Review of Teaching

Shalom Saints,

The term Feast of Weeks goes by several names. Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Harvest are the biblical terms dealing with the counting of the days and weeks leading up to the wheat harvest. Shavuot is Ashkenazi and Pentecost is a Greek word transliterated into English.

Arthur breaks with tradition when he addresses what the Feast of Weeks commemorates. Tradition says it is the giving of the commandments. The Rabbis said, a few hundred years ago, Shavuot was in sync with the giving of the Torah. However they were off by a day or two. We know that the Almighty is specific. When He says the fifteenth day of the second month, that’s what He means. When He says the first day, that’s exactly what He means — not give or take a day or two.

Arthur goes step-by-step in the counting of the days from Passover to the day when YeHoVaH shouted down the Ten Commandments, the beginning of the Torah to the mixed multitude. Arthur clearly states that we cannot say with any certainty from a scriptural perspective that Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah.

Arthur reminds us that tradition seems to always want to bring out the good side of the story. Tradition seems to highlight and paint a picture of beauty and glory and the remembrance of good times. But YeHoVaH wants His people to remember that:

On Passover I killed some people. I killed a whole bunch of people, remember? That’s the day I killed all of the firstborn of those who did not obey by putting the blood over the door. Remember that on the first Feast of Unleavened Bread, I didn’t allow you to get comfortable because you had to move in haste. You had to eat something that you were not comfortable with. Your bread didn’t have a chance to rise. And remember, that’s the day that I brought you out of the land and I made you eat unleavened bread. Remember the Feast of Tabernacles —I made you dwell in booths.

Arthur believes that YeHoVaH is trying to communicate to all of us, not only does the Almighty have the power to sustain you; He also has the power to condemn and to destroy.

We have to remember our past so that we don’t repeat it.

Listen to this teaching as Arthur gives many more details on the counting up to Pentecost, how it was a daily reminder of the manna in the wilderness, and how it all pointed to Yeshua our Messiah.

As with many of Arthur’s teachings, there are Messages before, during, and after the Message. I’m always looking for those succinct messages of life! Here are a few:

• When Moses disobeyed YeHoVaH, Moses was forbidden to enter into the Promised Land. YeHoVaH is holding all of us to the same standard. There is no excuse for any of us.

• Self-inflicted deception is the worst kind of deception because you already have excuses to justify what you want to do. Self-deception comes with a false sense of peace in your spirit.

• YeHoVaH has commanded us to come before Him three times a year and not to come empty handed. We must bring Fruitfruits. You determine what you give, but you don’t determine whether you give.

• Arthur declares that the Father has the ability and the power to meet every last one of your needs. The question is, “Do you trust the Father to do this?”

• A man with an experience is not at the mercy of a man with a doctrine.

• Everything in the earth manifested from the spoken word of YeHoVaH. Your words are more powerful than your bank account. Your words are more powerful than your resources and your physical possessions! You can speak to things. You can command things. You can pray. You can commune with the Almighty. You can say: “Satan get behind me!” “Devil come out!” “Be healed in the name of Yeshua!”

• We need to be in a place where we can hear from the Almighty. He can instruct, lead, guide, and show us where our provisions are.

• We are in a spiritual battle with the enemy. We need the power of the Holy Spirit working with us, but we have the power to resist and even grieve the Holy Spirit. We grieve the Holy when we hear Him speaking to us and we do not obey.

• For many years we accepted the “Good Friday” concept of 3 days and 3 nights. We accepted things without logically thinking them through. If we simply applied logic, we would conclude that most religious theologies are illogical.

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Sharon's Reflections on the Teaching

Arthur explained that YeHoVaH doesn’t want us to be afraid of Him, but He does want us to be afraid of violating His commands because there are consequences.

YeHoVaH wants us to seek Him and to commune with Him. Pairing this idea with illogical thinking in the church, made me think of other gods that I worshipped. These gods did not ask for me to seek after them, or want a relationship with me.

First was Santa Claus. If you saw him on Christmas Eve, he did not leave you any gifts. Crazy!

Then his little minion, the Sandman, would grope around in your bedroom the night before Christmas to put sand in your eyes if you tried to sneak a peek. I was petrified of him! I remember one Christmas Eve, I was so excited that I couldn’t go to sleep. I gripped my eyes closed for what seemed like hours as I shook in fear. I was so afraid that my grip would loosen and he would put sand in my eyes. That experience was probably a contributing factor when Floyd and I decided not to play the Santa game with our children. We did celebrate Christmas, but told them that we bought the gifts. We reasoned what we were doing was a little better than just lying to them about Santa Claus. But as they say, “there is no such thing as a little pregnant.”

Now, the Easter Bunny was mysterious. He left Easter baskets, but you never saw him. Then, there were the Easter egg hunts, but you didn’t see the bunny then either.

I am thinking about my illogicalness when I took Winston and Zoe for a photo with Santa and the Easter Bunny! Now get this, I had already told them that Santa and the Easter Bunny were not real!! I did it because all parents are supposed to have those photos for their memory books. Don’t they??

HalleluYAH!! We have a real Elohim that yearns for us to seek His face and to pray with expectation!

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Buzz on the Teaching

My first time to celebrate Shavuot was on May 23, 2010. Floyd and I and our two pre-teens rented an RV and headed to Tupelo, MS from our home in Eutaw, AL. It was a great adventure to meet other people that celebrated the Feasts. We had just come into the knowledge of the truth in December 2009.

There were people from various states, age groups, and ethnic backgrounds. The Saints were in camper RVs, Luxury RVs, tents, and cabins. They were all willing to share their experiences and there was a bond in being outsiders going against the world. A lot of teaching, praising and fellowshipping took place in that State Park.

I remember how I was so kindly corrected when I said speaking in tongues was just a bunch of gibberish. (When you don’t know, the truth about something, you just don’t know.) One Sister Saint shared with me her experience speaking in tongues. YeHoVaH gave her the ability to communicate with a foreign man that was a patient in the hospital. She also told me how she prayed in tongues during prayer time. When I left there, I started incorporating tongues in my prayer time. 2-3 years later, when Arthur spoke on tongues, I started asking the Father to give me the interpretation of what I was speaking. He did.

My children were elated to find out that we were not the only family in a weird religion with so many rules! The other youth, open spaces, and activities kept down any complaints about “Why do we have to be here?”

On the way back home, I had a real sense of fellowship and belonging. It was our first Feast celebration with other Messianics.

Please leave me a comment about one of your first Feasts.

Until next time… Blessings to You and Yours,

Sharon