God's Appointed Times: A Practical Guide for Understanding and Celebrating the Biblical Holidays

by Barney Kasdan

Publisher:

Messianic Jewish Publishers

, 1993

Overview

The biblical holy days are not just for Jews. Christians, too, can receive the blessing of these glorious days, the greatest object lessons in the Bible. God gave each day to teach his people about him and his relationship to them. From the Sabbath, which pictures eternity, to the popular holiday, Hanukkah, mentioned by name only in the gospel of John, the special times were set apart to bless the people of God. In this book, Barney Kasdan, leader of Kehilat Ariel of San Diego, one of the largest Messianic congregations in the world, explains every holy day described in Scripture. He teaches about the major and minor holy days, ever mindful that he is writing to both Jews and Christians.

Beginning with the Sabbath, the first holy day revealed in Scripture, he writes about Passover, Firstfruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, The Feast of Tabernacles, Hanukkah—the Festival of Dedication, and Purim, the special day given in the time of Queen Esther. Each chapter offers historical background, traditional Jewish observance, relevance to the New Testament, prophetic significance, and a practical guide for believers, including recipes, songs, and crafts. There are other books on the subject of the Feasts of Israel, but this one goes beyond them all. It is written by a Messianic Jew, a Jew who trusts Yeshua. Who better to explain God's Appointed Times?

Contents

Top Highlights

“The lesson is clear: if God has been faithful to bless us with this early harvest, he will most certainly provide the harvest of later summer.” (Page 40)

“but the two-fold theme is clear: remember the creator and set the day aside to rest in him.” (Page 2)

“In traditional groups, the afternoon of Rosh HaShanah is spent at a body of water (ocean, lake or stream) observing the ancient service, Tashlich. The word derives from Micah 7:19 where the prophet promises, ‘You will hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.’ To illustrate this beautiful truth, people cast bread crumbs or pebbles into the water and rejoice in God’s promise of forgiveness.” (Page 65)

“The rabbis stressed that the forty day period from the first day of Elul through the tenth day of Tishri (Yom Kippur) was to be a time of special spiritual preparation. This was based on the belief that it was on the first of Elul that Moses ascended Mount Sinai in order to receive the second set of Tablets of the Law and that he descended on Yom Kippur (Pirke DeRabbi Eliezer 46).” (Page 64)

“The most noticeable custom is the shofar, the trumpet mentioned in the biblical text. The shofar is sounded in the synagogue with four different notes: tekia (blast), shevarim (broken notes), teruah (alarm) and tekia gedolah (the great blast). These notes provide some spiritual lessons. Rabbis observed that the shofar was used in the ancient world to hail a king. So, too, at Rosh HaShanah, all Israel is said to appear before the King of Kings in anticipation of personal judgement. Also, often in the Bible the shofar was sounded to gather the troops together for battle (see Joshua 6). In this case, the shofar is our ‘wake-up call’; an alarm to call us to our appointed time.” (Page 65)

Product Details

• Title: God's Appointed Times: A Practical Guide for Understanding and Celebrating the Biblical Holidays
• Author: Barney Kasdan
• Publisher: Messianic Jewish Publishers
• Publication Date: 1993
• Pages: 155

About Barney Kasdan

Barney Kasdan is leader of Kehilat Ariel, a thriving Messianic congregation located in San Diego. He holds degrees from Biola University (B.A.) and Talbot Theological Seminar (M.Div.). He also completed a year of post-graduate study at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. Mr. Kasdan is the author if the popular book God’s Appointed Times.

In 1941, The United States is drawn into World War II. During that same year, Dr. Henry Einspruch publishes his classic book, The Yiddish New Testament, a breakthrough in evangelistic literature for Jewish people. Over the following decades, the publications of Lederer/Messianic Jewish Communications have been widely used to impact thousands of Jewish people with the Good News of Messiah. These books and tracts have been distributed in the Orthodox Jewish community, have been given out to Jews in the former Soviet Union, and have been used by Messianic congregations and Jewish outreaches all over the world. Messianic Jewish Publishers mission is two-pronged: Reaching out to Jewish people with the message of Messiah and teaching the non-Jewish spiritual family about their Jewish roots.