise them. He may be with certain individuals who attend them in ignorance, not knowing any better, and He may be with 'two or three gathered in His Name' (Mt.18:20) if they're doing so for non-idolatrous reasons, but that is all. Yahweh does not attend religious communal gatherings in His Name which He has not Himself ordained and He certainly does not attend communal gatherings which He has forbidden because that would be to condone outright rebellion and idolatry. They are an abomination to Him.

Nowadays more and more orthodox Christians are learning about the Biblical festivals and discovering the dark origins of their own are man-made ones, the result of the blasphemous redressing and renaming of pagan festivals. Some of them are even observing festivals like Passover in addition to their own pagan-derived ones. Likewise, more and more Messianics are discovering that many of their cherished festivals like Hanukkah and Purim are pagan in origin and wholly, or in part, manufactured by men, like Rosh haShanah, which is a false 'new year's day' substitute for Yom Teruah. Likewise modern Hanukkah has become a kind of 'Jewish Christmas' to compete with Rome's festival that has become internationally popular with almost everyone. Even communists and nazis used to celebrate it, as do New Agers and Wiccans from whom Roman Christian leaders 'borrowed' (stole) it.

The Hebrew chag, then, is something special and very different indeed from all other festivals. The Torah requires that all males appear before Yahweh-Elohim, in the place He chooses (which eventually became Jerusalem in the Old Covenant), once a year, during the three pilgrim festivals (Dt.16:16). No specific penalty for non-attendance was stated, with the exception of Pesach (Passover), which was a capital offence, like that of Sabbath-breaking (Num.9:9-13). Nevertheless, to neglect any of Yahweh's laws would bring national judgment and distress (Dt.28:58-62) in time. Of course, provision was made for those unable, for legitimate reasons, to attend Pesach (Passover) at Aviv 14 and such persons could attend a 'Late Pesach (Passover)' a month later. So that's how seriously Yahweh viewed - and still views - these divine moedim (appointments). The pagan non-Israelite nations were, of course, excepted, but as we saw last week on the first day Sukkot, in the Millennium, when the knowledge of Yahweh becomes global, all the nations are expected to attend Sukkot too (Zech.14:16-19), so the excuse by Rome, Constantinople and the centres of the Protestant religion that Yah'shua (Jesus) abolished the festivals just doesn't hold water. True, the death penalty for Sabbath and Passover non-observance has been cancelled by the death of Yah'shua (Jesus) on the cross because He has paid the penalty for Torah-breaches for those who repent, but His judgments still obtain, in other ways, for those covenant-people who fail to meet their obligations. Yahweh has not changed in His standards, nor can He.

People often ask me why only males were obliged to attend the pilgrim festivals, and why there was no death penalty for women who failed to attend Pesach (Passover). The answer is tied into another sacred principle that modern Christendom has largely rejected, and that is that of the obligations and responsibilities of male headship (patriarchy). What exactly is male headship? Male headship is a divinely, biblically sanctioned office that conferrs, amongst other things, a duty to represent not a husband's or father's own individual interests but those of his entire household, including his wife/wives, children, and other dependants like close relatives and any servants living under his roof. In Yahweh's eyes, because that is how He created it, a family is an organic unity where all share a common good - a 'good' both for the individuals within the family and for the 'good' for the family as a whole which, importantly, is always more than the sum of its parts.

That is also true for the chief unit of a family, which is a marriage. A Husband-Father is called to sacrifice his own interests - in other words, to be disinterested - in order to represent the interests of the whole. True husbands and fathers are not to be driven by personal ambition or self-interest but to take responsibility for the common good of the entire household. That is as true today as it was anciently even though it runs diametrically opposite to the secular heathen postmodernist culture of modern times in the West particularly. Satan knows how sacred the family dynamic is which is why he is at pains to destroy it in the name of a false and illusiory 'liberty'. The attack has since moved beyond an attack not only on the family, which is the basic unit of all stable society, but on masculinity itself [1]. These days the lie is being fed that all masculinity is 'toxic', including (and especially) that masculinity created in the image of our Heavenly Father. We agree, of course, that ultra-patriarchy and male chauvanism are 'toxic' because they are self-serving but equally we condemn feminism and matriarchy as 'toxic' too as they are equally self-serving.

OK, if we understand what a family is and what it is for, we had better understand what masculinity is too because then we'll understand better why it is under such ferocious attack today. Masculinity is what Anthony Rotundo calls 'communal manhood'. Communal masculinity means that a man is expected to rank duty above personal ambition, something I have spoken to you about many times before before. When I was young, this was a given, but today it is no longer so and must urgently be restored. A man becomes fully masculine by fulfilling himself through 'public usefulness' more than through economic success. The story of righteous King Arthur of Camelot exemplifies this noble principle.

One of the reasons masculinity has gone so adrift in our day is because until really the last century-and-a-half, fathers enjoyed the same integration of work and childbearing responsibilities that mothers did in their day-to-day life. Until the industrial revolution, production was centred on the family hearth. Fathers were a 'visible presence, year after year, day after day' as they trained their children to work alongside them. Until modern times, being a husband or father was not a separate activity to come home to after a day at work but was an integral part of a man's daily routine. Again, the reason Scripture mostly addresses men is because husbands and fathers are considered the primary spousal leader and parent important to both their wives' and children's spiritual and intellectual training - it isn't, as liberals and feminists claim, because the Bible is mysogenistic ('woman-hating'). What's directed to the fathers and husbands is supposed to be transmitted to mothers, wives, children and domestic dependants, and adapted accoring to their particular rôles. It's not because they were regarded as inferior or unimportant even if there were certainly historical periods when ultra-patriarchy, male chauvanism and misogeny defined much of the attitude of the nation of Israel in times of spiritual darkness and aposatcy, something that Yah'shua (Jesus) was at pains to address and correct, restoring the right order to where it had been anciently.

Nancy Pearcey accordingly describes each household as a kind of 'small commonwealth' headed by what the Germans used to call a Hausvater or 'house father', the equivalent of a 'house mother' part of being a 'housewife'. Historian John Gillis notes that in mid-19th century America, "not only artisans and farmers but business and professional men conducted much of their work in the house, assisted by their wives and children" and as a result "there was no difference between [the Hausvater's] time and that of his wife. They all ate and prayed together; they got up and went to bed on the same schedule." Not only that (and this may surprise some 'conservatives', so-called) but "males...were as comfortable in the kitchen as women, for they had responsibility for provisioning and managing the house. Until the nineteenth century, cookbooks and domestic conduct books were directed primarily to them, and they were as devoted to décor as they were to hospitality" [2]. This is something that we as Messianic Evangelicals try to cultivate in our families too whenever possible and is most certainly going to be the lifestyle of the Remnant when it is gathered.

Now this is, admittedly, just one period of history and in one location (19th century America) but it is a significant one. Moreover, the amount of time a father could be at home involved at a hands-on level, varied from profession to profession, yet he was there at least more of the time than he is in today's atomised world. One of the reasons I am passionate about home education (homeschooling), aside from keeping children away from the corrupt and politicised spiritual environment of the state/public school system - which as we know has essentially been taken over by militant atheists, communists and feminists, at least up until the early teens - is to foster this family unity. And I have noticed that children thus raised tend to be far maturer and wiser than those raised atomically. The 19th and 21st centuries are very different environments and Christians/Messianics face the very real challenge of maintaining family integrity when there is so much pressure now to break up the family and to destroy masculinity. One of the causes of the hippie 'cultural revolution' of the 1960's was 'father hunger' - absent fathers who put their careers ahead of their families in order to 'get ahead' in their ambition for more money. I also realise one can over-idealise earlier generational arrangements - two centuries ago there were very real challenges posed by back-breaking labour in an age before the arrival of modern labour-saving devices and domestic conveniences. It takes wise parents indeed to know how to navigate cultural change, especially as it becomes progressively more ungodly, and that is one reason why the Messianic Community (Church) becomes so important as both a buffer against, and retreat from, the daily encroachments of the beast system on personal life and freedomliberty

One 'good' thing about the recent 'pandemic' is that it is leading more and more people to work at home. That should be an encouragement to fathers and mothers provided they simultaneously have more access to their children, and not less as seems to be the trend. With more and more authority being stripped from parents (the fathers were disenfranchised in my generation starting in the 1960's and 1970's), and with financial collapse already a reality for many (as we're seeing for ourselves in places like Burundi), we now have the very real opportunity to save our families by reconstructing them along godly lines and to purse professions that once again place the family and community ahead of personal advancement. How the last generation navigates this remains to be seen but I am of the firm conviction that at some point (sooner rather than later), gathering together away from the main hubs of dictatorial control - the cities and larger towns - is really going to be the only viable option to prevent biblical family values being crushed altogether, and along with that all memory of what parenting actually is. With more and more parenting being handed over to the state, adults are rapidly forgetting what parenting is and are having to go to classes! That is surely one of the greatest tragedies of our times!

A reason I bring all of this up today is that Shemini Atseret is all about New Beginnings. One day it will be the day the Millennium starts but until then I believe it could profitably be used by the Messianic Community to discuss and consider how families, and family values, can be preserved and enhanced in a rapidly spreading demonic system where all that is good is being crushed under foot. Ask yourself this question: if white male Christian heterosexuality is now the object of 'demonisation', what's next? Well, we are already seeing the first signs of that. Only the other day I saw in a report how the anti-white neo-Bolsheviks in America are starting to turn on Hispanics. Next it will be Asians and then, finally, themselves until the human race exterminates itself in an orgy of self-hate...in reality, Satan's hatred of mankind. And what is Satan so upset with human beings about? Because they were given custodianship and stewardship over what was originally his planet, a right and responsibility stripped from him and those fallen malakim (angels) who followed him into rebellion.

The last generation is going to have to put a lot of prayerful thinking into this subject. I have taught you the true divine tavnith (pattern) or order for the restoration of Messianic Israel. There will be those who want to adopt an Amish-like pre-industrial age society model (you've probably noticed that the Amish are being persecuted by the neo-Bolshevik government in the USA now) or one that incorporates technology of some sort. It's not my place to judge how much or how little technology should or can be used other than to say that unless Yahweh's people are living as they are supposed to be, in obedience to all the mitzvot (commandments), and are truly trusting and surrendered to Yah'shua (Jesus), no new cultural models will be of any avail. The important thing is to rigorously stick to biblical tavnith (pattern) and extend it to every aspect of life, but you must also remember that our way of life will in large part determine the elements you might wish to incorporate into that model.

I am certainly not adverse to non-polluting high tech provided it doesn't become the 'main thing' and provided it does not impose itself or challenge those proven traditional skills that were life-saving before the industrial revolution. We should never become so dependent on technology that we forget the basic hands-on skills because technology could well fail in certain circumstances. If you can generate Tesla-type electricity, all well and good, but don't brick up your fireplaces - you might yet need them for warmth and cooking. Don't put all your technological eggs into one basket. Allow for diversity. If someone wants to live Amish-like, that's up to each individual family. Reliance, in the final analysis, cannot be on either high-tech or big muscles, but on the miraculous working of Yahweh-Elohim. Strike a balance in all things, allow for people to grow at their own pace and make their own choices. Don't assume that all men are alpha-males and so cater for only one kind. Yahweh created beta-males too. And He made of both genders ectomorphs, mesomorphs and endomorphs with different physical abilities. So if one group wants to use axes to cut wood, and another wants to use chain saws, and both are viable options in an Exodus setting or Final Gathering environment, then let each choose what works best for them.

The last generation may, in any case, find itself frequently on the move. The Last Exodus and Final Gathering need not happen exactly the same was as the first Exodus did. Some may indeed make one long protracted journey to the Holy Land constantly on the move. Others may move in small increments, as Yahweh leads them and accordiong to their means and health. At some point, though, being together will be important for safety, and the end-time Apostles-Elijah Prophets-Tribal Heads will coordinate all of that. One thing is certain: without the return of the cloud by day and the pillar-of-fire by night, as Isaiah 4:5-6 tells us will happen again, and without the supernatural covering of Yahweh - without proper holiness, consecration and covenant-keeping enabling that - no technological schemes can possibly prosper in the long-term. Without complete echad unity in the Ruach (Spirit) and proper, godly patriarchal leadership, disagreement and division will destroy any attempt to make the Remnant work. And though the consent of the governed is desirable and therefore important to make the effort to cultivate when practical, the Remnant will not be a democracy and will need to think 'biblical' again.

The festivals, then, are not only key opportunities for fellowship whilst bathing in the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) poured out especially at these times to bond the nation of Israel - and now Messianic Israel - together; they are not only major opportunities to worship corporately according to the tavnith (pattern) Yahweh desires to foster echad unity; but they are, most importanly, the way we show our loyalty and allegiance to our Heavenly Father, in the same way that Sabbath observance does (Is.56:1-2,6-7); for as you know, faithful sabbath observance is one of several signs of the covenant-elect. Do not be intimidated by the misinformed who accuse those of us who attend the fesivals of 'legalism' because in no sense are we seeking to obtain salvation by attending them, any more than Sunday-and Saturday-observers who religiously assemble on these days each week do. Kingdom activity, and the full salvation that prompts it, are two separate though closely related things that are often confused, or one of the two is neglected.

None of the male attenders were to ever come empty-handed to the festivals either but with a gift proportionate to the blessings given them by Yahweh (Dt.16:16-17). These were the times to make use of the 'second tithe' set-aside specifically for the festivals - a 'third of the tenth' like those given to the ministry and the poor, respectively, that we talked about yesterday. Tithing for these three things likewise shows our loyalty and allegiance to Yahweh. The Festivals tithes are used to defray the costs of travelling to festival venues, provide accommodation, and to cover the costs of food. Special attention was to be given to alien residents, fatherless children and widows (Dt.16:11,14) and so the pooling of festivals tithes - in part or as a whole - is certainly an option for local congregations planning festival gatherings. I am happy to say NCAY was able fulfil that obligation this year, and with simcha (joy) in our hearts, in the first of what I hope will be many short relief missions to Burundi and elsewhere during Sukkot. I know for sure that all who were involved were enormously blessed and were able to bring the spirit of Sukkot with them. If we can't bring people to Sukkot, we should take it to them as far as is possible on the non-sabbath days.

Finally, the festivals enable us to keep our minds on the Davar Elohim - the Word of God - and off our personal affairs. They are for the systematic enhancement of our spiritual lives, giving us plenty of opportunity for meditation, fellowship and discussion of Yahweh's Torah. All the moedim (appointments) and festivals broaden our knowledge of Elohim and give us opportunity to talk of His goodness. Increasing understanding and then applying it is part and parcel of worship because as we see more of Elohim (God) in everything, it gives us the occasion to appreciate Him and thank Him the more. They help us love not only one another in the covenant better but also to love our neighbours more, both believer and unbeliever alike. They help us promote clean or kosher worship. And such things can only produce happiness amongst Yahweh's people, and happiness, as we know, is infectious!

So this seems to me to be a fitting way to conclude not only the agricultural year (Sukkot also being the annual Harvest Festival) but the corporate spiritual year too. Another cycle is ending, remembering that the chag is a circle. The spiral has turned another 360 degrees and after the winter break, we shall return to the annual cycle again and, I suspect, to a very different world to the one we now live in. This winter will give us the opportunity to plan out our own direction come the spring. Many old plans may have to be laid aside for new ones. Don't suppose that the winter is a sterile time, mind you. Aside from surviving it, we have opportunity to seek the face of Yahweh to find out more of what He wants of us and to keep sharing the Good News. Thus equipped, we may harness our new-found knowledge and zealously step forth in safety, for as it is written:

"It is not good to have zeal without knowledge,
nor to be hasty and miss the way" (Prov.19:2, NIV).

This has been a special day for me already - or should I say, night - because for an hour in the middle of the night, I was in deep communion with Yahweh. I've been studying the life of explorer and missionary David Livingstone who served in the early to mid 19th century in southern Africa, opening up a large part of the continent and its peoples to the Gospel and fighting the slave trade. The story of the dedication, bravery and sacrifice of this man and other missionaries moved me to tears and I had a kind of a life review all in one sudden flash of deep emotion. Livingstone lost so many friends, and then his beloved wife Mary (daughter of the Bible translator James Moffatt), to malaria and dyssentry, that broke the heart of this burly Scotsman with a passion for lost souls. And though he went through dark times, and often wanted to go home to Yah'shua (Jesus), he persisted resolutely and boldly until his own life was claimed by the jungle. It made me more determined than ever to complete my own work faithfully as I hope you are determined to complete yours, giving your all for Christ and the Kingdom. Who else is worthier than Him? Where else could we go? So for me, this is, if not a totally 'new' beginning this Shemini Atseret, then certainly a 'renewed' phase in the autumn of my life. I want to use this winter to prepare for, and emerge on fire for, the spring and the first day of Aviv for my generation's last Kingdom-building 'cavalry charge'. I invite you to join us to be a part of that and its glory.

Tomorrow our visitors will leave for home and we shall return to ordinary daily life again. I hope this has been a productive and blessed time for everyone. Hopefully, as new blood joins us, we shall be able to expand the scope of Sukkot and the other festivals far more in the coming years. Yahweh bless you, may He invigorate you spiritually and physically, and prepare you for the exciting times ahead. Amen.

Endnotes

[1] The war against femininity began in the 20th century
[2] Nancy Pearcey, Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity (Crossway, Wheaton, Illinois: 2008), pp.328-329)

Comments from Readers

[1] "Brother Warren, there are no words to describe what a blessing you bring to my life. As usual your messagescarry such enlightenment and inspiring messages and so spot on for what I need as if you were talking to me directly. One of my deepest prayers [is] for you to have a miraculous healing. We need you in these times. Thank you, thank you!!!" (MW, USA, 18 October 2022)