Then the word of the LORD of Hosts came to me, saying, “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, was it really for Me that you fasted? And when you were eating and drinking, were you not doing so simply for yourselves? Are these not the words that the LORD proclaimed through the earlier prophets, when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were populous and prosperous, and the Negev and the Lowland were inhabited?’” Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, “This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Administer true justice. Show loving devotion and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’ -Zechariah 7: 4-10 BSB
Warrior;
There are 7 Feasts that are laid out for the Jews to celebrate Yahweh, Jehovah and the special relationship of the Jewish people to God the Father. Actually- there are 6 Feasts, the seventh is a FAST. The Feast of PASSOVER (Leviticus 23:5), of UNLEAVENED BREAD (Leviticus 23:6), FIRST FRUITS (Leviticus 23:10,11), PENTECOST (Leviticus 23:17), TRUMPETS (Leviticus 23:24), TABERNACLES (Leviticus 23:34) and ATONEMENT (Leviticus 23:27)- this is actually called Yom Kippur, and it is the holiest day of the year. It was a time when we are to be the closest to God, through His forgiveness. Yom Kippur means “Day of Atonement”. Leviticus 16:29 mandates establishment of this holy day on the 10th day of the 7th month as the day of atonement for sins. It calls it the Sabbath of Sabbaths and a day upon which one must afflict one’s soul. Leviticus 23:27 decrees that Yom Kippur is a strict day of rest.
Leader, 6 special days of CELEBRATION, of FEASTING, of living in abundance and JOY! One day to REMEMBER the grand CHASM between a HOLY GOD and an UNHOLY creation! God intended a DAY where ISRAEL, “afflict their souls”: to abstain from food and drink, do not wash or apply lotions or creams, do not wear leather footwear, and abstain from marital relations. Instead, they were to spend the day in synagogue, praying for forgiveness. Later the Jews added many more fasts, including the Fast of Gedaliah and the Fast of Esther. But it was God’s intention for 6 FEASTS and 1 FAST! Again, notice Gods desire: But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. (1 Samuel 15:22)
Conduit, God told The Psalmist: First, Christ said, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them” (though they are required by the law of Moses). (Hebrews 10:8) It is referencing Psalm 40:6; Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but my ears You have opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not require. Here is how the MSG Bible paraphrase puts it in Isaiah 1:11-13: Why this frenzy of sacrifices?” God’s asking. “Don’t you think I’ve had my fill of burnt sacrifices, rams and plump grain-fed calves? Don’t you think I’ve had my fill of blood from bulls, lambs, and goats? When you come before me, whoever gave you the idea of acting like this, running here and there, doing this and that— all this sheer commotion in the place provided for worship? “Quit your worship charades. I can’t stand your trivial religious. God did not come in the FORM OF JESUS, for this purpose! Here is why Jesus said He came; The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (John 10:10-11) Celebrate your purpose that God saved you and kept you here for! He loves Christ rightly who obeys his commandment: and because obedience to Christ is accompanied with an infinite type and amount of miseries, although he is absent in body, yet he comforts his own with the present power of the Holy Spirit, whom the world despises, because it does not know Him. Do you know Him, LOVE HIM?
