Vayikra 2023: What Would “J” Do?

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NOTE: THE TRANSCRIPT IS NOT EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE RECORDING.

Israel has never kept Feasts consistently. Second generation had to be circumcised because they had not kept Passover in the wilderness.

Book of Judges has no consecutive generations, the 3 to 4 generations, that kept the Torah. No consecutive generations have of 3 or 4 have ever kept the Torah for 3500 years.

1- 2900 years ago, under Jeroboam, the northern House got its very own calendar. We read about this in 1 Kings 12. They have been defiling YHVH’s FEASTS ever since.

                HR teachers and leaders continue in their calendar error.

                Won’t stop even after being warned over and over.

                Like Jeroboam.

2900 years ago under the traitor, Jeroboam. He taught the northern House of Israel to go to a different place than Jerusalem.

1Ki 12:25  Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived in it; and he went out from there, and built Penuel. 
1Ki 12:26  Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to David’s house. 
1Ki 12:27  If this people goes up to offer sacrifices in Yahweh’s house at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me, and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” 

Jeroboam started a practice in the northern Tribes that they later carried with them into the religion called Christianity.

Jeroboam also caused the northern House of Israel to return to golden calf worship.

1Ki 12:28  So the king [Jeroboam] took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look and behold your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 

Oh! Beast worship. And not only beast worship but Jeroboam deliberately called the tribes away from Jerusalem. This is a practice that continues to this day.

2-People create calendars who have no right to. Usurp Aaron’s and YHVH authority since Aaron represents YHVH.

Who did YHVH appoint to open the beginning of the months? Who gets to declare when the months start?

Exo 12:1  Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 
Exo 12:2  “This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. 

Aaron.

How long is their appointment for?

Num 18:23  But the Levites shall do the service of the Tent of Meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. Among the children of Israel, they shall have no inheritance. 

The Levites here are all 3 families of the Levite tribe, both the line of Aaron and the Levites that YHVH gave Aaron instead of the Firstborns of Israel.

Lev 24:1  Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 
Lev 24:2  “Command the children of Israel, that they bring to you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually. 
Lev 24:3  Outside of the veil of the Testimony, in the Tent of Meeting, shall Aaron keep it in order from evening to morning before Yahweh continually: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 
Lev 24:4  He shall keep in order the lamps on the pure gold lamp stand before Yahweh continually. 

It is clear that Aaron and his descendants, and only his descendants, are YHVH’s timekeepers. They set the FEAST calendar and declare the new moons.

The line of Aaron calls the assembly to gatherings:

Num 10:7  But when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an alarm. 
Num 10:8  “The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets. This shall be to you for a statute forever throughout your generations. 

REGARDING the entire Torah, of which the FEASTS are a part:

Deu 4:39  Know therefore today, and take it to heart, that Yahweh himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath. There is no one else. 
Deu 4:40  You shall keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land, which Yahweh your God gives you, forever. 

When “they” sit in Moses’ seat, do what they say.

Who is “they”? Those who Yeshua acknowledged among the Jews who were in charge when He walked on the earth.

Mat 23:1  Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, 
Mat 23:2  saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sat on Moses’ seat. 
Mat 23:3  All things therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do, but don’t do their works; for they say, and don’t do. 

Well… We don’t like the Jews. Too bad. The people today were the same people in Yeshua’s time who sat in Moses’ seat! This group of modern Jewish leaders sit in the seat of Moses when they read from the Torah scrolls on Shabbat and they sit in the seat of Moses when it comes to the calendar!

3-What if “they”, today’s line of Aaron, is wrong and leads everyone astray? Read the Torah Portion.

Lev 4:1  Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 
Lev 4:2  “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If anyone sins unintentionally, in any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and does any one of them: 
Lev 4:3  if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him offer for his sin, which he has sinned, a young bull without defect to Yahweh for a sin offering. 

YHVH then continues…

Lev 4:13  “‘If the whole congregation of Israel sins, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and are guilty; 
Lev 4:14  when the sin in which they have sinned is known, then the assembly shall offer a young bull for a sin offering, and bring it before the Tent of Meeting. 
Lev 4:15  The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before

…Lev 4:20  Thus shall he do with the bull; as he did with the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this; and the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven. 

Let’s talk about the wise. Who are the wise people who will exist at the end of days.

Dan 12:1  “At that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people; and there will be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time.

Yeah, Yeshua said the same thing in Matthew 24:21.

Finishing Daniel 12:1…At that time your people will be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. 
Dan 12:2  Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 
Dan 12:3  Those who are wise will shine as the brightness of the expanse. Those who turn many to righteousness will shine as the stars forever and ever. 

What is the definition of the wise?

Deu 4:5  Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Yahweh my God commanded me, that you should do so in the middle of the land where you go in to possess it. 
Deu 4:6  Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who shall hear all these statutes and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” 

The wise are those who keep YHVH’s Law.

Who are the righteous that Daniel spoke about in Daniel 12:3?

Deu_4:8  And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
Deu_6:25  And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.

Deu 18:1  The priests the Levites, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the offerings of Yahweh made by fire and his portion. 
Deu 18:2  They shall have no inheritance among their brothers. Yahweh is their inheritance, as he has spoken to them. 

The righteous are those who do the Law of YHVH AKA the Law of Moses.

Look, the wise and the righteous are the same group of people who ONLY DO WHAT YHVH SAYS.

4-What if the men running the show are not even from the line of Aaron?

The High Priests from 3BC to 70AD were not always from the line of Aaron. Annas and Caiaphas.

Annas was appointed to High Priest by the governor of Syria in 6AD. Quirinius is mentioned in Lk 2:2, as the governor of Syria as the time of the birth of Yeshua. Annas was then removed by the Roman governor, Valerius Gratus in AD 15. Through political wrangling and bribery, Annas’s son and son-in-law became High Priests, according to Josephus’s Antiquities 18:2:2 and Luke 3:2.

This family were not in the line of Aaron. They were Sadducees. Annas and his son-in-law, Caiaphas, yet they were in charge of Temple operations. They also owned the markets on the Mount of Olives and inside the Temple complex, the very same market of money changers that Yeshua beat with a whip when He overturned their money tables.

What did Yeshua say when He overturned those tables and condemned the family of Annas and all who worked for Annas? Did He say, “You have ruined my Father’s calendar!”? No. He said they were making the Father’s House a den of robbers:

Mar 11:15  They came to Jerusalem, and Jesus entered into the temple, and began to throw out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and overthrew the money changers’ tables, and the seats of those who sold the doves. 
Mar 11:16  He would not allow anyone to carry a container through the temple. 
Mar 11:17  He taught, saying to them, “Isn’t it written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations?’ But you have made it a den of robbers!” 
Mar 11:18  The chief priests and the scribes heard it, and sought how they might destroy him. For they feared him, because all the multitude was astonished at his teaching. 

The chief priests were the High Priests Caiaphas along with his formerly deposed father-in-law, Annas, who ruled through Caiaphas behind the scenes.

And then what did Yeshua later do? He showed up on THEIR calendar for His own sacrifice! In fact, Yeshua showed up for every Feast on THEIR calendar even though they were not Levites or from the line of Aaron!

I ask you, then, if we are to be in the very image of Yeshua, what should we do?

We know when the Feasts are today because of a calculated calendar but people object because it was calculated by Hillel II in 358 AD. He was not in the line of Aaron. He came from the tribe of Benjamin on his father’s side and Judah and his mother’s. She was in the line of David.

Hillel II’s family was one of the last Jewish households, strongholds, left from the sacking of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The Jews had continued living in other parts of Israel being chased around from home to cave and cave to home by the Romans, trying to hide, until finally all the upper crust Jews were expelled leaving only some Jews from the working class. As a final way to keep the Jews together as a culture worldwide, Hillel II calculated the calendar so the scattered Jews would always know when the FEASTS were.

Here’s the conundrum. Yeshua showed up for the feasts on a calendar that was not overseen by the line of Aaron. We face the same decision today. We also face another decision which is the “where” question. You see, the Jews practiced keeping the Feasts wherever they were from their time in Babylon forward. Yeah, they were just like Jeroboam who taught the northern tribes to go anywhere but Jerusalem for YHVH’s Feasts. You see, the 2 Houses just mimic each other like YHVH said in Ezekiel 23.

So, when we do not observe the Feasts of YHVH like YHVH told us to, we not only put ourselves back under Jeroboam’s authority, we put ourselves under Rabbinic authority, too. Right where everyone says they DON’T want to be!

The result of Hillel II’s calendar for us today, in the end of days, for those who are returning to do keep the Law with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, is to understand that the Hillel II calendar has done the seemingly impossible. It kept the Jews together as a culture so that in YHVH’s timing, He could bring back the bad figs (Jeremiah 24:1-2) to do His bidding and fulfill His end times prophecies. So now, YHVH’s people want to dispute the very calendar that is making it possible for the end times prophecies to be fulfilled! What are we, nuts? Actually, what we are is still rebellious.

It does not matter who is in charge in modern Israel, YHVH wants a Bride who obeys Him at any and all costs. He will only be equally yoked, married, to this kind of people.

WHERE are the Feasts to be held?

Deu_12:5  But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:
Deu_12:11  Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD:

Deu_14:23  And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.

Deu_16:2  Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there.

Deu_16:6  But at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt.

Deu_16:11  And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to place his name there.

Deu_26:2  That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name there.

WHERE did YHVH choose to place His name?

1Ki 9:1  When Solomon had finished the building of Yahweh’s house, the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do, 
1Ki 9:2  Yahweh appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 
1Ki 9:3  Yahweh said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication, that you have made before me. I have made this house holy, which you have built, to put my name there forever; and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.  

Where did Solomon build the Temple? Jerusalem.

Solomon’s descendants continued ruling from Jerusalem. Manasseh was such.

2Ki 21:4  He [Manasseh] built altars in Yahweh’s house, of which Yahweh said, “I will put my name in Jerusalem.” 

2Ki 21:7  He [Manasseh] set the engraved image of Asherah that he had made in the house of which Yahweh said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever; 

YHVH declared to the prophet speaking to Jeroboam:

1Ki 11:36  I will give one tribe to his son, that David my servant may have a lamp always before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for myself to put my name there. 

HOW LONG will YHVH’s name be in Jerusalem?

2Ch 7:16  For now I have chosen and made this house holy, that my name may be there forever; and my eyes and my heart will be there perpetually. 

The Father’s eyes and heart are in Jerusalem perpetually even after His presence is reduced or gone.

Do you understand where the only authorized place for us to meet with the Father is during the FEASTS is in Jerusalem?

WHAT if I can’t make it to Jerusalem because I am still in exile?

Zephaniah 3:18  I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of you, to whom the reproach of it was a burden.  

He says He will gather those who have MOURNED for His Feasts. They have longed to go to Jerusalem for His Feasts but were not able to because of their exile. Not being there was, for them, a reproach, a shame! It wasn’t a call to celebrate just any ‘ol place on earth!

Here is an example of one who could not go to Jerusalem for Passover.

Daniel 10:2  In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three whole weeks. 

Daniel was mourning for something. What was it?

Daniel 10:3  I ate no pleasant bread. No meat or wine came into my mouth. I didn’t anoint myself at all, until three whole weeks were fulfilled. 

Daniel mourned for 3 weeks in the month of Passover, Aviv / Nisan. How do I know this time period was in the first month, the month of Passover?

Daniel 10:4  In the twenty-fourth day of the first month…

Daniel says this was in the first month. The first month is Aviv or Nisan and that is the month of Passover.

Why was Daniel mourning? He could not attend Passover in Jerusalem and He was mourning over that fact. He fasted through the 2 weeks leading up to Passover and through the entire Unleavened Bread week, too.

This is the timeframe in which the rabbis had taught the Jews to do the Feasts in their own homes, particularly Passover, against YHVH’s will. They had no problem going against YHVH’s will. It wasn’t about His will but about them forcing their culture into every situation and onto the entire world wherever they went. This forcing of culture on the entire world will culminate in the rise of Mystery Babylon so YHVH can finally destroy the wicked culture of the Jews, that “Jewish supremacy” doctrine that is indoctrinated into all Jews whether ultra-religious or secular.

YHVH has a promise for those who mourn, like Daniel, over not being able to attend His Feasts in Jerusalem.  

Zephaniah 3:19  Behold, at that time I will deal with all those who afflict you, and I will save those who are lame, and gather those who were driven away. I will give them praise and honor, whose shame has been in all the earth. 
Zephaniah 3:20  At that time I will bring you in, and at that time I will gather you; for I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says Yahweh. 

YHVH will gather His afflicted, His lame people and His exiles, especially the lame ones and the exiles who mourn for the moed.

YHVH says He will “restore your fortunes before your eyes”. What does that mean in the context of the Ingathering? It means He will give Jerusalem back to those who mourn. He will make it possible for them to attend His Feasts in Jerusalem. You see, Jerusalem is part of our inheritance. When we do not mourn over the loss of our inheritance, YHVH regards it as if we do not care about our inheritance. Why would He return an inheritance to someone who does not care about it?

What does it mean to mourn? Mourning is associated with fasting and repentance. Those who mourn eat no food and sit in sackcloth and ashes. This is common throughout the scripture. Not being in Jerusalem for the Feasts, then, should be a time of mourning and repentance for Israel’s sins and our own.

Why does YHVH’s people complain about being called to be in the capital city of their King? Why do we not want to present ourselves to Him like all good subjects of a King, especially THIS King, should? Don’t you know that even the angels have to present themselves to YHVH?

Job 1:6  Now on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, Satan also came among them. 

Interesting. The sons of God have come to present themselves to YHVH. This is after the fall of Lucifer. Who are these “sons of God”? This is an expression for the angels in scripture.

Genesis 6:2  The sons of God saw that men’s daughters were beautiful, and they took any that they wanted for themselves as wives. 

Back to Job 1:6. The angels of YHVH know they must present themselves on some kind of schedule He has made for them but we so-called believers in Him think we can present ourselves anywhere and everywhere WE decide and not where He decides? Think again!

It is part of our reproach, our shame, that we are in exile and there is no honor in celebrating the Feasts wherever we are on the earth. Rather, doing so is defiance, rebellion. The commandment is to go to Jerusalem. Not going is rebellion against YHVH.

Explain what it must look like to YHVH when He sees His people celebrating His Jerusalem Feasts anywhere they want. Do you understand that He is about to unleash a beast to be worshiped all over the earth because of our rejection of Him and His commandments, including the commandments to present ourselves to Him as a righteous people 3 times a year? Us doing His Feasts just anywhere we choose is the same as Christians celebrating Christmas and Easter and calling those pagan holidays by His name!

By the way, even in Jerusalem we are sorrowful because our King is not on earth ruling, we cannot eat a real Passover lamb or do the rituals YHVH gave to Aaron 3500 years ago. But we show up there because we are commanded to and we do the most that we can at every Feast.

Let’s take a look at a rebellious bride who refused to show up when called by her king. Look at what happened to Vashti for refusing to present herself when called by Ahasuerus in the Book of Esther. The rebellious wife, Vashti, was divorced and exiled and Ahasuerus got himself a righteous wife, Esther. Oh wait! That’s exactly the story of ancient Israel! If Ahasuerus wouldn’t put up with that defiance, why will YHVH? Isn’t YHVH greater and more deserving, more glorious in every way than Ahasuerus?

What if we can’t go when YHVH calls? Mourn for that fact. Don’t go your own way and celebrate.

But is it really that you can’t get there? Why? Are you not setting aside your second tithe which is for this purpose? Have you decided that other things are more important than the Feast tithe? Or you think you can’t be away from work, or mom or dad or kids for a few days? Really? Don’t say YHVH “knows my heart” in this matter where you don’t go to Jerusalem but you go someplace else using the same money you could have used to go to Jerusalem and party it up in YHVH’s name. Here is what YHVH said about the human heart:

Jeremiah 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

If you are not willing to do what He says during your natural life, presenting yourself to Him in Jerusalem for the Feasts, why will YHVH believe you will do it in the future, in His Kingdom?

Those who expect to be Ingathered to Yeshua’s Kingdom will all have one thing in common: They will desire to be in Jerusalem, the capital city of their King (even though it is currently occupied by His enemies, the bad figs) and they will mourn and repent at those times in which they should be, but cannot be, present themselves in Jerusalem, the place of His name and where He said His eyes and heart would be forever.

Some say we don’t have to go now, not until Yeshua returns. Let me ask you WHEN did the Feasts of YHVH get changed? Where is the scripture that says that? We ask that question about the Sabbath, right? What scripture says the 7^th day Sabbath was changed by God to the 1^st day of the week? Let’s use that principle for the Feasts. Where is the scripture that says YHVH changed His mind about His commandment? We needed to go while we were still 12 tribes in the land, and we will need to go in the Millennium, but in the middle we don’t need to go? YHVH changed His mind and then He changes it back again?

Mal 3:6  “For I, Yahweh, change not; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed. 

Heb_13:8  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Jas 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow. 

YHVH does not change His mind. The commandments that were given by Yeshua Himself, as the “lawgiver who is able to save and destroy (James 4:12)”, at Mount Sinai still expects His people to obey all that He tells them.

It should scare you to death to celebrate a Feast away from YHVH’s city, Jerusalem! Jeroboam started the northern House of Israel down the road to destruction and exile by rebelling against doing the Feasts in Jerusalem. Who thinks YHVH wants to marry a bride like Vashti who will not obey Him but who will do what Jeroboam did?

When you are making your decision to do ALL that you can to obey or deciding to slide by with excuses, ask yourself these 2 questions: What would “J”, Jeroboam, do, or what would “J” the Jews do, or what would “J”, Jesus/Yeshua, do?

Jeroboam would not obey, he would not do anything for YHVH. Yeshua obeyed in all things, even in going to all the Feasts, and gave up everything for us! What are we going to do for Him? And if we want to be in His image, shouldn’t we be doing what He did?

Jas 4:8  Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 
Jas 4:9  Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom. 

BARLEY

It is a false doctrine that Passover cannot happen unless the barley is ripe.

There comes a lament every year about the barley being ripe. The Talmud says that there were times when Passover came on the calendar but the barley was not ripe around Jerusalem. Why did this happen? Because YHVh said He would send the rain. And when He doesn’t send the rain, things get confusing at Passover.

Passover comes from a High Priest declaring the start of the month then counting 14 days. It does not come from declaring the barley ripe. There is no scripture that says the barley must be viewed as ripe before there can be a Passover.

The sheaves of barley are for Firstfruits, not Passover. That said, it was barley grain that was used for the unleavened bread in the Temple. Scripture does not say last year’s barley grain cannot be used for the cakes, however. But there are to be sheaves of barley for Firstfruits. And therein lies the problem. Firstfruits acknowledges Yeshua. It marks the day of His resurrection. If we don’t have sheaves, they cannot be waved and we cannot acknowledge His resurrection.

And we need a Temple for the waving of the sheaves. That is a Levite ceremony. So, once again, it is not up to us to decide the timing of Passover. It is for us to show up in Jerusalem. YHVH took everything away from us except HIS City. It’s as if He is saying, “Please do just this one thing that you have refused to do for 3500 years, which is to show up at the place of my name”.

The Temple Jews, in the past, used to grow barley on their roofs, water it when the rain did not come and harvest it from there when it was ripe so there could be sheafs.

In Jordan, our barley still is not ripe. Most of it is only a foot tall!

What are we to do? Are we supposed to listen to reports of barley ripeness from unauthorized men and women? Are we supposed to decide on our own when Passover starts? No! Then what are we supposed to do? We are supposed to show up in Jerusalem on the calendar that has been used from ancient times, the same one that was used during Yeshua’s lifetime, the one that was used every year up to 358 AD when the calendar finally had to be calculated because there would be no one in Jerusalem to sight the dark moon.

So what are we to do? Can’t you see that YHVH wants His people to repent? He often does not send the rain as punishment. This throws everything off for those who don’t know who is in authority in Israel – the Levites. They keep running around looking for ripe barley instead of showing when YHVh said to be there and REPENTING! You see, if Israel would just do what YHVH says, there would be no problems or controversies.