I have been studying the bible for more than thirty years and the understanding that I have gained by acknowledging his ways rather than “leaning unto my own understanding” has been astounding. As I have discarded, one by one, the vain traditions inherited by my forefathers and embraced that which Yehovah has instructed through his word, I can scarce describe the deep respect and awe that I have gained for my creator and the wonderful blessings he has bestowed upon me.
Through the shadow pictures and symbols he has outlined throughout the scriptures, he has revealed his glorious plan for our redemption. His Sabbath, along with his annual holy days, teach us that plan in a myriad of ways. The richness of each of them I am sure can never fully be grasped in a lifetime, for their meanings are deeper than the ocean, higher than the heavens. We can only glimpse their true glory as peering through a darkened glass.
The tabernacle in the wilderness, and later the temple in Jerusalem, also held within the very design and furnishings, a picture of Yehovah's dealings with man and our eternal redemption.
Alas, mankind has abandoned Yehovah’s reckoning of time, his calendar, his holy seasons and Sabbaths, his revelation, and replaced them with the ancient religious customs of long-dead civilizations. These are all vanities. Christmas trees and dyed Easter eggs cannot reveal Yeshua. They are as trinkets, mere costume jewelry in the face of pure gold. What divine revelation is seen in these customs? December 25th. is not the day of our savior’s birth, nor is Easter Sunday the day of his resurrection. If we had not abandoned Yehovah’s holy seasons, we would know this, for our savior's birth, death, burial and resurrection are revealed within them. Yeshua cannot be seen in a celebration of the ancient sun-god during the winter solstice. Nor can the ancient customs associated with the fertility goddess Ishtar (Easter) reveal anything concerning our savior’s sacrifice for us. No, his birth is seen in the Feast of Tabernacles, when he came to earth to tabernacle with man. His sacrifice is seen in Passover, as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of those who trust in him. His resurrection is seen in the events of the Feast of Firstfruits and His second coming is portrayed in the Feast of Trumpets. Yehovah gave these seasons to us that we might see and understand, that we might become a people prepared as a bride to meet our bridegroom and dwell with him for all eternity.
Only as we leave behind the dead celebrations we inherited from ages past and embrace the living oracles of Yehovah as revealed in his word, can we begin to fully understand the richness of his glory and majesty and the awesome future he has purposed for his creation.
