Weekend Meditation--No One Knows The Day Or The Hour

Matthew 24:1-35; Daniel 12:10, 9:27; Matthew 15:24, 8:11; Zechariah 14: Luke 19:10; Daniel 7:13-14; Ezekiel 34:11, 20:45, 21:7; John 1:47-48; Genesis 17:8; Zechariah 3:10; Hebrews 1:1-2; Colossians 2:16; 1 Samuel 20:5; Ezekiel 46:1; Isaiah 66:23; Psalm 89:37; Leviticus 23; Matthew 18:18-20; Acts 15; Colossians 2:17; Exodus 12:6, 12:3; Numbers 33:3; Deuteronomy 19:15; Revelation 11:3

We are walking in today: Weekend Meditation--No One Knows The Day Or The Hour


Witness be willing throughout the Bible: H14 'ava to be willing, consent, yield to, accept,

to desire

Genesis 24:5, 24:8; Isaiah 1:19; Psalm 110:3; Luke 22:42

This arrangement of the 613 principles, the law of our Lord God Almighty, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is from the book by Rabbi Ralph Messer, Torah: Law Or Grace? Kingdom Principles For Kingdom Living.  This book can be ordered online here or in the store if you are in the Denver area here.

The Second Commandment-Exodus 20:4-5 You shall have no other gods before Me.  You shall not make yourself a carved image nor any likeness of that which is in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the water beneath the earth.  You shall not prostrate yourself to nor worship them, for I am the LORD your God--a jealous God.
171. You shall not accede to one who entices you secretly--Deuteronomy 13:9 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
172. You shall not harken to one who entices you secretly --Deuteronomy 13:9
173. You shall not take pity on one who entices you secretly --Deuteronomy 13:9
174. You shall not be compassionate to one who entices you secretly --Deuteronomy 13:9
175. You shall not conceal one who entices you secretly --Deuteronomy 13:9
176. You shall not allow one who entices to do such an evil thing again in your midst --Deuteronomy 13:12 “If you hear someone in one of your cities, which the Lord your God gives you to dwell in, saying,
177. You shall burn in fire completely the city that worships the gods of others --Deuteronomy 13:17 So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand, that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers,
178. You shall not rebuild a city destroyed as punishment for idolatry --Deuteronomy 13:17
179. You shall not take anything from a city that worships the gods of others --Deuteronomy 13:18 because you have listened to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God.
180. You shall not plant an idolatrous tree--any tree--near the Altar of the Lord --Deuteronomy 16:21 You shall not plant for yourself any tree, as a wooden image, near the altar which you build for yourself to the Lord your God.


The question that we must ask ourselves today, Fiveamprayer is this--why must we keep His feast days?  We have been given in His word the description and timing of major events.  The disciples ask Yeshua when these things will happen, what are signs that we can look for?  In Matthew 24, He gives the answer and from the Western mindset we hear and understood that no man knows the day nor the hour, only the Father knows.   Returning the text to it's Hebraic context we find that this idiom or figure of speech well known to the disciples and much of Yeshua's audience would have understood from previous teachings in the Tanakh.  There would be two settings where no one would know the day.  The first is for the betrothed bride who awaits the return of her bridegroom to take her to the home that he has prepared for her.  This time frame was only designated by the bridegrooms' father.  The second the we will look at in detail is the beginning of the month, marked by the new moon.
The Hebrew calendar is lunar based instead of solar based like the Gregorian calender that is used by much of the world.  We have to remember when reading the words of Yeshua that He is Jewish and lived and raised in the Jewish culture.  This fact would better help us understand and return scripture into it's proper context.  The audience would have this framework for understanding that which He was teaching or referring back to.  
As the moon and the stars were given to us for times and seasons we find that there were two witnesses appointed to watch and give report of the new moon or Rosh Chodesh, meaning head of the month.  This task was of great import that if the new moon happened on the sabbath, they were allowed to come in to Jerusalem riding a horse which would otherwise be prohibited.  This allowance was waived for the importance of knowing the appointed time for His feast days and holy rehearsals.  The two witnesses appeared before the head of the Sanhedrin, questioned separately and once confirmed to be true the new month was begun with the declaration of 'sanctified'.   With this being the set point to begin the counting of the days for that month, to each feast days and the weekly Sabbaths.  The most important month to be calculated is the month of Tishri when the new year began Rosh HaShanah, the head of the Year.  This was a great celebration but was not able to be observed until the new moon was seen and confirmed.  Thus no man knows the day or the hour for it was only beheld in the sky--Genesis 1:14 (NKJV) Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years.  
The Hebraic culture that Yeshua is speaking to would have memorized large portions of the Tanakh and when He referenced the law, the prophets and the writings they would have understood what He was talking about.  This combined with the other Jewish writings that lead daily Jewish life and was set forth by ancient Rabbi's writings--gives us the detail that was observed in determining the appointed times that were to be observed by all forever.  These feast days or holy rehearsals are appointed by Yahweh, these are His days that He has given us!  This is not just for Jewish people, alone but all who are studying the truth about our Messiah and what was set forth from the beginning!
Without an understanding of Hebrew culture and idioms we miss the point of much of the text found in the Bible.  These faulty interpretations are compounded when we continue to build on the this base with more misunderstood scriptures and resulting in many conflicts and confusion.  Thank You Yahweh for giving us the question on Tuesday--what is truth?  That should be our question when reading scripture and listening to sermons.  For all that He speaks is true, if you find lies involved then it is the father of all lies, at hand.  Remember that He is the word made flesh to walk among us and will never disagree with Himself!  These feast days were so important that even Yeshua observed them, as was His custom--Luke 4:16  (NKJV) So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 
Just as we have earlier in Daniel who prayed three times a day facing Jerusalem with his windows wide open was his custom, we have Yeshua in the synagogue on the Sabbath according to His custom.  That seems like something that we can over look, but with a western mindset combined with less understanding of history, customs are not as highly valued as they were in the past.  It used to be that the customs of a people would tell you what country that they came from.  With the great melting pot of America those customs are not so easily seen.  The Hebraic mind is focused on custom which is part of the instructions from Yahweh:

Deuteronomy 6:4-9  (NKJV) 4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!  5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Joshua 1:8-9  (NKJV) 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Exodus 12:25-27 (NKJV) 25 It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. 26 And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’” So the people bowed their heads and worshiped.
They were to speak of His instructions that they got at Mount Sinai to their children, while walking along the road and in there homes at night. As He admonished Joshua for the book of the law to always be in his mouth and for him to meditate on it day and night. That when the time comes that the children will ask why do we do these things--the parents would teach them what Yahweh has done and the appointed memorial of His power and love for His people. This all leads back to the Hebraic mindset of custom. That which was learned, rehearsed and taught to future generations that the custom or ways would not cease.  When the church allowed the identity and culture of our Messiah to be purged of all traces of Judaism--it was to our detriment.  Without that context of the culture the understanding of scripture is not seen. As Paul warned us not to worry about those who judge you in new moons and other festival days was letting us know that Paul's audience was still observing those days.  It is not until later that we had the days changed--this was also warned in Daniel 7:25 against those who would dare to change the times and the law.  Why would these warnings be needed if there was not something that would come against His appointed times?  That we would cease in our rehearsals?  Why do we need to rehearse?  Could there be something that we need to practice over and over again for understanding?  Is the repetition done to show importance and value?  To hear this awesome teaching again click here.