As we continue our journey through those things which are required of us in our walk before YAHUAH, let us consider a passage from Sha’ul to the Qolasiym:
Qolasiym (Colossians) 2:16-17
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day, or of the New Moon, or of the Shabbat: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come for the body of MASHIACH.
This passage is of great interest to the anomian (lawless) church (from the Greek Circe, the goddess of magic and witchcraft, from which we get the word circus), and the anomians (workers of iniquity) sitting in its pews, who readily construe this passage to mean that they have license to practice Christmas (the reformed rite of Saturnalia, the feast of the sun-god Mithras) and Easter (the unreformed rite of spring; i.e., the pagan fertility rite worshipping Ishtar, celebrating the slaying of the boar who killed Tamuz, the slaying of children and the dipping of eggs of fertility in their blood), and every other pagan feast day, to eat pork and shellfish, to eat and drink the blood of animals, and to blow off the feasts of the New Moon and the Shabbat.
But this passage is also for those who are careful to eat only food, and to drink that which is approved; who keep the feasts, and the New Moons, and the Shabbat. Let no man judge you if you are keeping and guarding these things. Why? Because they are a shadow of the things to come for the body of MASHIACH.
Well, what is a shadow? Is it not a marker of that which is illuminated? When that which comes for the body of MASHIACH is here, it will cast this shadow, a shadow that is a marker of an illuminated body, which eats only food, drinks only drink, respects the feasts days, the New Moons, and the Shabbat. Sha’ul is telling us that these things are the construct of the Body of MASHIACH to come.
Are there feasts of the New Moon? If so, when are they?
Yovheliym (Jubilees) 6:23-28
And on the New Moon of the first month, and on the New Moon of the fourth month, and on the New Moon of the seventh month, and on the New Moon of the tenth month are the days of remembrance, and the days of the seasons in the four divisions of the year. These are written and ordained as a testimony forever. 24 And Noach ordained them for himself as feasts for the generations forever, 25 so that they have become thereby a memorial unto him. And on the New Moon of the first month he was bidden to make for himself an ark, and on that day the earth became dry and he opened the ark and saw the earth. 26 And on the New Moon of the fourth month the mouths of the depths of the abyss beneath were closed. And on the New Moon of the seventh month all the mouths of the abysses of the earth were opened, and the waters began to descend into them. 27 And on the New Moon of the tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen, and Noach was glad. 28 And on this account he ordained them for him-self as feasts for a memorial forever, and thus are they ordained.
Were they practiced as a matter of course in the history we find in the 39 redacted books of the Tanakh?
Shemu’el Rishon (1 Samuel) 20:5-6
And David said unto El-Yahunathan, Behold, tomorrow is the New Moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at evening. 6 If your father at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Beyt Lechem his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.
For those of you who are aware of the feast dates, you know that this date is Yom Teruah (now practiced as Rosh Ha’Shanah), on the first day of the 7th month, which is in accord with the schedule given in Yovheliym (1, 4, 7, and 10). However, for those of you who live in Cedom (Sodom) or Amorah (Gomorrah), none of these apply.
Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) 1: 10-15
Hear the Word of YAHUAH, ye rulers of Cedom; give ear unto the Torah of our ELOHIYM, ye people of Amorah. 11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? Says YAHUAH: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. 12 When ye come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand, to tread my courts? 13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the New Moons and Shabbathot, the calling of assemblies, I cannot abide with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. 15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
So, we see that Sha’ul makes reference to the New Moon, and that David both keeps the appointed time of the New Moon, and defines the New Moon; yet Yesha’yahu tells the people of Cedom and Amorah that because their hands are full of blood, YAH will hide his eyes from them, and will not hear them, nor will he have any regard for the keeping of the feasts.