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    Trimm Group Restores 'Lost' Festival - Chag Yeshua (The Feast of Deliverance)

    Posted by Lev/Christopher on November 16, 2009 at 12:32am
    in Festivals of Messianic Israel

    A messianic Group claims that it has 'rediscovered' a lost festival and that it will be celebrating it for the first time in 2,000 years. I leave you to judge for yourselves:


    There is an amazng and important festival on the Biblical calendar which has been lost and has not been observed for centuries. The festival was enacted in the 3rd Book of the Maccabees, but since this book was removed from the canon (along with the rest of the apocrypha), this festival was effectively removed with it. As the restoration of truth continues, one of the things that we need to do is restore this lost, biblical festival to our observance.

    What is the background of this festival? After the Battle of Raphia in 217 B.C.E. Ptolemy IV sought to enter the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem, but was miraculously repulsed (3Macc. 1:1-2:24). Upon returning from Egypt he seeks to punish the Jews there for his humiliation. He lowers their political status and seeks to impose paganism on them (3Macc. 2:25-33) and tortures and kills those that refuse to renounce Judaism (3Macc. 3:1-5:51) An elder priest named Eleazar prays for the deliverance of his people (3Macc. 6:1-25), YHWH intervenes bringing about the repentance of the king and the deliverance of the Jews (6:16-7:23) The Jews declared an annual festival called “The Feast of Deliverance” (Chag Yeshua) as an annual celebration of the salvation of the Jews in Egypt at this time. The festival enacted from the 8th to the 14th of the Egyptian month of Epeiph. The Egyptian calendar was a Solar Calendar and these days correspond to 19 August 217 BCE on the Julian Calendar and this was 12th Elul 3544 on the Hebrew calendar. This festival should be observed on the 12th of Elul each year.

    And there is another element in this festival for us as believers in Messiah. The Hebrew word for “deliverance” is YESHUA so we have here “The Feast of Yeshua”. The deliverance of the Jews from the hand of Ptolemy IV points us forward to the deliverance of Israel by the Messiah Yeshua. This feast gives us another important theme, Messiah and the deliverance of Israel.

    What do we do on Hag Yeshua? The text of 3 Maccabees tells us that the day was celebrated with rejoicing and they “were crowned with all kinds of fragrant flowers” beyond this we must simply reach to the festival theme itself. Obviously the festival should involve recounting the story of 3 Maccabees. Since the festival is in the summer (at least in the northern hemisphere) this points obviously to summer festivities. Modern activities could include barbeques and pool parties.

    In 2010 Chag Yeshua (The Feast of Deliverance) will run seven days beginning Aug. 22, 2010 .I want to encourage you to join WNAE and other Nazarenes around the world this summer as we observe this festival again for the first time in nearly 2,000 years.

    James Trimm
    Worldwide Nazarene Assembly of Elohim
    WNAE http://www.wnae.org

    http://nazarenespace.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2182335:BlogPos...


    If you look at the Orthodox Jewish calendar you will find all sorts of "Torah-Plus" festivals cluttering up the year. At the risk of being accused cynical, I have observed that in the absence of spiritual life there is a tendency in the Messianic movement to keep on adding 'more teachings' and 'more festivals' to keep up peoples' interest and involvement. Just because a Jew (or anyone else for that matter) invents a new festival to celebrate this or that event (usually a military victory or some well-known Jewish rabbi) does not mean that Yahweh sanctions it. This is how the traditions of Talmudic Judaism evolved (which Yah'shua sternly censured).

    Though Paul certifies our right to observe private things (like anniversaries) we have not been authorised to add to what Yahweh commanded to be observed religiously-speaking in Torah, even if 'extra' festivals that were added by man (or woman) - the Pharisees adding Hanukkah (a late Feast of Tabernacles) and Queen Esther adding Purim. There are only 9 mandated observances in Torah - the weekly Sabbath, the monthly New Moon and the 7 Annual Festivals.

    Chag Yeshua sounds very Christian/Messianic because Deliverance is Yeshua in Hebrew, but it is not.


    "Only he [the king] must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, 'You shall never return that way again' " (Deuteronomy 17:16 ESV).

    The fact that they're celebrating deliverance from a place Yahweh told them never to return to disturbs me. Not to mention, I've never been one to favor the practices of the Maccabees, especially after their own power-grab shortly after they regained Israel. Thus, I think 1-4 Maccabees nothing more than Hasmonean propaganda.

    Absolutely. The Maccabee books are essentially Pharisaic political tracts.

    For a very balanced and fair assessment of the first two books of the Maccabees, see

    http://net.bible.org/dictionary.php?word=Maccabees,%20Books%20Of,%2...

    DR said:
    "Only he [the king] must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, 'You shall never return that way again' " (Deuteronomy 17:16 ESV).

    The fact that they're celebrating deliverance from a place Yahweh told them never to return to disturbs me. Not to mention, I've never been one to favor the practices of the Maccabees, especially after their own power-grab shortly after they regained Israel. Thus, I think 1-4 Maccabees nothing more than Hasmonean propaganda.

    It should also be noted that the Hasmoneans definitely had their own political motives and were slightly Hellenistic themselves. As noted by Simon's seizing the priesthood, even though Yahweh promised it to the Zadokites (Ezekiel 44, 48).

    Furthermore the Talmudists already have a 'deliverance' festival (from Haman the Amalekite), namely Purim. And you can tweak Hanukkah around to make that a deliverance festival (from the Hellenists). However, Yahweh has already given us a Deliverance Festival and its called Passover. Do we seriously need three festivals to celebrate the same thing?

    Let's keep things simple so that we don't end up with dozens of man-made traditions to burden us down - here's a list of contemporary Jewish and Israeli festivals:

    Chanukah
    Chol Hamoed
    Day of Atonement
    Days of Awe
    Yamim Nora'im (Enclopaedia Judaica)
    Fasting and Fast Days
    Festivals
    Hakkafot
    Hillula
    Hillula de-Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai, The Festivity
    Holiday Foods
    Holocaust Memorial Day (Yom Ha-Shoah)
    Israeli Independence Day (Yom Ha-Atzmut)
    Al HaNissim for Yom HaAtzmaut
    Israeli Remembrance Day (Yom Ha-Zikkaron)
    Jerusalem Day (Yom Yerushalayim)
    Jewish Festivals in Israel
    Jewish Festivals 2007-2011
    Lag b'Omer and the Counting of the Omer
    Omer
    Mahzor
    Minor Fasts
    The 17th of Tammuz
    The Fast of Esther
    The Fast of Gedaliah
    The Tenth of Tevet
    Passover
    Purim
    Rosh Chodesh
    New Moon
    New Moon, Announcement of
    Rosh Ha-Shanah
    Kapparot
    Shabbat
    Shavu'ot
    Azharot, Azharah
    Sheloshet Yemei Hagbalah
    Shemini Atzeret and Simkhat Torah
    Attah Horeta Lada'at
    Sukkot
    Azeret
    Etrog
    Five Species
    Hakhel
    Hoshana Rabba
    Lulav
    Sukkah
    Ushpizin
    Tisha B'Av
    Av, the Ninth of
    Avi Avi
    Nine Days
    Tu b'Av
    Tu B'Shevat
    Twentieth Century Holidays
    Yom Kippur
    Kol Nidrei
    Yom Kippur Katan

    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/holidays.html

    And I thought the US federal holiday calendar was bad.

    Probably not as bad as the Catholic calendar, though.

    I was not originally a member of this Ning, but I did a search on "Chag Yeshua" on Google and found this thread, so here I am.

    Q: We already have two other festivals to celebrate "Deliverance" (Passover and Purim) do we really need a third?

    A: Although deliverance from slavery in Egypt is a common theme in Passover, Passover itself actually commemorates the redemption of the firstborn (and thus the firstfruits - firstborn and firstfruits are same word in Hebrew). Purim does celebrate the deliverance of the Jews from Haman's plot. However Scripture plainly (3Macc.) gives us a second festival called Chag Yeshua to commemorate the deliverance of Egyptian Jews from Ptolemy’s plot to kill them. YHWH must have his reasons, perhaps so that there would be a “CHAG YESHUA” for last days Nazarenes to re-institute.

    Q: Should we have a festival to observe the deliverance of Jews from Egypt when Jews were forbidden to return to Egypt?

    A: After the Babylonian captivity began, at the fall of Jerusalem, many Jews escaped Judah and fled to Egypt including Jeremiah and Baruch (Jer. 43). Their descendants became the large Jewish population in Egypt. Years later Messiah himself lived in Egypt during his childhood (Matt. 2). BTW these Jews were not delivered from Egypt, but from death… in fact in the first century there was still a large Jewish population in Egypt (Philo for example).

    Q: Isn’t 3rd Maccabees a Pharisaic treaty? If so, why should we keep the festival it proposes?

    I will treat this question in two parts:

    1. Is 3rd Maccabees a Pharisaic treaty?

    A: No. To begin with, whether or not 1st and 2nd Maccabees are not related to 3rd Maccabees which is actually a misnomer (There is no point in debating whether 1st and 2nd Maccabees are Pharisaic here). 3rd Maccabees does not actually deal with the Maccabees at all, but with another series of events that occurred among Egyptian Jews half a century earlier. There is nothing especially “Pharisaic” about the book of 3rd Maccabees.

    2, If 3rd Maccabees were Pharisaic… great! Paul said “I am a Pharisee” (Acts 23:6)

    1. Where does 3 Maccabees say it was Yahweh who commanded it? Likewise, under what authority is 3 Maccabees "Scripture" (and why didn't the Body of Messiah get the note? ;))

    2. Point taken. I had forgotten Yehoshua lived in Egypt.

    3. Get back to you on that, if I can.

    Another point: Whether or not 3 Maccabees (or Esther, for that matter) is Scripture is beside the point. The crux is whether or not Yahweh truly commanded a festival and just because there is a festival within a text doesn't necessitate a command to observe it -- in the same sense we don't sacrifice our children to Yahweh (Abraham/Isaac) or slice harlots in twelve pieces (Judges 19). The point of a narrative is to report, not necessarily make theological justification. To take narrative beyond its bounds is sloppy theology, in my opinion.

    Not Sure what your definition of "Body of Messiah" is. However for the record the Catholic Church is divided into four major parts:

    The Roman Catholic Church
    The Eastern Orthodox Church

    Te loosely connected "Oriental Orthodoxy" (Syriac Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, Eritrean Orthodox, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (India) and Armenian Apostolic churches)

    Assyrian Church of the East

    Of these it is my understanding that only Roman Catholicism rejects 3Maccabees. Eastern Orthodoxy absolutely accepts 3Maccabees as Scripture. It is my understanding that the six churches of "Oriental Orthodoxy" also accept 3Maccabees as canon. It is included as part of the Peshitta canon which makes it part of the canon of the Assyrian Church of the East.

    So as a matter of fact 3Maccabees is regarded as canon by hundreds of millions of "Christians", perhaps collectively the majority of them.

    The question for me as a Nazarene is how did this Jewish book become regarded as canon by ancient Christians? Clearly they had to have had it passed down as Scripture by their Nazarene forefathers, they certainly would not have adopted it from Judaism after the first century.







    DR said:
    1. Where does 3 Maccabees say it was Yahweh who commanded it? Likewise, under what authority is 3 Maccabees "Scripture" (and why didn't the Body of Messiah get the note? ;))

    2. Point taken. I had forgotten Yehoshua lived in Egypt.

    3. Get back to you on that, if I can.

    I would hope more seasoned believers would not regard how things sound but have confidence in the substance of their walk. The feast of the first born and Tu B'shvat for instance have deep signifigance in my view these days, hopefully tolerance some personal distinctions can be found among brothers. I am not mandated to bath but most folks are happy I do. "Unity in esstentials, tolerance in all else." Diversity is a good thing, thanks for bringing this up James, I hope things are well for you and yours.

    Secondary to the canon issue, where my concern lies is that you said "YHWH commanded it". Where?

    :)

    James Trimm said:
    Not Sure what your definition of "Body of Messiah" is. However for the record the Catholic Church is divided into four major parts:

    The Roman Catholic Church
    The Eastern Orthodox Church

    Te loosely connected "Oriental Orthodoxy" (Syriac Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, Eritrean Orthodox, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (India) and Armenian Apostolic churches)

    Assyrian Church of the East

    Of these it is my understanding that only Roman Catholicism rejects 3Maccabees. Eastern Orthodoxy absolutely accepts 3Maccabees as Scripture. It is my understanding that the six churches of "Oriental Orthodoxy" also accept 3Maccabees as canon. It is included as part of the Peshitta canon which makes it part of the canon of the Assyrian Church of the East.

    So as a matter of fact 3Maccabees is regarded as canon by hundreds of millions of "Christians", perhaps collectively the majority of them.

    The question for me as a Nazarene is how did this Jewish book become regarded as canon by ancient Christians? Clearly they had to have had it passed down as Scripture by their Nazarene forefathers, they certainly would not have adopted it from Judaism after the first century.







    DR said:
    1. Where does 3 Maccabees say it was Yahweh who commanded it? Likewise, under what authority is 3 Maccabees "Scripture" (and why didn't the Body of Messiah get the note? ;))

    2. Point taken. I had forgotten Yehoshua lived in Egypt.

    3. Get back to you on that, if I can.

    My point is that YHWH gave the canon, and the canon gives the festival....

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