TK Torah Keepers

Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness. (Proverbs 14:13 KJV)

Throughout the year we are commanded and invited to celebrate the various divinely appointed holy rehearsals, such as Pesach (Passover), Hag HaMatzot (the Feast of Unleavened Bread), Bichorim (Firstfruits), Hag Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks), Yom Teruah (the Day of Blowing), Yom Kippurim (the Day of Coverings), Hag Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles) as well as other historical celebrations such Hag Hanukkah (the Feast of Hanukkah) and Purim.  These appointed times are to be a time of gathering, celebrating, and rejoicing.  Feasts are to be happy times where we recall the mighty works of YHWH.  As the children of Israel, and believers in Messiah, these feasts serve not only as reminders of our history but also shadow pictures of the life and ministry of the Messiah.  It would seem that for those who are disciples of Yeshua the Messiah, these divinely appointed times and even the man made celebrations would be cause for the greatest measure of joy.

At Pesach we celebrate not only the great deliverance from bondage in Egypt, but we likewise celebrate Yeshua as our Passover slaughtering, who delivered us from bondage to sin and death.  At Hag HaMatzot, we celebrate our freedom from the tyranny and pollution of Egypt, as well as the purity of the body of Messiah who was not defiled by the rot of death.  On Bichorim we celebrate the “first-fruits” harvested for the first time in the Land of Israel. We also celebrate the resurrection of Messiah as the first-fruits from the dead, who entered the Holy of Holies made without hands and even now intercedes for us.  Hag Shavuot is the time when we celebrate YHWH giving us the Torah at Mount Sinai.  It is also the time we celebrate the out pouring of the Spirit upon the disciple of Yeshua fifty days after his resurrection.  Yom Kippurim is the day of national atonement where the Kohen Gadol enters once a year into the Holy of Holies to make a covering for the sins of the people.  It is also the day that we celebrate Messiah, the Kohen Gadol of the Melchizedek priesthood, having entered the Holy of Holies with his own blood, that we may now come boldly to the throne of grace in our times of need. Yom Teruah, is a day that we celebrate YHWH coming to meet with our ancestors at Mount Sinai.  It is also the day we look forward to, waiting, watching and listening for the ‘last trump’ to sound announcing the return of our King Yeshua, the Messiah, who will begin his reign over the Messianic Kingdom.  Hag Sukkot is the time we celebrate YHWH’s provision for our ancestors’ journey through the wilderness.  It is also the time we look forward to YHWH once again tabernacling among his people.  The feast of Hanukkah is the celebration of the re-dedication of the Altar in Jerusalem after it had been defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes IV, a Seleucid king that had conquered Israel.  Purim is the celebration of how YHWH used a Jewish girl named Hadassah (Esther) to save his people from the wicked intents of an Agaggite named Haman. 

Indeed there is much to celebrate in these events.  YHWH has been and remains faithful to his people and to his promises.  Every year as the cycle of celebrations begin, individual believers, families, and faith communities search for appropriate ways to celebrate the loving and powerful work of YHWH in their lives.  Some believers will follow the traditional customs other will search for new and exciting ways to recall, relive and celebrate these days of great deliverance and love.  But while we may indeed celebrate these wonderful works of God with great excitement and joy, we must also recognize that there is, as the proverb above so aptly states it, a profound sorrow within the joy.

Many people have observed, whether first hand or on television, the Jewish wedding practice where at the completion of the marriage rite, the bride and groom, now husband and wife, drink a toast, and then, at the height of their joy, they put the glass on the ground and stamp on it, breaking it into a hundred pieces.  It is a peculiar custom.  But the point of this tradition is to remind the newlyweds that even in great joy there is sorrow.  Life is fragile.  It is also a reminder of the brokenness of Israel.  The temple is destroyed and the people are still scattered like a thousand pieces of broken glass.

As we prepare to celebrate the various joyous holy rehearsals that YHWH has commanded, as well as the historical events commemorated by the traditions of men, we must always do so with a bit of sorrow in our hearts.  It was difficult to celebrate the Feast of Hanukkah, celebrating the re-dedication of the Altar, when the altar has been once more destroyed.  It is difficult keeping the feasts when we are once more in exile and Jerusalem and the temple mount are under daily assault.  

I do not mean to be a prophet of doom—but we must be sincere in our faith.  These celebrations are not meant to be merely distractions from our daily routines or the harsh reality and cost of our sinfulness.  We should indeed celebrate YHWH’s faithfulness to his people and promises with great joy.  But we must also acknowledge that we have not been faithful.  We must acknowledge that because of our wickedness we have been conquered, exiled, and deprived of the visible presence of YHWH in our midst.  Therefore, within each of these celebrations we must recognize that we are celebrating the Feasts but not keeping them as we have been commanded.  We should therefore with each of these passing days, confess, repent, and demonstrate our great sorrow for our part in our alienation from the land, the promises, and the God who faithfully fulfilled his promises to us.