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POSTED
28 SEPTEMBER, 2005
What Are the Lord's Appointed Times?
by
J.K. McKee
editor@tnnonline.net
One of
the first areas of Torah observance that comes into play when
people enter into the Messianic movement, and commit themselves
to a Messianic lifestyle, is that of the holidays.
The appointed times guide the yearly cycle of events that help
to form Messianic identity. Messianic Believers do not observe
mainstream Christian holidays such as Christmas or Easter, but
rather remember the Biblically-prescribed holidays of God’s
Torah, which are first fully detailed in Leviticus 23. This can,
unfortunately, be an area of high contention between Christians
and Messianics (because of misunderstandings on both sides), but
when emphasized properly, celebrating the God-ordained appointed
times of Scripture can be a great blessing—a blessing that many
have unfortunately missed out on. It can be a unique way of
testifying to others of God’s ongoing plan of salvation
history—the past and future redemptive acts involving Yeshua the
Messiah.
Many Christians today are aware of the Messianic movement, but they
are not really aware of what it stands for, or Messianic views
relating to the Scriptures. Some Christians today, however, are
fascinated by it, and such fascination often abounds in the area
of the Biblical holidays.
A
holiday, as we call it in English, is defined by
The American
Heritage Dictionary
as “A day on which custom or the law dictates a halt to ordinary
business to commemorate or celebrate a particular event.”[1]
Another definition provided is very simply, “A holy day.”
American holidays may include the Fourth of July or Independence
Day, Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day, Flag Day, or Pearl Harbor Day.
Each one of these days memorializes a particular event or group
of people in American society. If you are not an American, you
still no doubt have various national holidays that define the
important history and events of your culture.
The same is
true if we are citizens of God’s Kingdom.
As Believers in
Messiah Yeshua, we are all a part of the Commonwealth of Israel
(Ephesians 2:11-12) or the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16). This
does not just mean we are a part of Israel in some generic,
detached way. Be we Jewish or non-Jewish, we are citizens of
God’s Kingdom of Israel. Our King has prescribed specific times
when we are to come to Him, when we remember events in the
history of Ancient Israel, which in turn picture His plan of
salvation and redemption through Messiah Yeshua. It is the
heritage that we are called to take hold of in a very real and
significant way throughout the seasons of the year.
In this
chapter, we will briefly review what the Lord’s appointed times
are, and their importance for us today.[2]
End of sample excerpt.
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J.K. McKee
(B.A., University of Oklahoma; M.A., Asbury
Theological Seminary) is the editor of TNN
Online (www.tnnonline.net) and is a Messianic
apologist.
He is a 2009 recipient of the Zondervan Biblical
Languages Award for Greek.
He
is author of
numerous books, dealing with a wide range of
topics that are important for today’s
Messianic Believers. He has also written many articles on
theological issues,
and is presently focusing his attention on Messianic commentaries
of various books of the Bible.
NOTES
[1]
William Morris, ed.,
The American
Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (New
York: American Heritage Publishing, 1969), 628.
[2]
It should be emphasized that although
this chapter uses Leviticus 23 as an outline, it would
be inappropriate for any teacher or reader not to
recognize that throughout the Torah, and indeed the
Bible, additional instructions regarding these festivals
are given. Leviticus 23 happens to be the most
comprehensive Biblical chapter where all of the
moedim are listed.
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