Why are Christians Keeping the Feast of Tabernacles?
The page to learn about the North Kansas City Feast site is https://firstcenturychristianity.net/fot-2025/
You may be hearing about Christians who keep the biblical festivals and are wondering what that’s all about. As it turns out, the first century church continued to observe the biblical holy days. In fact, both Gentile and Jewish people who accepted Yeshua, Jesus, as the Messiah, continued to fellowship in the synagogues for over a hundred years after Yeshua ascended. We see hints of this in the New Testament, notably at 1 Cor 5 when Paul reminds the Corinthians to continue keeping Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, the Spring biblical holy days, as an analogy for addressing some other problems in their assembly. Keeping these days were so not in doubt that Paul is able to use them as analogies, like we would use Thanksgiving or the 4th of July today. In other words, it is completely taken for granted that the gentile converts in Corinth are observing Passover that Paul is able to use that practice at a teaching tool.
What about the Feast of Tabernacles, also called Sukkot? This festival happens in the fall. It was ordained, just like Passover, as a memorial of the Exodus. The Israelites had to live in temporary dwellings for 40 years in the wilderness so this festival is a reminder of that. But it’s also a humongous celebration because they got to cross into the promised land and enjoy the food and freedom that came with living the way God intended in the land He set apart!
Passover is a memorial of the Exodus and crossing into the Promised land but we all know now that it was a prophecy of the Messiah, the Lamb of God, coming down from heaven to live a sinless life and bear our transgressions. Tabernacles follows this same pattern. It’s a memorial to living in temporary dwellings, called sukkot, the plural of sukkah. That’s a reminder that our time in this life is temporary, that there is something more out there. But there is a specific prophecy about this observance in the Old Testament book of Zechariah, chapter 14, verses 16-18. This prophecy states that at a future time, the entire world will either observe the Feat of Tabernacles. Those who don’t will die by famine because there will be no rain on their lands.
This is a future prophecy. Nothing like this has ever happened in history. Most who study prophecy and believe this will happen place the event in the 1000 year Messianic kingdom that begins when Yeshua, Jesus, returns. Whenever this happens, though, it’s a prophecy about all nations keeping the Feast of Tabernacles in the future. So many of us ask why not now?
Many Christians have returned to the practices of the first century church because it just makes sense. The bible is one story, from Genesis to Revelation, about God’s relationship with mankind and His desire to have a relationship with us. A big blessing in keeping God’s holy days is that our faith and our lifestyle become one. We who keep these days walk out our faith all year long, planning for the next set of holy days, enjoying the last ones, and living the way we believe all mankind will live when Yeshua, Jesus, returns.
We will be hosting the Feast of Tabernacles in North Kansas City this year (2025). This year, we are going to teach the basics of why the holy days apply to Christians. The dates are October 7-14 and we would love for you to join us whether you are local or coming from out of town. Please consider joining us and you can find the information and register at the FOT25 link on firstcenturychristianity.net. I will post that link wherever this gets posted. You may also join us each week for services, online or in person, every Saturday at 1pm central time.
Thanks for your time and may YHVH bless you and keep you, in the Name of His Son, Yeshua.

This one is a total slam dunk for us. There is no question the first century church kept Passover. Paul explains Messiah is our Passover and what we just did is as mirrored off the first century church as was can possibly do. This is not so we can be technically accurate, although that is important. But if we are to believe in this faith, we must pattern our lives after it and fully adopt it. Belief must be manifested as a change in behavior and practices.

Printed notes available at https://firstcenturychristiani....ty.net/yes-christian

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The Wedding Supper of the Lamb is an analogy... until it isn't! Throughout history, Yahweh has given warnings about impending destruction. The invitation to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb is a metaphor for this warning. This years' message on First Fruits shows the warning throughout history and why we need to accept the invitation lest we end up outside, weeping and gnashing our teeth.
Written pdf notes available at https://firstcenturychristiani....ty.net/weeping-and-g

⁣In Memory of Him

⁣1 Samuel 17:50 says David killed Goliath, but 2 Samuel 21:19 says Elhanan killed him. So who was it?

In this video, I take a look at this supposed contradiction and explain how it's really not a contradiction at all. The key is in 1 Chronicles 20:5.

From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).

This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.

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⁣In Galatians 5, Paul says that if you become circumcised, you're basically throwing Jesus under the bus, and you're a heretic. But then in Acts 21, he goes to the Temple and offers sacrifices for a Nazirite Vow in order to refute the misconception that he is telling Jews they need to give up circumcision. What gives?

This is a complicated subject, but it boils down to the question of "When does Torah say you are to circumcise someone?" Apart from the household of Abraham in Genesis 17, there are only two circumstances in which men are commanded to be circumcised: first, as an 8-day old boy, and second, if he wants to eat a Passover.

There is no requirement in the Law to be circumcised in order to become an Israelite or to gain salvation. That was a man-made rule. This isn't even really a Jew vs Gentile question, although it can certainly seem that way in Acts 21. Paul was telling the Galatians that if they circumcised themselves in order to be saved, they were wasting their time. Salvation is by faith, not by circumcision!

From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).

This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.

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⁣"And I'm going to be praying for you," a woman prophesied, "The Holy Spirit is going to give you a new song," explaining that a new song is what the Ruach Hakodesh (Holy Spirit) would lay on my heart.
I was quite intrigued and excited. I had never really written much of a song before, except at the age of nine, which I threw away after looking back on it years afterwords.
A few months later, I'm sitting on a couch, playing guitar, and as I'm going through my screenshots of music sheets, I also come across a screenshot I had particularly liked. It was a number of verses in Lamentations. It really touched my heart. I started to strum the guitar and singing it into a song. Within minutes, I was recording it. This video, here is a different recording.

Ever since then, the Holy Spirit has been laying, continually, new songs on my heart. Although I do not have professional recording (been using just a phone), I see it as, if I steward (take heed) of what YAH has provided for me to use, I trust HE will increase.

I hope and pray this song will bless you.

Messianic Torah Portion Pekudei: The transition from common to holy and the relationship between the tabernacle, Ezekiel's temple, and when Jesus will drink the cup new with us in the kingdom.

Restoring a pure language – that’s not today and we’re not going to do that on our own.
Genesis 11:1 Trying to do this ourselves is likely prohibited. We know that when mankind tries to act like YHVH, He is not pleased. The verse from Isaiah about rebuilding Jerusalem better. Isaiah 9:8-11 when Ephraim and the Samarians say in their heart ehy will rebuild Israel better, it is considered from pride and self-will, thus YHVH sends adversaries to smite them more. By extension, we should realize that until He wants language restored, it will not happen.
That doesn’t mean we don’t try to learn what the ancients were communicating, but we need to be cognizant of pride, our motivations, and the reality of our present state. While we can learn a lot from studying, we need to realize they were in a state of flux as well. It’s Genesis 11 where mankind had a unified language. That means Moses did not.
Entropy is a word that means chaos or disorder always increases. This is often illustrated by dropping a perfect pile of marbles on the ground to see how the marbles that travel the furthest have the largest deviation from the original pile. Our present state of language is an enormous illustration of this. I recently found a fun YouTube channel called RobWords. This gentleman traces the history of languages throughout history. What I learned, and should have already known, is that our English alphabet isn’t the English alphabet at all. It’s the Latin alphabet. The English alphabet is a set of characters called runes. I know English is a mutt of a language, but I found the extent of this to be astonishing. I have put a link to one of Rob’s videos in the comments and hope you find time to watch. I’ve watched a number of his presentations and am floored each time. But it reminds me that for us in our present state of perpetual confusion to think we have some miniscule chance at restoring the pure language ourselves is absolute folly.
Rob Words video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4npuVmGxXuk
The other remarkable illustration of this is rooted in the restoration of the nation of Judah which is called Israel today. A member of our group sent this video to me about two years ago. When the Jews from all over the world returned to Israel, they set about recording how those who had kept Hebrew alive pronounced the language. Not surprising at all, but the different regions spoke the language significantly different from each other. This video illustrates some of the differences, which even persist to this day. Of course, we all know that languages are not static from English. The Australians and British have distinctly different accents and inside of the US, we have widely varying accents ourselves. Somehow, though, we get it into our minds that Hebrew is immune from change when it certainly is not.
Hebrew spoken from Jews who returned to the land. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1ofUZB-76w
I hope you all find some time to watch these videos. A couple takeaways from today’s message are that we should really be aware of our present state and set realistic goals for our studies. The expectation that we get the pronunciations perfect today simply is not true. We also need to be wary of shunning legitimate scholars and history in our studies. We have a tendency to do this because of how skewed Christianity has become by academia and clergy, but let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwater. Good and edifying information is out there, even if it takes a bit of work to find it.
Have a blessed week as we begin or continue our preparations for this year’s Passover season. May Yahweh bless you and keep you in the Name of His Son, Yeshua.

Messianig Torah Portion Vayakhel (He (Moses) Assembled) illustrates the gifts of the Holy Spirit in action in the Old Testament!

Why You Need to Care About the Gospel of Jesus Christ
We’re about to commemorate the death of Jesus, whom we call Yeshua more accurately. This is an annual set of observances that are commanded for believers. This time of year, we often spend a lot of time discussing when to do what. Most of Christianity keeps a thing called Easter, which isn’t biblical at all. Then there are those of us who do what the Messiah commanded and Paul demonstrated. But there’s a third group of people who are increasing in numbers exponentially.
What about everyone who doesn’t know a thing about the bible? What about those who only know of Christianity because of culture? The folks who haven’t studied or given a second thought to the enormity of these observances and their eternal implications. How do we reach them and why does this matter?
Frankly, it’s about the afterlife. Where do you want to spend eternity? Because this is a binary decision. There are only two options.
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Rev 20:11-15)
The two options are lake of fire or eternal life. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news of Yeshua the Messiah, is that the invitation for all mankind to attain eternal life has been sent. It was sent by God sending His Son so that whoever believes in the Son may not perish. The bible is the story of God’s interaction with mankind. The New Testament is a continuation of this story. The Messiah, (Christ means Messiah, btw) died at the time appointed for the culmination of the Old Testament to then make a shift to the world. The Gospel, the good news, was spread to the known world through twelve men at the first, and then hundreds, then thousands, the tens of thousands, and so on.
This season matters because it’s our annual remembrance of the sinless Son of God who died to take away the sins of those who believe in Him. This grants us access to the kingdom of God.
Keep in mind, this isn’t about Yeshua being innocent of what He was accused of. Meaning, this is not about Him being executed unfairly. That happens a lot more often in history than we would like to think of. This is about a being, the very Son of God, coming to earth as a child, being raised as a man, being tempted in all ways, and not sinning one time. Because sin is the cause of death, God sent His Son to die sinless to bear the sins of those who accept Him. That’s what this season is all about. The sinless death of the Lamb of God and God’s subsequent resurrection of His Son, who now sits at God’s right hand and mediates for those who accept Him.
Please accept the invitation to enter into the kingdom, to enter into eternal life. Call to mind your sins, reconcile with those you may have wronged, prepare your homes, and enter this Passover season humbled by the death of our Messiah.

⁣Are circumcision, the Levitical priesthood, and sacrifices still relevant for believers today? These are massive, hot-button topics that have sparked debates for centuries. They are emotionally charged, baggage-laden questions, and they're not easy to answer!

It seems to me, though, that most of the confusion stems from a misunderstanding of covenants. In this series, I'm going to talk about what covenants are and aren't. How they are established, how they interact with each other, and how they end.

Part 1 will set the stage for the conversation and provide some helpful guidelines for studying and contemplating any difficult and emotional Biblical topic.

Part 2 will talk about the 8 basic elements of a divine covenant and introduce the covenants that God has made with Israel.

Part 3 will zoom in on some details about how covenants work. How do they start and end? How are covenants inherited and how do the covenants of Israel impact Gentile believers? How do God's covenants relate to his Law?

Part 4 returns to the three questions that sparked this study. What do circumcision, the Levitical (Aaronic) priesthood, and sacrifices have to do with us today and the New Covenant?

Part 5 pulls it all together, describing how all of God's Law infuses all of his covenants and how they work together to build the mature relationship that he wants with his people.

If you find yourself getting a little hot around the collar at any point, go back and rewatch video one. Don't let your emotions control your ability to evaluate an opinion that runs counter to what you've been taught before.

I'm not a professional video producer. I don't have a studio or any professional recording equipment. I hope you'll excuse any flaws in the presentation.

From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).

This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.

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Revision 2 of a message about the myths that circulate the commandment keeping Christians such as Messianic, Hebrew Roots, and Sacred Name Movement folks.
A print of the pdf is available at ⁣https://firstcenturychristiani....ty.net/myths-versus-

⁣I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.
Romans 16:22 ESV

By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.
1 Peter 5:12 ESV

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV

Paul dictated some of his letters to a scribe (amenuensis) named Tertius who inserted a line of his own into Romans 16:22. It's possible that Peter's first letter was translated and edited by Silvanus. Does the use of a scribe or editor to help write a Bible book undermine the inspiration of that book?

Not necessarily. Paul and Peter would have reviewed the end result before it was sent, and other Bible editors, such as Ezra, were also prophets and apostles who were inspired by God in their own work.

From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).

This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.

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Three Days and Three Nights
Slide 2 Do this in memory of me – has been corrupted over time. It’s an annual observance that’s in addition to what they were already doing. This is not optional. It may sound odd to hear “you have to do something” if you’re from many of the traditional Christian faiths, but this is the hard reality. He commanded us to do something in memory of Him. We have to take that literally and seriously. Paul is repeating a commandment to the Corinthian church that He received from the Lord. They were a mixed bunch in a pagan city, so this has to apply to all types of believers and is a commandment, not an option.
Slide 3 the timing. Sign of Jonah – it has to be close to 3 days and 3 nights.
Slide 4 Modern timing makes no sense.
Slide 5 – we have to ignore our time keeping entirely. Very hard to do. But we need to establish and anchor point. Some time in these events from which to derive when it all began and when it all ended. This anchor point is the Passover. Big deal since Yeshua is the Lamb of God. Him dying on Passover is very important to doctrine and we can get into that later. The point here is to use biblical reckoning for time and He died on Passover.
Slide 6 – timeline. The anchor point is when the death happened – on the late afternoon of Abib 14. At sunset on Abib 14 starts the High Sabbath of ULB1. This is where we measure from. Then we look back 24 hours and see the night He was betrayed. Then we add 3 to 14 and come up with the resurrection.
Slide 7 The Night Yeshua was Betrayed sunset April 11, 2025 (Friday night)
Passover (on Shabbat) sunset April 12, 2025
Days of Unleavened Bread – April 13-19, 2025 with the 13th (Sunday) and 19th (Shabbat) as Sabbaths.
There is no observance for the wave sheaf offering. It’s not a Sabbath.

History is Repeating: The Comeback of Totalitarianism.
Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Did you know there are people who purposely want to erase history so that it does repeat? Do you know this was a very common weapon used against nations just a few decades ago?
Communism and Fascism were universally rejected in the 1990s. Somehow these are making a comeback and we have to stop it. These two terms refer to economic systems that bring about dictatorships where all commerce, thought, production, power, etc. become centralized in a government and the people do not possess any rights whatsoever. They are awful systems that bring death and oppression. Those of us who are in our 50s or higher were taught to loathe these systems and value freedom and the free market in school. We were taught this through books that showed the awful result of these systems of government. Fahrenheit 451, Animal Farm, Brave New World, Atlas Shrugged, and other works were these books. If you’ve never read one of these, you really ought to.
Ask yourself a couple questions. Do you hold any beliefs today that are in direct opposition to something you believed recently? If so, how did that happen?
Do you hold any political beliefs that are completely incongruent? Meaning at total odds with each other?
If the answer is yes, you really want to keep listening. Because something has been done to you by outside forces to get you this way. Intentionally. And for sinister reasons.
The goals of the societal takedown. Keep in mind they socialist/Marxist/communist people did not believe these points were valid for society. They used these to destroy existing societies so they could replace authority with themselves.
https://cdn.subsplash.com/docu....ments/W8FD27/_source
Deception is key. It’s 100% trickery. You must be mad and outraged at something, even if it’s not real. In most cases it’s not real. Then somebody sweeps in with a fix. And the fix doesn’t even make sense. We’re 36 trillion in debt as a nation so we need to cut government. At the same time proposing cutting enormous taxes or even offering refunds. That makes no sense whatsoever. Zero.
More at https://firstcenturychristiani....ty.net/history-is-re

Did DOGE Accidentally Reveal the Babylon of Revelation?
There have been some significant developments with the world’s economy in recent years that shows us who the Babylon from Revelation may be. This video also includes a lesson on when to take the bible literally and when to not.

⁣Romans 16:17-18 ESV
17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.
18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

Religious people of all denominations are too quick to either label every different opinion as heresy or to quit one church for another as soon as the pastor says something they don't like. We really need better coping skills.

I have been thinking of common disagreements in three categories: Discordant, Divergent, and Academic. I've also been thinking of people who unintentionally create division in three categories: Sensationalists, Closed-minded, and Obsessive.

From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).

This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.

Follow me on Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@AmericanTorah
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