A look at Isaiah 1:1-27 and John 4:1-5:47

[RabbiJames]

ISAIAH 1:1-27

The prophet has a difficult calling, he tells Israel of their unfaithfulness, sinfulness, and how they wander away from God, and Adonai has to put up with the sacrifices, and celebration of “new Moons” the High Holy Days. Etc. not that there is anything bad in celebrating them, BUT…. when these are done in the “flesh” and not with the heart, and because these are “things that you just have to do” then, God wants NONE OF THESE! Many people that adhere to “religion” go through “rites and traditions” just because they are used to “doing them” This in no way pleases Adonai, HOWEVER…when we do things with a pure heart, and with a spirit of “worship and praise” then…Adonai welcomes it. The LORD says through the prophet;

Come now, let us reason together, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool… IF…ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land” It is all CONDITIONAL!

We have the same choice, IF we choose to love and follow the LORD, by accepting HIM as LORD and Savior, then follow and do his commandments, following in his footsteps, THEN… we will reap the rewards, first is eternal life in Heaven, second will be spiritual blessings and perhaps even physical blessings while we are on earth, and even more, in Heaven. Again, the choice is ours to take.

JOHN 4:1-5:47

This tells the story of the woman of Samaria, who comes to the well to draw water and receives an even better blessing. She gets her water and even more, the “Living Water” She meets her “Messiah”. Interestingly, she is the first person who Yeshua reveals himself as Messiah, without riddles, just in plain words;

The woman said; “I know that the Messiah is coming, and when he comes, he will teach us all things” (John 4:25. Yeshua responds by saying; “I AM the one who speaks to you” In Aramaic it’s “Enah-na damalel na amehee” as this was the common language of the street then. Or one could rephrase and say, “It is I, (the Messiah) who speaks to you.”

Messiah Yeshua came for the first time to teach the Torah, heal the sick, raise the dead, and pay our sin debt with his own blood. He came as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world, to receive punishment and suffering on our behalf. He came as Yeshua Ben Yosef, the suffering servant. Yet he will return as the Lion of Judah, as Messiah Yeshua Ben David, to set up his kingdom, establish Shalom, and reign with perfect justice. we imagine Yeshua as all merciful and full of love, yet He is also the God of vengeance who will punish evildoers, and put an end to Satan and all who follow him by casting all evildoers into the Lake of Fire. Many don't want to hear that part, only the "God is Love" part, yet He is both.

No doubt she had a life-changing experience, she went to tell the others about Yeshua. Isn’t that what we are supposed to do? Receive Yeshua as LORD and Savior, then, tell the world, go and teach others to respond to the calling of Adonai in their lives. Is HE part of YOUR LIFE?

https://www.talkjesus.com/posts/476638/edit

 

[chunkofcoal]

I have a question.
It's written:
14 "Your new moons and your appointed feasts
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them."

So, when did He stop hating them? - "Your new moons and your appointed feasts"?

 

[RabbiJames]

Hello, and thank you for the question.

God is telling Israel in so many words: "If you are celebrating New Moon festivals and all the other High Holy Days in the "flesh" and just as "rituals" without a sincere and contrite heart, and not looking at these Festivals with meaning and with true joy, YES, they are MEANINGLESS, AND have become a burden to me. "

God is telling Israel, and us too, that if we just go through these appointed times as somethings we just HAVE TO DO, and celebrate them like robots, and just go through the motions, then YES, they become meaningless. And in God's eyes, we may as well not even celebrate them.

 

[chunkofcoal]

Hello, and thank you for the question.

God is telling Israel in so many words: "If you are celebrating New Moon festivals and all the other High Holy Days in the "flesh" and just as "rituals" without a sincere and contrite heart, and not looking at these Festivals with meaning and with true joy, YES, they are MEANINGLESS, AND have become a burden to me. "

God is telling Israel, and us too, that if we just go through these appointed times as somethings we just HAVE TO DO, and celebrate them like robots, and just go through the motions, then YES, they become meaningless. And in God's eyes, we may as well not even celebrate them.

Ok. Thank you.

 

[daq]

I have a question.
It's written:
14 "Your new moons and your appointed feasts
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them."

So, when did He stop hating them? - "Your new moons and your appointed feasts"?

The Prophet decisively includes the term "your", as in "your appointed feasts" etc., as apposed to "My appointed feasts", etc. He is pointing the hearer back to a secret in the Torah.

Example:

Before the golden calf incident:

Exodus 23:14-17 LSV (Literal Standard Version)
14 You keep a celebration to Me three times in a year:
15 you keep the Celebration of Unleavened Things (you eat unleavened things [for] seven days as I have commanded you, at the time appointed [in] the month of Abib; for in it you have come forth out of Egypt, and you do not appear [in] My presence empty);
16 and the Celebration of Harvest, the first-fruits of your works which you sow in the field; and the Celebration of the Ingathering in the outgoing of the year, in your gathering your works out of the field.
17 Three times in a year all your males appear before [the] face of the Lord YHWH.

After the golden calf incident:

Exodus 34:11-23 LSV
11 Observe for yourself that which I am commanding you today. Behold, I am casting out from before you the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite;
12 take heed to yourself lest you make a covenant with the inhabitant of the land into which you are going, lest it become a snare in your midst;
13 for you break down their altars, and you shatter their standing pillars, and you cut down its Asherim;
14 for you do not bow yourselves to another god—for YHWH, whose Name [is] Zealous, is a zealous God.
15 Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitant of the land, and they have gone whoring after their gods, and have sacrificed to their gods, and [one] has called to you, and you have eaten of his sacrifice,
16 and you have taken of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters have gone whoring after their gods, and have caused your sons to go whoring after their gods;
17 you do not make a molten god for yourself.
18 You keep the Celebration of Unleavened Things; [for] seven days you eat unleavened things, as I have commanded you, at an appointed time, [in] the month of Abib: for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt.
19 All opening a womb [are] Mine, and every firstling of your livestock born a male, [whether] ox or sheep;
20 and you ransom the firstling of a donkey with a lamb; and if you do not ransom, then you have beheaded it; you ransom every firstborn of your sons, and they do not appear before Me empty.
21 [For] six days you work, and on the seventh day you rest; in plowing-time and in harvest you rest.
22 And you observe [the] Celebration of Weeks for yourself, of [the] first-fruits of wheat-harvest; and the Celebration of Ingathering at the revolution of the year.
23 Three times in a year all your males appear before the Lord YHWH, God of Israel;

The feasts "unto Me", (Exo 23), cannot be annulled.
The feasts "for yourself", (Exo 34), may be annulled if we do not love Him and reform our way into His Way.
It is all about correct interpretation and understanding because they are obviously the same feasts.

 

[RabbiJames]

Amen, thanks for your comment.

 

[chunkofcoal]

The Prophet decisively includes the term "your", as in "your appointed feasts" etc., as apposed to "My appointed feasts", etc. He is pointing the hearer back to a secret in the Torah.

Example:

Before the golden calf incident:

Exodus 23:14-17 LSV (Literal Standard Version)
14 You keep a celebration to Me three times in a year:
15 you keep the Celebration of Unleavened Things (you eat unleavened things [for] seven days as I have commanded you, at the time appointed [in] the month of Abib; for in it you have come forth out of Egypt, and you do not appear [in] My presence empty);
16 and the Celebration of Harvest, the first-fruits of your works which you sow in the field; and the Celebration of the Ingathering in the outgoing of the year, in your gathering your works out of the field.
17 Three times in a year all your males appear before [the] face of the Lord YHWH.

After the golden calf incident:

Exodus 34:11-23 LSV
11 Observe for yourself that which I am commanding you today. Behold, I am casting out from before you the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite;
12 take heed to yourself lest you make a covenant with the inhabitant of the land into which you are going, lest it become a snare in your midst;
13 for you break down their altars, and you shatter their standing pillars, and you cut down its Asherim;
14 for you do not bow yourselves to another god—for YHWH, whose Name [is] Zealous, is a zealous God.
15 Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitant of the land, and they have gone whoring after their gods, and have sacrificed to their gods, and [one] has called to you, and you have eaten of his sacrifice,
16 and you have taken of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters have gone whoring after their gods, and have caused your sons to go whoring after their gods;
17 you do not make a molten god for yourself.
18 You keep the Celebration of Unleavened Things; [for] seven days you eat unleavened things, as I have commanded you, at an appointed time, [in] the month of Abib: for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt.
19 All opening a womb [are] Mine, and every firstling of your livestock born a male, [whether] ox or sheep;
20 and you ransom the firstling of a donkey with a lamb; and if you do not ransom, then you have beheaded it; you ransom every firstborn of your sons, and they do not appear before Me empty.
21 [For] six days you work, and on the seventh day you rest; in plowing-time and in harvest you rest.
22 And you observe [the] Celebration of Weeks for yourself, of [the] first-fruits of wheat-harvest; and the Celebration of Ingathering at the revolution of the year.
23 Three times in a year all your males appear before the Lord YHWH, God of Israel;

The feasts "unto Me", (Exo 23), cannot be annulled.
The feasts "for yourself", (Exo 34), may be annulled if we do not love Him and reform our way into His Way.
It is all about correct interpretation and understanding because they are obviously the same feasts.

That's a great point! Thank you! I can think of a couple other places in the prophets that the "unto me" and "for yourself" applies, too.

 

[daq]

Amen, thanks for your comment.

You're welcome, my pleasure.

That's a great point! Thank you! I can think of a couple other places in the prophets that the "unto me" and "for yourself" applies, too.

Yes, we find the same language in Amos 5:21-24, your feast days, your solemn assemblies, your oblations, the peace offerings of your fat beasts......

Your, your, your, (not My, My, My).

 

[RabbiJames]

We can also look at it this way; They are the LORD's feast days, festivals, New Moons, etc, yet He gave them to Israel, to celebrate, and to commemorate different aspects of the faith. It is like saying, 'This is the LORD's church, where believers come together, that's why, it is YOUR church as well, since YOU ARE a believer. MY church, or "Kehilah" is also YOUR Kehilah, because we have a special RELATION.

 

[chunkofcoal]

We can also look at it this way; They are the LORD's feast days, festivals, New Moons, etc, yet He gave them to Israel, to celebrate, and to commemorate different aspects of the faith. It is like saying, 'This is the LORD's church, where believers come together, that's why, it is YOUR church as well, since YOU ARE a believer. MY church, or "Kehilah" is also YOUR Kehilah, because we have a special RELATION.

Yes, but my question was, "when did He stop hating them?"

He also said: "Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow."
(Isa 1:16-17)

It's like in Isaiah 58 - their fast and the fast that He has chosen are two different things.

 

[Yusuphhai]

Matthew 5:20 For I say to you, If your righteousness is not greater than the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never go into the kingdom of heaven.

If one both takes part in Christian Church and Jewish Sinagogue，he can estimate. How many Christians have actually surpassed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees?