MOEDIM--APPOINTED TIMES WITH GOD

    

    What are the Moedim?  They are G-d's appointed times that He instituted in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. They are times He chose to meet with us, with all Believers, and with the whole House of Israel.  Observing these times allows us to understand and obey G-d's standard for righteous living in Messiah.  The moedim were not done away with upon Yeshua's/Jesus' death, nor was any of His eternal Torah.

    That which was created by HaShem (G-d) is for our good, our instruction, our pleasure, and our benefit.  Therefore, the commandments He created--which are irrevocable according to His nature--are essentially good (1 Samuel 15:29).  The Scriptures advise us that the Holy One is only willing to "change His mind" about one thing:

Joel 2:13 Tear your heart, not your garments; and turn to ADONAI your G-d. For he is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in grace, and willing to change his mind about disaster.

    Notice that this verse does not include eternal ordinances and commandments pertaining to any covenant.  G-d has never intended for His written or spoken word to become an equation from which He subtracts out difficult laws for the convenience of His children--at any point in history.  Multiple times, He affirms that His nature and Word are unchangeable, making only one exception to that rule.  He intimates that upon repentance, He is willing to reverse a decree of disaster, yet He never said He is willing to cut out commandments.  If either the Old Testament or New Testament gives us a different revelation, it would make the entire Bible suspect and even unreliable.  It would make G-d a liar. 

    The only record we have of His eternal truths being changed, modified, done away with, or corrupted was when humans did so of their own accord.  If we say Adonai willingly erased one covenant with a people He chose to exalt above all others, how do the covenant and promises of salvation have any leg to stand on?  How does one know what "eternal" -- used to describe both salvation and the commandments found in the Torah B really means?  G-d is not fickle.

    It isn't enough to be led by the Spirit only.  Often, we seek to understand G-d's will for our lives when it is already plainly written out for us in His Word.  If our "following of the Spirit" acts as a replacement or cancellation of any part of the Scriptures, the wrong spirit deceives us.  G-d does not contradict Himself.    

    The primary reason for submission to G-d's commandments is because He declared His covenant with Israel to be eternal and inclusive of Gentile believers (Numbers 15:15).  Outside of His eternal covenant with the House of Israel, Gentiles scripturally have no identity.  We do what He says because He said so.  Whether or not it makes sense to us to obey certain commandments is not a sign of Scriptural deficiency but of our own.  Remember, not everything in His Word necessarily has a meaning we will discover, because that which is revealed belongs to us and to our children, but the secret or hidden things belong to the L-rd. (Deuteronomy 29:28 (29))

    Here are other reasons we observe the commandments of the Torah:

    To affirm our obedience to and part in G-d's covenants through the blood of Yeshua the Messiah.

    As a sign of the covenant, God established with us and the household of Israel. (Exodus 31:13, 17)

    To identify with and take our rightful place alongside the rest of the House of Israel, grafted in if we are Gentile. (Romans 11: 24)

    To more fully embrace the Scriptures as not simply our doctrine, but as our way of life. 

    Through obedience, to understand more of the revelation of G-d's personal character and His love for us.

    To walk as Yeshua, our great Teacher, walked. 

    To follow the example of Paul (1 Corinthians 11:1) and the other disciples, who were all zealous for the Torah.  (Acts 21:20-24)

    We follow the Torah because it is G-d's Divine and irrevocable Word.  It is not above the New Testament in sanctity; the entire Bible is His continued revelation.  Nothing contradicts itself; everything agrees with the Foundation, the Torah.  If a theology or doctrine does not line up with the first five books of the Bible, the doctrine is wrong, not the Scriptures.  G-d never contradicts Himself, and He is not a man who must change His mind.  It does not make sense that He would give us a beautiful and holy Torah just to show us that we could never keep it.  He tells us in Deuteronomy that Torah is not too hard for us, nor is it beyond our reach (Deuteronomy 30:11). 

    The beauty of G-d's creation is unparalleled by anything man has ever created.  Why should we think of His Feasts and Torah as being any different?  A just Master, a loving Father, the One true G-d created Torah.  The Feasts are part of the special times

    G-d has already said He will meet with us--times that He is also expecting us to meet with Him.  It is not as if He is inaccessible at other times.  However, He sanctified certain days of the year for this purpose.  He goes out of His way to make a unique date for us in which He wants to reveal more of Himself to us, to talk with us, to walk with us.  These are His appointed times, precursors and shadows of the future when, in Messiah's Kingdom, the entire earth will keep them.