Paleo Times June 2002 Newsletter

Greetings Brethren,

I pray that this letter is received with love and that you and your loved ones are well in the mercy of Almighty Yahweh. I would like to share a brother's question hopefully to help in your study.

The brother asked a question concerning the names Yahweh and Yahshua and why there are so many variations. The truth is that there are many theories as to how the sacred names are to be pronounced. The most prevalent and agreed upon pronunciation of the heavenly Father's name is Yahweh. The four consonants or tetragrammaton YHWH (pronounced yod he waw he) or YHVH in the Safardi and Ashkenazi respectively make up the consonant sounds of the sacred name. The error of some is to apply a strong V sound to waw. In the German speaking Hebrews where the Ashkenazi is spoken the V is not as evident. The Spanish speaking Hebrews are considered to speak a Hebrew that is the closest to the biblical Hebrew. Yahweh is then considered the best pronunciation and is considered the most accurate among scholars of both Judaism and Christianity.

Yahshua's name is much less agreed on by the scriptural study realms and is in much debate among the brethren in the faith. It is important to note that through time the name Yahshua was shortened to Yahshua from Yahoshua or Yahushua. After the Babylonian exile the name Jeshua or Yeshua appears in the scriptures. I and II Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehmiah all used the shortened form of Yehoshua. After the exile, YHWSH (yod he waw shin ayin) was shortened to YSHW (yod shin waw ayin). The change was carried in the pronunciation of the patriarch Joshua the son of Nun.

Nehemiah 8:17 And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.

During Yahshua's day the name had been shortened possibly to Yeshua which means "He Saves" or "He is Salvation". So why do we call on Yahshua and not Yeshua? The pronunciation is practically the same depending on where the emphasis is expressed and the meaning represents who "He" personifies, Yahweh. Yahshua came in his father's name; Yahweh is Salvation, shortened to Yahshua. (John 5:43)

The pronunciations that are being presented different than Yahshua are based on older pronunciations than the pronunciation used during Yahshua's life. Out of respect for the name most Jews will not utter Yahweh but the name was never lost, preserved by the disciples of Yahweh and Yahshua in their names. Eliyah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, all are preservations of the poetic form of the Sacred Name showing the everlasting devotion to the Father. Our ultimate goal in accuracy is to give honor and respect to Almighty Yahweh so that we may find knowledge through Yahweh and Yahshua that the Holy Spirit may guide us through the narrow pathway that leads to eternal life.

Yahweh Bless,

James Meyer

We are putting together a Feast of Tabernacles guide with locations and dates of the feast this year. Please help your brethren by sending information including contacts of where you will be keeping the feast. There are many feast sites around the world, some within short distances of each other but many spread great distances. Please send information to fotguide@paleotimes.org as soon as possible.

Please keep the following brethren and sisters in your prayers: Blackburn Family, Marie Harris, Annette Dosold, Mike Cly, Matt Nesser, Ron Orr Family, Castillo Family, Eloise Carson, Joseph Meyer Family, Lee Christopher Kearns, Jonathan Kearns, Jennifer Brindley, Barry Wood, Jim and Alice Maring, Steve Foster, The Ysidron Family - Jessica Ysidron is a believer in a non-believing household but her husband Steven is starting to show interest in the faith. Please pray that Yah'weh's Spirit is upon us and guiding us in all things., Jayne Crosson, Brad Kissee, Rachel Feliciano - Rachel was diagnosed with cancer and is at stage 4., Roberto Manso - Roberto which is hospitalized with liver cancer and was in coma. Through the power of prayer he is being transfer from ICU to a regular patient floor. He is now able to get out of bed and into a chair., Tom Browand - Tom has a larger than golf ball sized tumor., Roger D. Thompson and Family, Pam Fiello, Tad Bennethum, Carl and Cheryl Meyer, Terri Krebs, Pam and Jim White, Ronald Ritz Family, Aida Parker - Aida is unable to keep any food down and is very frail, Hans Frederiksen Ayala, Daniel Neal, Cindy Nevling, Connie Fazzi - Connie is a new believer in unbelieving household. She needs protection to study and keep the commandments of Yah., Howard Eisenhauer, Rhonda Harris, Larry Green, Inez Gholar - Inez has suffered from a head injury and has been having blackouts., Roger Norman and Family, Cindy Hogman, Ella Gadson and Family, Joseph Gray, Clementina and Julian Slabu, Pam and (Baby Elijah) Berthume, Roselia Ross, Caleb and Seth Thompson, Walter Hoffman, Thelma Howard, Carrie McCall - has fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and is also bi-polar manic-depressive and hasn't been able to work since last August., Vivienne Martin, Vin Sanders, Norma and Clem Daulton - Norma is living with RSDA in her hand, wrist, and shoulder which is extremely painful. Clem's lower back and the two nerves that were pinched still give him a great deal of trouble., Anita Garbes, and the many others striving to be better servants of Yahweh through Yahshua the Messiah.

The last New Moon was seen on June 11th by brethren across the southwest of the US. The New Moon was seen in Jerusalem on June 12th. The next New Moon will most likely be seen July 11th. Please look for this up coming New Moon and send us your report. We will share them with brethren around the world through the Paleo Times weekly email update. You can email your report to newmoon@paleotimes.org or call 573-896-8090.

The following compositions are articles and short stories submitted by brethren and sisters to edify the Assembly. If you have written a composition that you would like included please submit it through email or postal mail.

Everything I need to know about life, I learned from Noah's Ark... One: Don't miss the boat. Two: Remember that we are all in the same boat. Three: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark. Four: Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big. Five: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done. Six: Build your future on high ground. Seven: For safety's sake, travel in pairs. Eight: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs. Nine: When you're stressed, float a while. Ten: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals. Eleven: No matter the storm, when you are with Yahweh, there's always a rainbow waiting. NOW, wasn't that nice? Pass it along and make someone else smile, too.

Some have a fear of commitment. Out of that fear they will beat it to death in their minds, get emotionally ill over trying to figure out what to do. They will either do nothing at all out of fear, or do it because of the wrong reasons.

In one's life time, they may choose to make a commitment to do something. Some do it in eagerness to be a part of something. Some times it is is because they are pushed by others. Others are persuaded to make a commitment at a weak moment, or by someone that talks them into it. I am sure there are many other reasons than what I mentioned.

Those who do it in eagerness to be a part of something, later may be sorry. They will fulfill their part, not out of the eagerness they felt at first, but out of duty. The heart will not be in it. They will do it because they gave their word. They may even come to resent having to do what they promised to do. For those who are pushed, or were talked into a commitment, it may be that it was not good for them, and they too will not do it from the heart, but out of resentment.

In making a life time decision, we need to be clear on all the reasons we are doing something. Prayerfully seeking our Father's will, not mankind's will, or our will in it. As long as there is a doubt, or one can not with full assurance of knowing why, and all involved, and with their whole heart, not their head, they should not make any commitment to the cause. If they do, then it may be later it is their determination to keep the promise or commitment, rather than with their heart they do it. It will make them miserable, as well as those around them.

Our Father wants us to fear to disobey Him, but He does not want us to commit to Him, with fear of giving our lives to Him. It should be not because we are caught up in the moment of emotion, or some one talks us into it, or we are pushed or feel like we just have to, but really do not want to. If we do anyway, then it will not be from our hearts to fulfill the commitment, but duty. It is our love for Him that we do something.

Do not make a commitment, without being committed to the commitment itself.

The question here is which day is the "morrow after the Sabbath" that Yahweh is telling Israel to observe? In context with the scriptures concerning the Feast of Unleavened Bread it is easy to see that this Sabbath is one of the holy days of the feast. There is further scriptural evidence in Joshua that this is the case. Note also that the same day that the offering is brought before Yahweh is the day that new grain maybe eaten. Before the wave sheaf offering old grain from previous harvests must be eaten. This is of course important because before we may partake of anything whether it is money, produce, or any increase we are to give to Yahweh ten percent. We are to remember Yahweh in every blessing. Joshua 5 speaks of the time when Israel ended their wandering in the wilderness. As we saw in verse 10 of Leviticus 23 Yahweh says that this will start when Israel comes into the land which Yahweh has given them. This scripture gives us the example of how the command of the wave sheaf offering is to be carried out.

Yahweh shows compassion through the blessings to the poor and the stranger. The poor and the stranger are left the corners of the fields. Ruth is read usually during this time because of the blessings Ruth received at the feet of Boaz. The commandments are also read during this time because the third month is when Yahweh gave Moses the law to take before Israel. (Exodus 19:1) The Feast of Weeks is placed in a time before the drought of the summer, a time which is much harsher than the rainy season of the winter.

There are a few major points conveyed in this study. Shabbat is used in reference to both the weekly Sabbath and the annual Sabbaths. Shabbat is used in many places that don't refer to the weekly Sabbaths. The morrow after the Sabbath is explained to actually be the morrow after the first day in the Septuagint translation of the scriptures. This in context with the preceding verses from Leviticus 23 shows that the first day, is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Joshua 5 also provides verification of which days Israel ate old grain and which day they began to eat the new grain of the land. This was the first barley harvest and by no chance was this random.

Once the starting point is established it is easy to figure which day the count ends on by counting seven complete weeks. This is fifty days from the wave sheaf to Pentecost. When considering that new moon months are 29.5 days long the Feast of Weeks ends up on Sivan 5, 6, or 7.

Yahshua didn't rise on Sunday and he didn't ascend to Yahweh in heaven until after 40 days with the disciples. Yahshua is a fulfillment of the first fruits through his resurrection from the dead. The fulfillment of the Feast of Weeks is through the many things that Yahshua accomplished and the signs of his death and resurrection.

One of the many teachings of Christianity that has followed brethren into the faith is the keeping of Pentecost on Sunday. Examining the scriptures has led me to conclude that Pentecost being on Sunday does happen once in a while but not every year. Pentecost is like other scriptural observances that fall on different days of the 7 day cycle. This is a collection of what the scriptural scholars and historians say concerning Pentecost.

5. In the month of Xanthicus, which is by us called Nisan, and is the beginning of our year, on the fourteenth day of the lunar month, when the sun is in Aries, (for in this month it was that we were delivered from bondage under the Egyptians,) the law ordained that we should every year slay that sacrifice which I before told you we slew when we came out of Egypt, and which was called the Passover; and so we do celebrate this passover in companies, leaving nothing of what we sacrifice till the day following. The feast of unleavened bread succeeds that of the passover, and falls on the fifteenth day of the month, and continues seven days, wherein they feed on unleavened bread; on every one of which days two bulls are killed, and one ram, and seven lambs. Now these lambs are entirely burnt, besides the kid of the goats which is added to all the rest, for sins; for it is intended as a feast for the priest on every one of those days. But on the second day of unleavened bread, which is the sixteenth day of the month, they first partake of the fruits of the earth, for before that day they do not touch them. And while they suppose it proper to honor God (Yahweh), from whom they obtain this plentiful provision, in the first place, they offer the first-fruits of their barley, and that in the manner following: They take a handful of the ears, and dry them, then beat them small, and purge the barley from the bran; they then bring one tenth deal to the altar, to God (Yahweh); and, casting one handful of it upon the fire, they leave the rest for the use of the priest. And after this it is that they may publicly or privately reap their harvest. They also at this participation of the first-fruits of the earth, sacrifice a lamb, as a burnt-offering to God (Yahweh).

6. When a week of weeks has passed over after this sacrifice, (which weeks contain forty and nine days,) on the fiftieth day, which is Pentecost, but is called by the Hebrews Asartha, which signifies Pentecost, they bring to God (Yahweh) a loaf, made of wheat flour, of two tenth deals, with leaven; and for sacrifices they bring two lambs; and when they have only presented them to God, they are made ready for supper for the priests; nor is it permitted to leave any thing of them till the day following. They also slay three bullocks for a burnt-offering, and two rams; and fourteen lambs, with two kids of the goats, for sins; nor is there anyone of the festivals but in it they offer burnt-offerings; they also allow themselves to rest on every one of them. Accordingly, the law prescribes in them all what kinds they are to sacrifice, and how they are to rest entirely, and must slay sacrifices, in order to feast upon them.

The beginning of the grain harvest was marked by the sacrifice, at the sanctuary, of the omer, the first sheaf of the newly cut barley; fifty days later, at the close of the harvest period, two loaves of bread, baked from the wheat of the new crop, were offered as a sacrifice. ...continued...

Without Fixed Date... Shovuos is the only Jewish festival for which there is no fixed date, and it was therefore a matter of great discussion in the period of the second Temple. The Pentateuch does not state on what day of the month Shovuos is to be observed. It says only that it is to be celebrated fifty days after the offering of the omer, the first sheaf of the barley harvest, which was to be offered on "the morrow after the Sabbath." Thus, the Sadducees, the party of conservative priests, interpreted this as meaning that the omer was to be offered the first Sunday of Pesach, and that Shovuos, therefore, would always fall on the seventh Sunday after Pesach.

However, the Pharisees, who sought to interpret the Torah in accordance with the conditions of the day, interpreted the word Sabbath, in that case, as meaning not Saturday, but the day of rest, the first day of the festival. According to the Pharisees, therefore, it was necessary to offer the omer on the sixteenth day of Nisan; Shovuos, therefore, coming on the sixth day of Sivan.

Allied to Passover and Unleavened Bread was the Feast of Firstfruits celebrated at the same time. The firstfruits at Passover would be barley, which ripens in the warmer areas as early as March.

The presentation of the sheaf "on the day after the Sabbath" symbolized the dedication of the whole year's crop; and until this was done, none of the new grain was to be eaten. In Nu 28:27 other offerings are specified for this day; but as the context shows, they are the standard offerings for every day of Unleavened Bread. This "burnt offering" is an extra one for the firstfruits ceremony.

SHAVUOT (Heb. TvABbQ; "weeks," Pentecost, "the 50th day"), the festival celebrated on the sixth of Sivan (and also on the seventh outside Israel). The biblical names for the festival are: "Hag Shavuot" ("Feast of Weeks," Ex. 34:22; Deut. 16:10); "Yom ha-Bikkurim" ("The Day of the First-fruits," Num. 28:26), and "Hag ha-Kazir" ("The Harvest Feast," Ex. 23:16). The rabbinic name is "Azeret" (RH 1, 2; Hag. 2, 4). This word, of uncertain meaning but generally translated as "solemn assembly," occurs also in connection with the day following the Festival of Sukkot (Lev. 23:36; Num. 29:35). This would seem to suggest that, for the rabbis, Shavuot is an additional one day feast to Passover just as there is an additional one day feast to Tabernacles (see Targ. Onk. to Num. 28:26 and Pd-RK 192a---93a).

This feast, one of the three pilgrim festivals (Deut. 16:16), marked the end of the barley and beginning of the wheat harvest. According to the critical view, it was probably a midsummer festival in origin and taken over from the Canaanites. It is stated in Leviticus: "From the day after the Sabbath, the day that you bring the sheaf of wave-offering you shall count (until) seven full weeks have elapsed: you shall count fifty days, until the day after the seventh week; then you shall bring an offering of new grain to the Lord" (Lev. 23:15---16 and to 21). Leviticus 23:11 states that the sheaf was waved on the day after the Sabbath on the festival of Passover. Thus Shavuot falls 50 days after this day. The Sadducees (and later the Karaites) understood the term "Sabbath" in these verses literally, hence, for them Shavuot always falls on a Sunday. The Pharisees, however, interpreted "Sabbath" as the first day of Passover (which was a Sabbath, "day of rest") so that, for them, Shavuot always falls on the 51st day from the first day of Passover (Sifra Emor Perek 12; Men. 65a---66a). The Beta Israel (Falashas) interpreted "the day after Sabbath" as meaning the day after Passover so that for them Shavuot falls on the 12th of Sivan. The community of Qumran apparently interpreted "Sabbath" as the Sabbath after the end of the Passover festival, and as they had a fixed solar calendar this "Sabbath" always fell on the 26th of Nisan so that Shavuot always came out on Sunday the 15th of Sivan.

On this festival in Temple times two loaves (shetei ha-lehem) were "waved before the Lord" (Lev. 23:17---20). These had to be offered only from the finest wheat, from produce grown that year in Erez Israel (Men. 8:1). Shavuot was associated with the bringing of the bikkurim, "the first ripe fruits," to the Sanctuary (Ex. 23:19; Deut. 26:1---11). The Mishnah (Bik. 1, 6) states that the period for bringing them was any time from Shavuot to Sukkot. The villagers would first assemble in the large town of the district and would go up together with their first ripe fruits to the Temple where they would be welcomed with song by the levites (Bik. 3:2---4). In rabbinic times a remarkable transformation of the festival took place. Based on the verse: "In the third month after the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai" (Ex. 19:1), the festival became the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Sinai. The description of the feast in the liturgy is "zeman mattan toratenu" ("the time of the giving of our Torah"). The transformation was in accord with a process to be observed in the Bible in which the ancient agricultural feasts were transformed into festivals marking the anniversary of significant historical events in the life of the people. Both Passover and Sukkot are connected with the Exodus; it was natural to link Shavuot with this event.

It is possible that the Pharisees insisted that Shavuot be observed on a fixed day because they wished to affirm that the festival commemorated the Sinaitic theophany which occurred on the 50th day after the Exodus (following the general Pharisaic belief in an oral Torah reaching back to Moses which the Sadducees denied) and because a purely agricultural festival had little meaning for the town dwellers who made up the Pharisaic party (L. Finkelstein, Pharisees (19623), 115---8, 641---54). If this is correct, the transformation into a historical feast took place before the present era. However, neither Josephus nor Philo refers to Shavuot as "the time of the giving of our Torah," and none of the references in the rabbinic literature to the Torah being given on this day (e.g., Shab. 86b) is earlier than the second century C.E., though there may well have been a tradition far earlier than this. The earliest clear references to Shavuot as the anniversary of the giving of the Torah are from the third century, e.g., the saying of R. Eleazar that all authorities agree that it is necessary to rejoice with good food and wine on Azeret because it was the day on which the Torah was given (Pes. 68b).

In some medieval communities it was customary to introduce children to the Hebrew school on Shavuot, the season of the giving of the Torah. At this initiation ceremony the child, at the age of five or thereabouts, was placed on the reading desk in the synagogue and from there was taken to the school where he began to make his first attempts at reading the Hebrew alphabet. He was then given cakes, honey, and sweets "that the Torah might be sweet on his lips." In many modern synagogues, particularly Reform, the confirmation of older children takes place on Shavuot (see Bar Mitzvah).

Unlike Passover and Sukkot, Shavuot has few special rituals, and those it does have are late. This is entirely explicable in view of the development of the festival mentioned above. The harvest associations no longer had much meaning once the Temple was destroyed, and there are no biblical ceremonies connected with the giving of the Torah since this motif is post-biblical. In modern Israel attempts have been made to revive some of the harvest ceremonies (see Kibbutz Festivals). In the synagogue it is customary to read the Book of Ruth on Shavuot. Among the reasons given are: that the events recorded in Ruth took place at harvest time (Ruth 2:23); that Ruth was the ancestor of David (Ruth 4:17) who, traditionally, died on Shavuot; that Ruth's "conversion" to Judaism is appropriate reading for the festival which commemorates the giving of the Torah; and that Ruth's loyalty is symbolic of Israel's loyalty to the Torah. The portion of the Torah read in the synagogue on the first day is the account of the theophany at Sinai (Ex. 19:1---20:26). In the Ashkenazi rite it is prefaced by chanting the Aramaic Akdamut hymn composed by Meir b. Isaac Nehorai of Orleans (11th century) in praise of Israel's faithfulness to the Torah. The haftarah for the first day is the vision of Ezekiel (Ezek. 1---2) because of its parallel to the vision of the whole people at Sinai. The haftarah for the second day is Habakkuk's prayer (Hab. 3) because it similarly describes a theophany. This, too, is prefaced by an Aramaic hymn in praise of the Torah,"Yeziv Pitgam," composed by R. Jacob b. Meir of Troyes (1100---1171). Under the influence of the Kabbalah it became customary to spend the whole of the first night as a vigil in which selected passages from all the Jewish religious classics are read (tikkun leil Shavuot). A less observed custom is to recite the whole of the Book of Psalms on the second night because of the association of the festival with David.

The Torah reading for the first day (Ex. 19---20) includes the Ten Commandments. Although the Mishnah (Tam. 5:1) states that the Ten Commandments were recited each day in the Temple, the rabbis discouraged their recitation outside the Temple to refute the claims of the "sectarians" that only these, and not the whole Torah, were given to Moses at Sinai (Ber. 12a). During the Middle Ages there were some protests against the practice of standing while the Ten Commandments were read on Shavuot. But the custom for the whole congregation to stand is still followed on the grounds that the talmudic objection to any special significance being attached to the Decalogue cannot apply to congregational reading from the Scroll since the whole of the Torah is written in the Scroll. The account of the revelation on Mount Sinai is usually sung to a specially solemn tune.

It is customary to adorn the synagogue with plants and flowers on Shavuot because, tradition has it, Sinai was a green mountain, and with trees, because Shavuot is judgment day for the fruit of the tree (RH 1:2). Some authorities disapproved of the custom because of its similarity to certain church rites (see Hukkat ha-Goi). It is a home custom to eat dairy products on Shavuot because the Torah is compared to milk (Song 4:11) and because the law of the first fruits is placed in juxtaposition to a law concerning milk (Ex. 23:19). In some communities it is customary to eat triangular pancakes stuffed with meat or cheese because the Torah is of three parts (Pentateuch, Prophets, and Hagiographa) and was given to a people of three parts (priests, levites, and Israelites) on the third month through Moses who was the third child of his parents.

1 His foundation is in the holy mountains.

2 Yahweh loveth the gates of Zion More than all the dwellings of Jacob.

3 Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of Elohim. Selah

4 I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon as among them that know me: Behold, Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia: This one was born there.

5 Yea, of Zion it shall be said, This one and that one was born in her; And the Most High himself will establish her.

6 Yahweh will count, when he writeth up the peoples, This one was born there. Selah

7 They that sing as well as they that dance shall say, All my fountains are in thee.

1 O Yahweh, the Elohim of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee.

2 Let my prayer enter into thy presence; Incline thine ear unto my cry.

3 For my soul is full of troubles, And my life draweth nigh unto Sheol.

4 I am reckoned with them that go down into the pit; I am as a man that hath no help,

5 Cast off among the dead, Like the slain that lie in the grave, Whom thou rememberest no more, And they are cut off from thy hand.

6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, In dark places, in the deeps.

7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, And thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah

8 Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me; Thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.

9 Mine eye wasteth away by reason of affliction: I have called daily upon thee, O Yahweh; I have spread forth my hands unto thee.

10 Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? Shall they that are decreased arise and praise thee? Selah

11 Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Or thy faithfulness in Destruction?

12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? And thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

13 But unto thee, O Yahweh, have I cried; And in the morning shall my prayer come before thee.

14 Yahweh, why castest thou off my soul? Why hidest thou thy face from me?

15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: While I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.

16 Thy fierce wrath is gone over me; Thy terrors have cut me off.

17 They came round about me like water all the day long; They compassed me about together.

18 Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, And mine acquaintance into darkness.