We have received the following question, and several others like it in the last few weeks, so here is a short general reply:
Hello To Whom It May Concern:
Would you explain why it is not necessary to use Yahweh and Yeshua and why it is not necessary to keep the feast days! I would greatly appreciate it.
This question is actually two questions, though it seems when a person takes up one of these belief’s (the feasts) they usually take up the other (holy name) quite quickly. I would like to look at part two of this question first… “the feast days.”
In order to answer this question we must go back to when Jesus Christ our Saviour was crucified, and look at the events surrounding His Crucifixion. John 19:30 “….he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” What was finished ? If it was the completion of the “plan of salvation,” then we would have nothing more to do for salvation, which is what is commonly taught among many protestants. But, if this were true, then Revelation 22:14 would be a faults statement, “Blessed are they that do his commandments….” Because to do His commandments is definitely a process of action after the crucifixion. So how are we to understand this? Let us look at 2Cor. 3:13 “And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:” Clearly something was to be “finished,” or “abolished” at the death of Christ. Eph. 2:15 “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances;G1378 (ceremonial) …” So the “law of commandments” spoken of here is the law of “ordinance” or the “ceremonial law,” which is to be abolished. When we look to the Strong’s concordances for the meaning of “abolished” we find the following; “to be (render) entirely idle (useless) abolish, cease, destroy, do away, become (make) of no (none, without) effect, bring (come) to nought, put away (down), vanish away, make void.”
The Jews “were slow to discern to the end of that which had been abolished by the death of Christ, and to perceive that all their sacrificial offerings had but prefigured the death of the Son of God, in which type had met its antitype rendering valueless the divinely appointed ceremonies and sacrifices of the Jewish religion.
“Paul had prided himself upon his Pharisaical strictness; but after the revelation of Christ to him on the road to Damascus, the mission of the Saviour, and his own work in the conversion of the Gentiles, were plain to his mind; and he fully comprehended the difference between a living faith and a dead formalism. Paul still claimed to be one of the children of Abraham, and kept the ten commandments in letter and in spirit as faithfully as he had ever done before his conversion to Christianity. But he knew that the typical ceremonies must soon altogether cease, since that which they had shadowed forth had come to pass, and the light of the gospel was shedding its glory upon the Jewish religion, giving a new significance to its ancient rites.” Sketches from the Life of Paul p. 64, 65
Hebrews 8 clearly shows that the sanctuary here on earth is but a “pattern” verse 5, a sand box illustration of the heavenly sanctuary. “At the crucifixion, as Jesus died on Calvary, he cried, It is finished, and the vail of the temple was rent in twain, from the top to the bottom. This was to show that the services of the earthly Sanctuary were forever finished, and that God would no more meet with them in their earthly temple, to accept their sacrifices. The blood of Jesus was then shed, which was to be ministered by himself in the heavenly Sanctuary.” Spiritual Gifts Vol. 1 p. 161, 162 “The ceremonial law, given by God through Moses, with its sacrifices and ordinances, was to be binding upon the Hebrews until type met antitype in the death of Christ as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. Then allthe sacrificial offerings and serviceswere to be abolished. Paul and the other apostles labored to show this, and resolutely withstood those Judaizing teachers who declared that Christians should observe the ceremonial law.” RH, September 27, 1881 par. 3 This clearly shows that not only the “feasts” but all the ceremonial law was abolished at the death of Him who was to fulfill the first covenant. To go back to the keeping of the feasts, (i.e. ceremonial laws) is to literally reject the sacrifice of Jesus, making the statement that His sacrifice was not sufficient for all. By keeping the ceremonial laws today it is making a clear statement that they are looking yet for the savior to come the first time. Which by the way is what leads them to go into the “holy name” theory because they are rejecting “Jesus Christ” by the keeping of the feasts, and looking for another savor “Yeshua.” Now let us look at Acts 4:10 “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified…” Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” No other name! What part of that text don’t we get. NO OTHER NAME !
The Sacred Names movement itself began in the late 1930s as an offshoot of the Church of God, Seventh Day, being promoted by the messianic jews who are determined to destroy the “christian” faith. Their main focus is the use of the Hebrew name for God. Interestingly enough, among the proponents of this teaching there are at least 38 variations of how they spell and pronounce God’s Hebrew “name”! The name of Jesus is transliterated as “Yahshua,” but again – there are at least 55 variations on this name’s spelling and pronunciation among the Sacred Names groups! Doesn’t this fact strongly suggest that something is wrong with this idea, at its very foundation? The Scriptures tell us, “God is NOT THE AUTHOR OF CONFUSION!” I Cor.14:33.
If we are to call Jesus by his “holy name” then why are there more than 300 names used for “Jesus” through the Bible? Here are a few examples.
Shiloh—Genesis 49:10; Stone of Israel—Genesis 49:24; A Star—Numbers 24:17; Counsellor—Isaiah 9:6; Prince of peace—Isaiah 9:6; Root of Jesse—Isaiah 11:10; Lamb of God—John 1:29; Spiritual Rock—1 Corinthians 10:4;
Let us look at a little more evidence though, on this whole feast question. “The rending of the vail of the temple showed that the Jewish sacrifices and ordinances would no longer be received… The Jews were left in complete deception and total darkness.1 They lost all the light they might have had upon the plan of salvation, and still trusted in their useless sacrifices and offerings. They could not be benefited by the mediation of Christ in the Holy place.” Spiritual Gifts Vol. 1 p. 170 Note, that it is not only the sacrifices (the slaying of a Lamb) but the ordinances (the other ceremonial services) that are no longer received by God… The messianic Jews of today which have come into “Christianity” with “another gospel” see; 2Co 11:4; Gal 1:6, 7 are efficiently doing the work of Satan. By spiritually speaking taking many back to the “courtyard” services of the sanctuary. If we don’t follow Jesus into the “Most Holy”2 we will not receive the Salvation of “Jesus Christ.”
When Satan once finds a deception that is effective he rarely gives it up.
“Satan rejoiced that the Jews were safe in his snare. They still continued their useless forms, their sacrifices and ordinances. As Jesus hung upon the cross, and cried, It is finished, the vail of the temple was rent in twain, from the top to the bottom, to signify that God would no longer meet with the priests in the temple, to accept their sacrifices and ordinances; and also to show that the partition wall was broken down between the Jews and the Gentiles. Jesus had made an offering of himself for both, and if saved at all, both must believe in Jesus3 as the only offering for sin, and the Saviour of the world.” Spiritual Gifts vol. 1 p. 102
“It is Satan’s studied effort to divert the minds of men from the one way of salvation, —faith in Christ, and obedience to the law of God. In every age the arch-enemy adapts his temptations to the prejudices or inclinations of the people. In apostolic times he led the Jews to exalt the ceremonial law, and reject Christ;4 at the present day he induces many professed Christians, under the pretense of honoring Christ, to cast contempt upon the moral law, and teach that its precepts may be transgressed with impunity. It is the duty of every faithful servant of God, to firmly and decidedly withstand these perverters of the faith, and to fearlessly expose their errors by the word of truth.” Sketches from the Life of Paul p. 192
Heb. 8:6 “But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” It is because the veil has been rent that men can draw nigh to God. They need not depend on priest or ceremonial sacrifice. Liberty is given to all to go directly to God through a personal Saviour.” MS 148, 1897
For much more detailed information on this subject please read our publication “Stepping onto the Enemies Ground” We hope that this short proof of the errors of these messianic jews will be the beginning of awaking those who have fallen into the trap of the devil, to come out into the light of “Jesus Christ” our only Saviour.
Foot Notes:
1 They the Jews or Messianic Jews are in complete deception total darkness they have no light to give to the Christians, because they have rejected the true messiah, and in His place put a god of their own making.
2 for proof of this statement watch this sermon “the Sanctuary through the Stream of Time found on our web site.
3Belief in Jesus, NOT in Yahweh, Yeshua, etc.
4 To keep the feasts, is to reject Christ.