Keeping the Law - A Covenant with God

The argument goes like this, "But we can't keep the law perfectly." 

Have you ever heard this? Or thought this yourself? Many times hearing of someone who is attempting to follow Scripture's less popular instructions like not eating certain animals or recognizing that the Sabbath day is actually the seventh day of the week and not the first, calls to mind the words from James 2:10.

"Anyone who guards the Torah, and yet stumbles in one point, he is guilty of breaking it all."

Mostly we've heard this and thought, "Eh, there's no way I could do this 100% perfectly, so why even try?" Or, "I know I'm going to break it in this area so why go out of my way to keep it in another?" And that's been an incredibly unfortunate and incorrect way to view this passage.

Imagine if we carried this same logic to our wedding day, would we admit that we won't be able to love our spouse perfectly so we're not going to bother making an effort?

Despite our best intentions with our marriage there will be slip ups. Frustrations can lead to harsh words. Communication won't always be clear. Requests are easily forgotten. Actions can be hurtful. Frustration is inevitable in marriage and that's okay. I don't expect perfection from my husband and he extends that same kindness to me. It's okay that we aren't perfect spouses. Does that mean we should say, "Well I can't love you perfectly so it doesn't matter if I am faithful to you,"? Of course not! Realizing we are not perfect does not let us off the hook of the basics of how to treat your partner. Is a frustration from an honest mistake from your husband or wife different than he or she intentionally doing something you asked them not to? That's how it is for our Creator as well. Like in a healthy marriage, we should do our best to love and honor YHWH to the best of our ability.

Similarly, a business owner doesn't hire someone for a job expecting a flawless performance every week. But that doesn't mean the employee is off the hook with his work duties either. The employer holds the employee accountable to show up on time, have a good attitude and complete the tasks required of the job. Not being perfect doesn't mean we should neglect what is asked of us.

To go back to the verse from James, the point isn't that there's no point in trying. The point is that no matter how seemingly insignificant the instruction is to us, it matters to the one who gave it to us. Don't give yourself permission to break even the lesser commandments. Yes, slip ups happen sometimes. But as in relationships and job situations we are still expected to do our best. As with the guideline of marriage vows for how to treat our spouse, the commandments are given so that we can know how to live. Like with marriage, it takes effort on our part to have the best relationship possible with the Creator.

Menorah + Blossoms

It's a beautiful time of year and I decided to have some fun with it. I can't resist Spring weather or the smell of the apples blossoms and the lilacs so I set up a lovely little nook for some Bible study. It was a fun change of pace and so refreshing. There's nothing like reading in the sunshine.

Feast of Trumpets Scripture Reading List (Yom Teruah)

Here are verses to be read during the Feast of Trumpets, or studied in this time leading up to this day that YHWH asked us to set apart. Also known as Yom Teruah, or the Day of Sounding, Trumpets is a multifaceted day and there a ton of different Scriptures and topics that would be fitting to study.

As the main themes of the Feast of Trumpets are remembrance, and the sounding of the shofar it would be very appropriate to study each on this day. You could do a word study of all of the things YHWH or Yahusha say to remember. I did this as I was gathering this reading list and I would definitely recommend that. You could totally do some art journaling or another activity based on these verses too. Taking a look at where we see shofars and what they stand for throughout Scripture is also time well spent. Of course, a special emphasis on repentance is fitting for all the feast days and we would do well to brush up on a few verses about that.

Prophetically it is believed that the Messiah will return on Trumpets, which would be another great study topic! The return of the Messiah and the start of his reign here on earth. Many verses mention his return and the sounding of shofars together so we can easily see the connection to the Feast of Trumpets.

Here are a few of my favorites to read during this time.

Scriptures to Read During the Feast of Trumpets:

Leviticus 23:23-25 - instruction for this holiday.

Numbers 29:1-6 - instructions for offerings on this day.

Genesis 21:1-13 - a traditional passage to read. 

Genesis 22 - the sounding of the shofar is connected with the ram being sacrificed instead of Isaac.

1 Samuel 1-2:10 - it is traditionally believed that Hannah conceived during Yom Teruah.

Jeremiah 31  - Trumpets is described as a day of remembering and this passage is about YHWH remembering his people.

Psalm 98:6 - with shofars shout joyfully before YHWH.

John 15-16:4 - the Messiah instructs us to remember these words.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 - this significant event could be happening during a future Feast of Trumpets.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 - The Messiah will return during a blast of the shofar.

Revelation 8-11 - the seven shofar blasts.

More on the Feast of Trumpets:
The Beginner's Guide to the Feast of Trumpets
The Meaning of Yom Teruah
The Significance of the Shofar During Trumpets

Quitting Christmas Q+A

For the first 20 years of my life I was an enthusiastic Christmas celebrator. Christmas was special to me and I felt it had spiritual significance. My family loved celebrating the birth of our Messiah. We never did much with Santa and our family emphasized that the point of this season was Yahusha. We meant well.

Of course, Scripture doesn't teach that we can do what we want as long as we have good intentions. As with Hanukkah, there are no passages of Scripture telling us to celebrate Christmas, or even the Messiah's birth. Most of us have heard of the paganism involved in this holiday, so I don't want to take the time to extrapolate the pagan connections to Christmas, but I would recommend this video if you are interested in learning more.

I stopped celebrating Christmas and I know that most people don't get that, especially at this time of year. It's not a subject that most people are willing to talk about. I get that because I used to get defensive about it as well. I thought I would address here some of the questions I've gotten over the years about deciding to no longer celebrate Christmas. Sometimes it's easier to learn when you're alone with an article than when you're confronted by a person you disagree with. :)

Why did you decide to quit Christmas? It started with a prayer, "Take away things in my life that don't honor you." This was at a point where we had already made some changes in our faith practice, like observing Shabbat. Soon after this prayer lots of things about the origins of Christmas came up, and we also heard of many others who stopped celebrating after a closer look at the origins of this day. We knew that YHWH was speaking to us.

A big eye opener for me was realizing that most of the world, religious or not, believers in Messiah or not, celebrates Christmas. If other cultures and religions have no problem with joining in with our holidays, how 'faith based' can they be? Because outside western culture most people can see Christmas for what it really is, and that's not a celebration of the Messiah.

Was it hard to stop celebrating Christmas? Very! We didn't choose to walk away because we didn't enjoy it nor value it. It felt like something was missing when we didn't put stockings up or bake Christmas cookies, but we knew we wanted to follow YHWH. The first year or two is like working to lift a very heavy weight from your chest, definitely a difficult process and not fun at the time, but afterwards you feel so much better. Each year gets easier.

But I love Christmas! Yeah, I did too. The songs. Family gathering. Giving presents. Stockings. The classic stories. Favorite Christmas movies. Manger scenes. Me loving something doesn't equal YHWH's approval though.

But isn't Christmas in the Bible? Actually, many elements of traditional Christmas celebrations get a mention in Scripture, only in a very negative, don't-do-this sort of way. For instance Jeremiah 10 expressly tells us not to learn the ways of those who cut down trees and then deck them with silver and gold. The word Christmas, like Easter, does not appear in Scripture.

What about the 'Christmas' story? The Luke 2 story - angels appearing to Mary and Joseph, the shepherds in the field, Mary giving birth to Yahusha in a sukkah with animals - is absolutely a precious part of Scripture. It's unfortunate that many elements of this have been totally misconstrued. The wise men didn't arrive for a couple of years after his birth. The shepherds didn't have their sheep grazing on winter's snow. The date was certainly not December 25. And the name that the angel declared the Messiah would be called was not Jesus. And of course at the time of the Messiah's birth no one in Bethlehem had a tree up in their home or told their children stories of elves making toys on the North Pole.

Shouldn't we celebrate our Savior's birth though? Should we be grateful that Yahusha came to earth in the flesh to bring us correct understanding of the Word and ultimately to die for our sins? Of course! May we always be. That said, Scripture does not tell us we should and birthday celebrations aren't a Hebrew idea. The two or three birthdays Scripture mentions (Pharaoh, King Herod, possibly Job's son) all end in death. If you still find yourself wanting to celebrate his birth the appropriate time to do that would be when Yahusha was actually born, in the fall during Sukkot.

I know the Messiah really wasn't born in December but this tradition is important to me and I mean well. There is another story of a group of people that feared and loved YHWH who decided to throw a festival in his honor. Offerings were made. Time was spent making a beautiful decoration. They feasted on food and drink. They laughed and played games. How did YHWH respond to this? Was he appreciative? Did he say, "well it's the thought that counts"? He was ready to kill them. You can read about this incident in Exodus 32.

Can't God redeem pagan things? Reading through Scripture this doesn't seem to be his approach. He could have redeemed the golden calf (they did mean it as a celebration to YHWH after all - Exodus 32:5), but didn't and the people were punished. He could have used that temple of ba'al as a worship center for himself but instead had it turned into a public toilet (2 Kings 10:27). He could have re-purposed some of those asherah poles but always ordered them to be smashed. He could have told us to accept our culture but he said, "Come out of her and be clean."

What about the kids? Yes, making changes can be disappointing for children. Changing holidays is tough for all ages. But it's far better that children grow up learning truth and how to walk in YHWH's ways, than to be blinded by cultural lies in the name of fun. Not celebrating Christmas doesn't mean you have to be miserable though. Replacing pagan holidays with the seven festivals of YHWH can be tremendously joyful as you set apart his times. Plus, YHWH's feast days make up 19 days of the year, not to mention the weekly Shabbat. That's a lot more celebrating than the five or six days of cultural holidays.

Don't you miss celebrating it? My siblings both live out of state so I'm often nostalgic for days when my whole family is together, including at Christmas. There are a few Christmas songs that I really liked that I miss. Other than that, no. I don't find myself wishing my house was decked in red and green or anything like that.

Wait a minute, are you just trying to take Christ out of Christmas? Well, sort of. I think Christ should be removed from Christmas because, well, he doesn't have anything to do with it in the first place. I think it's sad and ironic one of the few causes Believers are willing to rally behind is this. Not the persecution of Believers in the Middle East, not the Ten Commandments being removed from public buildings, not the rights of students to be able to pray in schools, just that cups at Starbucks aren't plastered with the name of a holiday the Messiah didn't celebrate. I have yet to hear anyone who is upset about a "happy holidays" greeting complain that Starbucks doesn't go unleavened during Matzah Week or that no major retailer has a Shavuot section.

How do you feel when you see Christmas stuff? Okay, so no one has actually asked me about this but maybe it's something people wonder about? When I walk into an office with a tree up or visit a friend's fully decorated home or see manger scenes in the neighborhood my heart sighs. I think, there is so much more for you.

What's the best part of not keeping Christmas? My faith has grown so much by taking this tangible step to follow YHWH! It's nice to read through Scriptures like Jeremiah 10 and not make excuses for what I'm doing, and also to be able to relate to people like Ruth who left their culture to live YHWH's way.

Also, this sounds odd but seasonality has been something I've worked on lately. Things like eating the foods that are seasonally available, and adjusting sleep patterns with sunlight and so forth. And it always felt unnatural to me that during what is typically a cold and icy month we would travel so much, to stores and parties and so on. Having December as more of a low key time makes so much more sense to me. The lovely Spring and Fall weather of Passover and Sukkot is when I want to be out doing things. Does that make sense? It might not be something you can appreciate until you've been there.

What's weird about Christmas now? So many things, but mostly the Santa pictures I see on social media. Can we talk about how weird it is that suddenly handing your baby off to a random stranger is acceptable? Doesn't it seem unwise to teach your child it's okay to trust this man they don't know? Should college girls really be sitting on the lap of some guy in costume? The really bizarre thing is that my not-so-religious friends don't seem to care much about this but the ones on staff at a church or who went to seminary or Bible college? They are hunting Santa down! I don't get that, okay?!

How do family and friends feel about you not celebrating? Some have taken it better than others. But usually it's a range from confused to offended. And for that, I am sorry. The last thing I want is to hurt feelings. This change doesn't impact that I love the people in my life. I get why they enjoy Christmas, because I did for so long too. I just feel like YHWH has called us to better things.

How do you handle Christmas parties? On one hand, I definitely get wanting to avoid all connection to and appearance of celebrating Christmas. On the other, it does seem in John 10 that Yahusha was at the temple during Hanukkah festivities. Of course, he was not throwing the party or leading the songs or making the donuts. He was teaching truth. So I think a lot of this decision depends on what you would be doing at the party. Wearing an ugly sweater, giving a secret Santa gift, and just participating in whatever the Christmas party is doing is very different from the family reunion type of events where you can share with a pro-life cousin what is so horrific about a yule log. Obviously you need to pray and ask YHWH for direction on this, but chances are you will be less busy than normal.

How do you reconcile viewing Christmas as ungodly with good childhood memories of it? All I can say is that we did what we thought to be true at the time. 2 Peter 3:18 tells us that we should grow in the knowledge of Yahusha. Growth means changing. Just as a mature flower looks different than it did when it was a seedling, we can grow without resenting our past. My family celebrated what we believed to be was something that honored YHWH. Now that we know differently our lives should reflect that.

How about you? What kind of questions do you get asked? Is this something you're comfortable talking about?

Related posts:
Sharing Your Faith When Someone Wishes You a Merry Christmas
The Hebrew's Guide to Getting Through December
What C.S. Lewis Was Wrong About
Five Things Every Believer Should Know About Christmas

Shavuot Torah Study

An all night Torah study is a traditional way to celebrate Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks. Since the Covenant was given most likely at (or at least around) Shavuot, many people enjoy staying up all night reading and discussing the Word in anticipation and excitement of the fourth feast.

Certainly you don't have to attend a Torah study that goes through the night, but think of the wonderful opportunity to create memories with your family! For children staying up late is very exciting and indicates that something important is happening and is bound to be memorable. Rabbi Shaul once taught an all-nighter, and had a listener fall asleep and crash out of the window. He was dead but Shaul ran down and prayed and he was raised back to life! A late night pajama study or early morning Torah study with breakfast would also make this a special time.

Tips for a wonderful Torah Study:

-Have it at home or the congregation. Since Shavuot is a no-work day it is important that your Torah study is not held in a business, coffee shop, or library. While those are fine locations for study at other times it is inappropriate to do business on a Feast of YHWH. Meet in a home or at your congregation's meeting place if that's an option.

-Invite guests to wear comfy clothes. Let everyone know ahead of time that the dress code is relaxed. You could even host a pajama party study, so that everyone can go straight to bed when they get home.

-Be prepared for sleepers. If you are hosting families with young children have plenty of pillows and cozy blankets for those who fall asleep.

-Have coffee, tea, and snacks! And plenty of it if it will be a late night. Dairy, honey, and wheat are traditional foods of Shavuot. If you plan on serving breakfast a yogurt bar with lots of toppings would be fun and easy.

-Go over passages ahead of time. Grab a notebook and jot down questions or insights to share with everyone. This will help keep things moving if you hit a sleepy lull.

-Assign one person to do the Googling. The internet has many great resources for the study of Scripture, so don't be afraid to look things up as you go if you're wondering about the root of a word, a related passage, or whatever else. Putting one person in charge will keep things from turning into a 'look at your phone' party.

-Take breaks. Plan on having some time for bathroom breaks, making more tea, playing a game (maybe the Bible version of Apples To Apples?), and just chatting and catching up with friends. If you have art supplies you could set up a Scripture journaling station where guests can get creative illustrating a favorite verse. You could also watch or listen to a related teaching online to mix things up.

-Light the menorah. Having a lit menorah would be a festive touch to the evening. You could also decorate with balloons, bunting, streamers, etc. for more fun. Grab a free printable for Shavuot here.

-Have crafts for kids. While I don't think children should be separated from the Torah study, depending on their ages having a Ten Commandments or Ruach HaKodesh craft or two will help keep them connected to what's happening. You could also invite kids to share the stories they know from Scripture with the group.

-Take turns reading aloud and compare. This is a great way to get the less talkative involved and gives everyone else a chance to rest their voice. If you have different versions of Scripture available, reading the same passage in each can give helpful insight to better understanding a verse.

Speaking of verses, here is a list of passages to read during Shavuot, whether or not you find yourself at a late night Torah study. Some of these are traditional, some are where we see this feast celebrated in Scripture, and some I think are especially fitting during this time. Of course there are no wrong passages of the Torah to study, use these as a starting point.

What Scriptures to read during Shavuot?

Shemot 19-20 - the giving of the Covenant after the Israelites left Egypt.
Vayikra 23:14-22 - this passage is about Shavuot itself.
Deuteronomy 14-16 - this passage also goes over the Festivals of YHWH.
Ten Commandments - this is in Exodus 20:1-17. I like to emphasize these because of course the infamous Golden Calf story also happened around Shavuot, so it's important to know how to live correctly so we also do not break Covenant with YHWH.
Book of Ruth - this is traditional to read because the story takes place around the spring harvest time, like Shavuot itself. It also beautifully parallels the story of many of us who weren't born into a Torah based community but chose that path with the help of a redeemer. 
2 Chronicles 8:13 - Israel kept the Feasts under King Shlomo.
Acts 2 - this is where the Ruach HaKodesh was poured out on believers, just ten days after the ascension of Yahusha. It happened at Shavuot. 
Book of Acts - I love Acts because it is about those who lived both as followers of Yahusha and as keepers of Torah. This is the lifestyle we should have today.

What are you doing for Shavuot this year? We are a little over a week away so it's time to start planning.