Rosh Chodesh - A Remembrance for His People...

     ...and you shall know that I am YHVH your Elohim!

Tonight , as the sun sets outside my window and the new crescent moon is just visible, I have the joy of wishing you a Happy New Month (Rosh Chodesh..means "head of the month") and a Happy New Year (Rosh HaShanah...means "head of the year")!

(Actually I can't currently see the thin crescent of moon because of the bright city night lights and all the tall buildings around me...but I look forward to seeing it soon!)


"And יהוה (YHVH) spoke to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 'This month is the beginning of months for you, it is the first month of the year for you.'"  Exodus 12:1-2

This was one of the very first commandments YHVH gave to the people of Israel as He was about to lead them out of the land of Egypt, where the the sun god Ra was worshipped, into HIS land with HIS yearly calendar of months and appointed times, based on the moon's phases.

The sighting of the new moon sets the beginning of each month and is a critical part of determining the proper timing of each of YHVH's appointed times for His people.

This particular new month is also commanded by God in His Biblical calendar to be the first month of the year!  

He made this the beginning of the year to be a perpetual memorial to His people of the time He brought them out of Egypt...a remembrance for all generations of His mighty work on behalf of His people.


"...so that I show these signs of Mine before him, and that you relate in the hearing of your son and your son’s son what I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them. And you shall know that I am יהוה.”   Exodus 10:1, 2

“And you shall inform your son in that day, saying, ‘It is because of what יהוה did for me when I came up from Egypt.’  And it shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a reminder between your eyes, that the Torah of יהוה is to be in your mouth, for with a strong hand יהוה has brought you out of Egypt.  And you shall guard this law at its appointed time from year to year."  

Exodus 13:8-10 

 (referring specifically to the festivals of Passover and Unleavened Bread, also part of the departure from Egypt, also commanded in the first month)

The sad thing is that very few people in the world follow this important command of YHVH (as well as many others).  Christians observe another new year.  Many observant Jews celebrate the official new year at the time of the Feast of Trumpets.  Most of the world has a new year date that is other than what YHVH commanded!
But as for me and my house (which is just me at the present time), I WILL SERVE THE LORD YHVH!

Another sad thing is that many people have taken what YHVH gave as a sign, a remembrance that should point His people to focus on HIM, and instead they have focused on the sign itself.  The moon has become a central element in much of the world's idol worship.

But YHVH tells us in His Word what purpose He had in mind when He created the moon...

Psalm 104:19 says, "He made the moon for appointed times; The sun knows its going down."

The word for "appointed times" in this verse is the Hebrew word "moedim."  

Moedim is the word used even today in the Hebrew language for all of YHVH's commanded and appointed times in the Word (such as the Sabbath, Passover, Sukkot, Yom Kippur, and all the other commanded set-apart days).

YHVH tells us in His Word that He created the moon as a sign of the appointed, set-apart times He has commanded His people to observe....and all of this is for one purpose:  

So we will know that He is YHVH our Elohim (God)...so we will focus on Him always!!

But instead, the moon has become for some a symbol of "mother earth" and other pagan ideas and for others it is something to be worshipped in itself.  Many cultures use lunar calendars, but not in the way YHVH has set up in His Word.
And others go the opposite extreme and say that anyone who follows YHVH's commands regarding the new moon, regarding His set-apart, appointed times and feasts, is actually falling into legalism and is not experiencing the "freedom" of a relationship with God (and yet these same people live daily by a calendar that includes names of false gods such as Saturn in Saturday, Frigga in Friday, Thor in Thursday, Janus in January, Mars in March, Augustus Caesar in August, etc).

Read the rest of Psalm 104...see how the creation is treated in YHVH's Word.  It's all about HIM!
Everything He has created and everything He commands and expects His people to do is all about HIM!
He wants us to be in relationship with Him, and He has made clear the way for that to happen.  (Remember, Yahshua, who is THE answer for the way to life with YHVH, also lived His life in complete obedience to YHVH's Word, His Torah, His commands.)

For many years I followed the traditions of man that said I must do certain things at certain times of the year.  I was taught that these traditions and actions and yearly celebrations are signs of God and His relationship with us (such as Christmas, Easter, etc).

BUT...if they do not fit into His commanded way of life, if they go against what He has commanded, then I don't want to have anything to do with them.

I know this could come across as negative (which I do not want to be).
So let me state it another way...

Shout for joy to Elohim our strength; raise a shout to the Elohim of Jacob. 

Lift up a song and beat the tambourine, the pleasant lyre and with the harp. 

Blow the ram’s horn at the time of the New Moon, at the full moon, on our festival day. 

For this is a law for Israel, and a right-ruling of the Elohim of Jacob. 

He appointed it in Joseph for a witness, when He went throughout the land of Egypt; I heard a language that I did not know. 

He says, “I removed his shoulder from the burden; his hands were freed from the baskets. 

You called in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you in the covering of thunder; I proved you at the waters of Meribah. Selah.     Psalm 81:1-7

“And in the day of your gladness, and in your appointed times, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over your peace offerings. And they shall be a remembrance for you before your Elohim. I am יהוה your Elohim.”   Numbers 10:10

In my deliberate study of YHVH's Word over the past few years to seek HIS way of life, while learning about how to keep the set-apart times He has commanded, I noticed how important the monthly moon phases were in many places in His Word.

So, in the past few months I have been reading YHVH's Word to specifically learn more about how He uses the moon every day, every month, every year as a sign of His faithfulness to His people, His desire to dwell in relationship with His people, His plan for LIFE!  

And now whenever I look up in the night (or day) sky and see the moon at various phases, my heart does a little leap of gladness!   At the same time, my mind goes immediately to focus on YHVH, and I say "thank you" for His plans, His faithfulness, His nearness, His mighty works on the behalf of His people!  

In my life up to this point, before I had intentionally read and paid attention to what His Word says about this command of the new month and the new year, seeing the moon in the night sky would not bring any response at all within my heart and mind (except maybe to say "how pretty or how big or how bright the moon is tonight").

But now my heart jumps when I see the moon!  

Why?  

Because I am reminded of so much of His goodness, the perfection of His plan, the intricacy and extent of His love for His people!

What a difference it makes to know and follow the Word of YHVH rather than just following traditions of man!  

His commands, precepts, instructions, purposes are so much richer and meaningful than anything man could come up with!  

Why do I waste my time following anything else in this world other than what YHVH has said?  

(good question)

His Word is full of these signs and remembrances!  So many items, events, parts of creation are used by YHVH as memorials for us to constantly remember Him and His faithfulness and His mighty works!

I won't go into details on any of these...you can research more on your own.
But here is only a partial list of what YHVH has given us as signs pointing to Him, remembrances that remind us that He is Elohim:

A rainbow - Genesis 9:15
Circumcision - Genesis 17:11
His NAME - Exodus 3:15, Psalm 135:13, Hosea 12:5
The Festival of Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread  - Exodus 12 & 13  (coming up soon!!)
The Stones on the priest's garment  - Exodus 28, 39:7
Tzitzit (tassels on garment corners) - Numbers 15:39-40
The Sabbath  - Exodus 20:8-11; 31:13; Deuternomy 5:12-15; Ezekiel 20:12 etc
The Word of YHVH - Deuteronomy 6; 11:18
The 12 stones at the Jordan River  - Joshua 4
Yahshua - His life, death and resurrection...He is THE sign!  - Isaiah 7:14;  Matthew 16;  Luke 2; Luke 11 (sign of Jonah)
YHVH's sustaining of Israel -  Mary's song in Luke 1
Communion... taking the bread and wine, symbolizing the body and blood of Yahshua -  Luke 22:19; 1 cor 11:24-25


So, as you look at the moon tonight, fix your gaze on YHVH...remember the faithfulness of your Elohim and rejoice! 
Let your heart do a little leap of gladness, and thank Him!

If we really know the Word of YHVH and truly live life in Him the way He has commanded, then we should be reminded of Him continuously throughout every day of our lives!

May this be so as we prepare ourselves for the coming Passover celebration.

Under His never-slumbering watch care,

Gina

And You Shall Call His Name...

                          ...Y’HOSHUA!   יהושע    
...for He shall save His people from their sins.      Matthew 1:21

(The English transliteration of the name Y'hoshua has come up with several variations in spelling: Yeshua or Yahshua, etc.  The common substitute in English for the Hebrew name Y'hoshua is Joshua.)


Matthew 1:21 tells us exactly what YHVH meant 
for His Son's name to be...         Y'hoshua! 


(Look it up in the Strong's Concordance...the English word in this verse says Jesus, but the Strong's reference tells us that the name given to the Messiah, the newly born boy, was the Hebrew name Y'hoshua.)


What does Y'hoshua mean?


YAH is salvation!

I have touched on this topic several times in recent blog posts.

Recently some people have asked me why I insist on using the Hebrew name for the Messiah instead of referring to him as Jesus Christ.  I have had some people hint recently that I am being legalistic by using the name Yahshua, or even antagonistic by insisting on the usage of Yahshua instead of Jesus.  I've even had a person express concern that I no longer believe in Jesus because I choose to use the Hebrew name of Yahshua!

So today I want to explain more of the deeper reason why this name is so SPECIAL…not just to me, but to all of us!

If you look at any version of the Scriptures that has the Strong’s reference to the original Hebrew word, then you can easily see the name of our Messiah used throughout the Old Testament! 

(And by the way, you can download several versions of the Word which include Strong's references embedded in the text to your computer for free...see the E-Sword link on the right side menu bar or click here.)

Let me be a bit more specific now about how our Messiah shows up BY NAME in the Tanach (Old Testament)...
You might already know that the Hebrew word yeshua is the same as the English word salvation.  If you read the Hebrew version of the Word of YHVH, you will see the word yeshua frequently.

To let the importance of this sink in a bit more, allow me to list some scriptures where I replace the English word with the Hebrew word.

Look for the word yeshua as well as the related and very similar words yesha and yasha (all meaning salvation).

Exodus 14:13  
(the Israelites had just been released by Pharaoh, but now Pharaoh was chasing after them)

And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the yeshua (salvation) of  יהוה (YHVH), which He does for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you are never, never to see again.

Exodus 15:1-2

Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to יהוה (YHVH), and spoke, saying, “I sing to יהוה, for He is highly exalted! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!

Yah is my strength and song, and He has become my yeshua. He is my Ěl, and I praise Him – Elohim of my father, and I exalt Him.

1 Samuel 2:1-2 
(the song Hannah sang to YHVH for giving her Samuel, the child she prayed for)

And Ḥannah prayed and said, “My heart rejoices in יהוה (YHVH), my horn is exalted in יהוה. My mouth is opened wide over my enemies, for I have rejoiced in Your yeshua.

There is no one set-apart like יהוה, for there is no one besides You, and there is no rock like our Elohim.

Psalm 14:7

O that the yeshua of Israel would be given out of Zion! When יהוה turns back the captivity of His people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Psalm 27:1

  יהוה is my light and my yesha; whom should I fear?  יהוה is the refuge of my life; of whom should I be afraid?

Psalm 51:10-12

Create in me a clean heart, O Elohim, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your yesha, and uphold me, Noble Spirit!

Psalm 62:1-8

My being finds rest in Elohim alone; from Him is my yeshua.

He alone is my rock and my yeshua, my strong tower; I am not greatly shaken.

How long would you assail a man? You crush him, all of you, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence… My being, find rest in Elohim alone, because my expectation is from Him.

He alone is my rock and my yeshua, my strong tower; I am not shaken.

My yesha and my esteem depend on Elohim; the rock of my strength, my refuge is in Elohim.

Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; Elohim is a refuge for us. Selah.

Psalm 98:1-4

Sing to יהוה a new song! For He has done wonders; His right hand and His set-apart arm have brought Him deliverance.

 יהוה has made known His yeshua; His righteousness he has openly shown before the eyes of the nations.

He has remembered His kindness and His trustworthiness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the yeshua of our Elohim.

Raise a shout to יהוה, all the earth; break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.

Psalm 119 (such a beautiful picture of the fullness of the Word… obedience to the Word of YHVH and the relationship with the Living Word of YHVH, Yahshua the Messiah!  These two things cannot be separated...Yahshua reminds us of this in John chapters 14 and 15.)

Verse 123:  My eyes have longed for Your yeshua, And for the word of Your righteousness.

Verse 155:  Yeshua is far from the wicked, for they have not sought Your laws.

Verse 166:  יהוה, I have waited for Your yeshua, and I have done Your commands.

Verse 174:  I have longed for Your yeshua, O יהוה, And Your Torah is my delight.

Isaiah 12

And in that day you shall say, “I thank You יהוה, though You were enraged with me, Your displeasure has turned back, and You have comforted me.

See, Ěl is my yeshua, I trust and am not afraid. For Yah, יהוה, is my strength and my song; and He has become my yeshua.”

And you shall draw water with joy from the fountains of yeshua.

And in that day you shall say, “Praise יהוה, call upon His Name; make known His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His Name is exalted.

Sing to יהוה, For He has done excellently; this is known in all the earth.

Cry aloud and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!

Isaiah 24:23; 25:7-9

And the moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed, for יהוה of hosts shall reign on Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His elders, in esteem! …

And He shall swallow up on this mountain the surface of the covering which covers all people, and the veil which is spread over all nations.

He shall swallow up death forever, and Adonai יהוה shall wipe away tears from all faces, and take away the reproach of His people from all the earth. For יהוה has spoken.

And it shall be said in that day, “See, this is our Elohim. We have waited for Him, and He saves (yasha) us. This is יהוה, we have waited for Him, let us be glad and rejoice in His yeshua.”

Isaiah 45:1-8 (YHVH says this about Koresh/Cyrus, King of Persia)

Thus said יהוה to His anointed, to Koresh, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and ungird the loins of kings, to open before him the double doors, so that gates are not shut:

 ‘I go before you and make the crooked places straight; I shatter the gates of bronze and cut down the bars of iron.  And I shall give you the treasures of darkness and hoarded wealth of secret places, so that you know that I, יהוה, who are calling you by your name, am the Elohim of Israel. For the sake of Jacob My servant, and of Israel My chosen, I also call you by your name, I give you a title, though you have not known Me.

I am יהוה, and there is none else – there is no Elohim besides Me. I gird you, though you have not known Me, so that they know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none but Me. I am יהוה, and there is none else, forming light and creating darkness, making peace and creating evil. I, יהוה, do all these.’

Rain down, O heavens, from above, and let clouds pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, let them bring forth yesha, and let righteousness spring up together. I, יהוה, have created it.

(Have you really read YHVH’s words to King Cyrus before?  
Have you seen the important implications that fill this passage?) 

Isaiah 49:3-9 (spoken about both Israel and Yahshua the Messiah…one of those mysteries of YHVH, the combination of Israel and Yahshua the Messiah)

And He said to Me, ‘You are My servant, O Israel, in whom I am adorned.’

 And I said, ‘I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for emptiness, and in vain. But my right-ruling is with, יהוה  and my work with my Elohim.’ ”

 And now said יהוה – who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, though Israel is not gathered to Him, yet I am esteemed in the eyes of יהוה, and My Elohim has been My strength – and He says, “Shall it be a small matter for You to be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved ones of Israel? And I shall give You as a light to the gentiles, to be My yeshua to the ends of the earth!”

Thus said יהוה, the Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, to the despised , to the loathed One of the nation, to the Servant of rulers, “Kings shall see and arise, rulers also shall bow themselves, because of יהוה who is steadfast, the Holy One of Israel. And He has chosen You!”

Thus said יהוה, “In a favorable time I shall answer You, and in the day of yeshua I shall help You – and I guard You and give You for a covenant of the people, to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the ruined inheritances, to say to the prisoners, ‘Go out,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’

Isaiah 52:6-10

“Therefore My people shall know My Name, in that day, for I am the One who is speaking. See, it is I.”  How pleasant upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings good news, who proclaims yeshua, who says to Zion, “Your Elohim reigns!”

The voice of your watchmen! They shall lift up their voices, together they shout for joy, because eye to eye they see the return of יהוה to Zion.  Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem! For יהוה shall comfort His people, He shall redeem Jerusalem.  יהוה shall lay bare His set-apart arm in the eyes of all the nations. And all the ends of the earth shall see the yeshua of our Elohim.

Isaiah 61:10

I greatly rejoice in יהוה, my being exults in my Elohim. For He has put garments of yeshua on me, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Isaiah 62:1-2  (another one of those chapters where Israel and Yahshua the Messiah are both referenced!)

For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I do not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her yeshua as a lamp that burns.

And the nations shall see your righteousness, and all kings your esteem. And you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of יהוה   designates.

Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!  Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!  See, your King is coming to you, He is righteous and endowed with yasha, humble and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Jonah 2:9 (Jonah’s prayer from the belly of the fish)

…But I offer to You with the voice of thanksgiving, I pay what I have vowed. 

Yeshua is of יהוה




Luke 2:27-32  (Simeon’s prayer to YHVH in the temple…this is the word used in the Hebrew version of the New Testament!  See how it all comes together!!)

And he came in the Spirit into the Set-apart Place. And as the parents brought in the Child יהושע(Y'hoshua/Yahshua), to do for Him according to the usual practice of the Torah,

 then he took Him up in his arms and blessed Elohim and said,

 “Now let Your servant go in peace, O Master, according to Your word, for my eyes have seen Your Yeshua, which You have prepared before the face of all the peoples, a light for the unveiling of the gentiles, and the esteem of Your people Israel.”

Luke 3:2-6

…the word of Elohim came to John the son of Zeḵaryah in the wilderness.   And he went into all the neighborhood of the Jordan, proclaiming an immersion of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it has been written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying, “A voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of יהוה, make His paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough become smooth ways, and all flesh shall see the yeshua of Elohim.’ ”

Acts 4:8-12

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel:

If today we are called to account for a good deed towards a sick man, by whom he has been healed, let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that in the Name of יהושע (Yahshua) Messiah of Nazareth, whom you impaled, whom Elohim raised from the dead, by Him this one stands before you, healthy.

This is ‘the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’

 “And there is no yeshua in anyone else, for there is no other Name under the heaven given among men by which we need to be saved.”

Revelation 12:10-11

And I heard a loud voice saying in the heaven, “Now have come the yeshua and the power and the reign of our Elohim, and the authority of His Messiah, for the accuser of our brothers, who accused them before our Elohim day and night, has been thrown down.  And they overcame him because of the Blood of the Lamb, and because of the Word of their witness, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

Isn't it interesting and encouraging and exciting to see Yahshua the Messiah, the Salvation of YHVH throughout the Word of Adonai from beginning to end?!


And this is only a partial list!


Perhaps now it is more clear to people why I feel so strongly about using the Hebrew name given by YHVH to His Son, the Messiah.  It is so much more than just a cultural name!


When I read the Name of Yahshua throughout the promises of His Word (and remember that He wrote the Word and He IS the Word), I realize even more how much our YHVH loves us!  And I also see that YHVH has put Himself and His Messiah, the Salvation, in front of His chosen people in every way possible.  When their eyes are opened and they see the TRUTH of YHVH's salvation through Yahshua the Messiah, what a day of rejoicing that will be...when all of Israel shall be saved!  (Romans 11)


But that is another topic for another day.  :o)




Thank you for joining with me on this part of my journey!


Blessings in our yeshua, our salvation, Yahshua the Messiah,


Gina Dittmer