Complimentary Story
May 2026“Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” Revelation 1:3.
I am so thankful that this blessing does NOT say that one must also fully understand in order to be blessed! Prayerfully studying and considering how the time nearing Messiah’s return will play out reveals a heart looking to our Father for understanding. It is that focus on Him as we walk out our course through these chaotic times that we demonstrate where our true hope and consolation stands — in Messiah! This will be true whether or not we have every detail figured out!
We already know that it is one thing to read words and quite another to appreciate and comprehend them in the context in which they were written. We do declare that we believe the Word in the original manuscripts is from the Spirit of God, through men, and that it is inerrant. We also declare that there have been and will likely still be found where the translations of that Word into other languages doesn’t completely represent what was intended. No one translation seems to be able to capture every nuance equally well! I hasten to state that the most basic and important aspects have been generally well represented in most translations. It is more often things that have an impact on how we walk but do not bring into question the virgin birth, death and resurrection of Messiah.
In our Set Apart Ministries fellowship, we have long studied by considering many different translations of each week’s portion of Scripture and then looking back at the original language, thematic or chiastic structures, and historical context to more fully understand what was intended. Anyone who speaks more than one language knows that it is sometimes difficult to translate the full meaning of idioms or concepts into another language so cultural understanding is also important.
There is also the issue in which the way people interpret what is written is influenced by not only language issues but also the accumulated weight of previous understandings and teachings.
I have felt it is important this month to consider an issue that I am seeing addressed online more frequently of late. Has the reader ever asked how the western traditional Good Friday through Sunday morning time table fulfills prophecy about Messiah’s death and resurrection? It may not seem important until Messiah’s Words are taken into account. The situation is recounted in several places. One example:
“‘A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.’ And He left them and departed.” Matthew 16:4 NKJV.
Luke added: “For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man will be a sign to this generation.” Luke 11:30.
What sign would that be? Three nights and three days in the “belly of the whale.” Jonah’s ordeal was a thematic picture of death and resurrection. THIS is the sign of the real Messiah: three nights and three days in death before His triumphant resurrection.
We look for the fulfillment of that prophecy in order to be certain who our real Messiah is. He said it is the only sign that would be given to a wicked and adulterous generation. Such a generation does not hold God’s Word in high regard and goes after other “gods” which in Biblical terminology is likened to whoring as a prostitute outside of marriage, much as is true today.
When I had long ago wondered about this, it was often said that the generation of that time counted time differently than we do…that any part of a day could be considered a whole day. It is also often said that since the women came “early in the day” that it was obviously Sunday morning.
Sadly, these kinds of concepts reflect a lack of awareness of the context of the times and culture. His creation account in Genesis clearly states that the days begin at evening, not when we think of at sunrise. Rather as the sun sets, it is the beginning of the next day. So when the women went out at sunrise, the tomb was already empty. (We believe that the Lord of the Sabbath completed His time in death and rose as the Sabbath concluded. “He is risen! He is risen indeed!”)
Western Christianity has not made it clear that we are no longer on the same calendar that our God had initially directed. There are several variations through the centuries but our current civil calendar, called the Gregorian, was established in October 1582 with the decree of Pope Gregory XIII. It was a modification and replacement for the Julian calendar previously used. So how far back do we have to go to get to what our God designed for us?
There is MUCH debate on this matter and our home fellowship has studied the matter extensively several times through the past two decades. We know that the calendar commonly used for the dates of Jewish Feasts is based on the calculations of Hillel. Although they are quite good and have kept the dates and the seasons relatively in sync, they still have to add an extra month every few years to keep it that way. We had started 25 years ago using the Karaite calendar for establishing Feast gathering dates because it appeared to us to be following the Biblical directives of letting astronomical signs and the barley harvest be large determining factors. As we learned more Hebrew and more background, we went through a change which is too detailed to fully explain here. We were then asked to consider the “lunar sabbath” calendar, which actually rotates the seventh day Sabbath so that it is on a different day of the week every month. This one is of more recent origin. We did not find Scriptural support for this approach and would not advise anyone to pursue this approach.
A few years ago an extensive study on the matter by Bill and Karen Bishop (www.ReturningToTheGarden.com) brought us to very deep study and consideration of what can be called the Zadokite calendar. It is supported by things learned from the Dead Sea Scrolls and confirms the Hebrew understanding of Scripture very well. This is an extremely detailed study which really cannot be addressed in detail here. We would suggest that it is a matter worthy of study as we consider how we will walk through these chaotic times as we near Messiah’s return.
This calendar appears to us to be as close as we have been able to come to what our God had decreed to the Levitical priesthood, although we stand ready if there is more that He has to teach us about calendars! It is actually more simple than any that have gone before and is consistent in how the Feast Days are established. As a fellowship, we determine to hold some things lightly and not get dogmatic about things that remain somewhat of a mystery until Messiah sets His feet down!
Why is this important? Western Christianity has disregarded the Feasts listed in Scripture as only “for the Jews.” However, our Father never described them that way. He said they are HIS Feasts. Every one of them is a picture of Messiah’s work on our behalf. The Spring Feasts, Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits and Shavuot/Pentecost are all about His first coming as our Suffering Servant who is our Redeemer. The Fall Feasts — Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles — are thematic pictures of what will happen when He returns as our Conquering King and comes to take His Bride to the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. This picture is, of course, worthy of much more consideration. I would be happy to provide further information or presentations/PowerPoint on How the Feasts Tell Messiah’s Story and how it pertains to our faith and our walk yet today.
We had understood many years ago that in order for there to have been three full days and three full nights in the tomb, the crucifixion would have had to have been on the third day/Wednesday that year. So there would then be Wednesday into Thursday, Thursday into Friday and Friday into Saturday/Shabbat for the three nights — and Thursday, Friday and all day Shabbat for the three full days. He arose as Shabbat came to an end and the women found the empty tomb either just after dark which could be considered early in the next day or at sunrise on First Day/Sunday. This understanding DOES correspond with the sign through Jonah. We see that an important exegetical practice IS to let Scripture interpret Scripture, which means to draw out the original intent more than the eisegetic practice of reading a desired meaning into the text.
We found it rather interesting in our study to learn that the Zadokite calendar supports this. In the Zadokite calendar, each Preparation day prior to each Feast, the extra “Shabbatan” or preparation day, falls on the third day of the week, for the Feast Beginning that evening over into the fourth day. (What we call Tuesday/Wednesday.) This is an interesting connection when considering the “three days” that Western Christianity has been teaching, Friday through Sunday.
Back to the original question here: How does Friday to Sunday fulfill the prophecy that Messiah would be in the tomb three days and three nights? Answer: it does not. This determination to establish Maundy Thursday and Good Friday before a Sunday resurrection was made by the Roman Catholic Church. It is quite an eye-opening study to consider the First Century leaders and how they moved from Jerusalem as the center of the fellowship in Messiah to Rome. Suffice it to say here that they wanted to distance themselves from the Jews, whom they characterized as “the Christ killers.” I believe that interpreting it that way also allowed them to shift away from focus on Shabbat and adopt the Day of the Sun/Sunday as their day to worship. It may also leave room for the anti-christ that is planned to soon appear. (As far as I know, the priests were unable to carry out a death sentence on their own so they manipulated people and events so that Rome actually carried out the sentence. Still, I would say that it was not them ultimately, but all of us and our sinful nature that led our Father to prepare Messiah Yeshua/Jesus to atone for us…from before the foundation of the world!)
Did you know, too, that the Roman Catholic Church split from the Eastern Orthodox Church over the issue of whether Mary could be called the “Mother of God” or the “Mother of Christ?” The Eastern Orthodox leaders stood firmly on Mother of Christ, not Mother of God. This church has continued to celebrate Pascha, or Passover, through the years. At the same time, the Roman Catholic Church went to using the “little g” goddess, Oestra, or Ishtar, as the focus. They then re-named the celebration “Easter.” (Historical note: I found it interesting that the Pope and the Patriarch met in 2016 in Antarctica for the first time since their division. It was reported that the Pope reversed the excommunication and they were again to be in fellowship, although I haven’t been able to confirm that fully.)
We are able to walk through the Spring Feasts now with joy, knowing that our Messiah has already come and paid the price for our restoration to our Father. We pray for our Jewish brothers and sisters who have not yet received “the One Who was pierced” that they will see Him sooner rather than later, as time seems to be growing shorter! WWJD was such a popular saying some time ago…we think it should be DWJD… “Do What Jesus Did” and follow Him, learning more every year we cycle through the annual Feasts of the LORD.
I will have to go into the next matter in the next article. Consider Daniel 12:7: “a time, times and a half time.” The word “time” has been considered to be years, leading to interpretations about Messiah’s return at the midpoint of seven years of tribulation. Did you know that the original language was not the word for “year” but “mo’ed” H4150 meaning “appointed time” which generally refers to the Feasts of the LORD?
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