PAUL’S HEART TO HONOR YAHUWAH’S FEASTS
All Scriptures taken from the Son Of Man Bible, SOMB.bblx e-Sword Bible program module. Original work at www.door43.org. Son Of Man Bible e-Sword modules (SOMB.bblx and SOMB.bbli), The Word module (SOMB.ont), and MySword module (SOMB.bbl.mybible), were created and edited by Gene Benjamin II. These Bible modules are available for download on PC, Apple, Android, and other Linux devices from www.biblesupport.com and www.wordmodules.com. On biblesupport.com do a search for “Unlocked Literal Bible 9” then scroll down, and on wordmodules.com do a search for “Son Of Man Bible” then scroll down.
Paul knew the Torah, Paul understood the Torah, Paul sought to obey Torah his entire life. Three of the Feasts are considered pilgrimmage feasts, the men must go to Jerusalem three times a year to celebrate these three feasts. They are mentioned in Exodus 23, 34 and Deuteronomy 16. We are especially interested in Shavuot today. Exodus 23:14-17, “You must travel to hold a feast for me three times every year. 15You are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you will eat unleavened bread for seven days. At that appointment calendar festival, you will appear before me in the month of Abib. It was in this month that you came out from Egypt. But you must not appear before me empty-handed. 16You must observe the Festival of Harvest (Shavuot, Omer day 50), the firstfruits of your labors when you sowed seed in the fields. Also you must observe the Festival of Ingathering (Sukkot/Tabernacles) around the end of the year (Fall Equinox), when you gather in your produce from the fields. 17All your males must appear before Lord Yahuwah, three times every year.” Exodus 34:22-23, “You must observe the Festival of Shavuot with the first yield of the wheat harvest (Omer day 50), and you must observe the Festival of Ingathering (Sukkot/Tabernacles) around the year’s end (Fall Equinox). 23All your men must appear before me, Lord Yahuwah, the Mighty One of Israel three times every year.” And again in Deuteronomy 16, Shavuot is mentioned at Deut. 16:10-11, “You must keep the Festival of Shavuot (Weeks, Pentecost) for Yahuwah your Divine One with the contribution of a freewill offering from your hand that you will give, according as Yahuwah your Divine One has blessed you. 11You will rejoice before Yahuwah your Divine One, you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite who is within your city gates, and the sojourning alien, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place that Yahuwah your Divine One will choose for his sanctuary.” Yahuwah chose Jerusalem for his name and sanctuary. That’s where Paul’s story of raising Eutychus from the dead comes in.
Luke relates Paul’s missionary journey in Asia, Macedonia, and Greece in Acts 20. Acts 20:5-7, “But these men had gone before us and were waiting for us at Troas. 6We sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them in Troas. There we stayed for seven days. 7On the first of Shavuot (Omer day 1, counting the weeks to Pentecost, this event occurred in Philippi), when we were gathered together to break unleavened bread, Paul spoke to the believers. He was planning to leave the next day, so he kept speaking until midnight.” Acts 20:11, “Then he went upstairs again and broke unleavened bread and ate. After talking with them much longer until dawn, he left.” Acts 20:16, “For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not spend any time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem for the Day of Shavuot, if it were at all possible for him to do so.”
You don’t see this message in most English translations, but the word for Shavuot in verse 7 is the word “weeks” and is plural in the Greek. The word day does not appear in the Greek. This is always a reference to the Sabbath weeks leading up to Pentecost. This is the only way to know that the Eutychus story occurred in Phillipi during the week of Unleavened Bread, exactly on Omer day 1, the day of the wave sheaf offering in Jerusalem, the first day of firstfruits, the anniversary of resurrection Sunday. That’s why they were together breaking unleavened bread on the first of Shavuot, or weeks.
As you read the rest of Acts, you see that Paul did not really get to celebrate Shavuot like he intended, since he got arrested and ended up in Rome. But take note that Paul broke off his missionary journey, where he was winning souls to Messiah and discipling the ethno-linguistic nations, according to Yeshua’s command in Matthew 28. He cut short this missionary journey in order to OBEY the Torah command to be in Jerusalem for Shavuot. Wow, meditate on that for a moment. Paul cut short his obedience to Yeshua’s command in order to OBEY Yahuwah the Father’s Torah command regarding a pilgrimmage feast. Paul held the Torah above Yeshua Messiah’s command to reach and disciple the ethno-linguistic nations. That is an amazing revelation and a real shock to religious spirited believers. And no one rebuked Paul for doing that. They tried to stop him from going to Jerusalem because he was going to be persecuted. No one tried to stop him from obeying Torah. Chew on that for a few days, and let Yahuwah get ahold of your heart to obey his Torah.
In Philippians 3:5, Paul said he was a Hebrew of Hebrews. This Eutychus story around Shavuot shows his heart’s attitude and what that claim meant to him. Paul did not let working with and for Messiah Yeshua interfere with his obedience to Torah. Wow. Most English translators have tried to keep this lesson hidden for hundreds of years, but no more, it’s out in the open now for all to see and understand. As the prophet Samuel once stated, “Obedience is better than sacrifice.” Yeshua and Paul both knew this, do you get it now? Always reach for the higher path of obedience to our Heavenly Father. Sacrifice is sometimes a choice, but obedience is always a must.
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