Sid Roth

Sid:  We want everyone everywhere to be red hot for the Messiah.  And we want everyone everywhere not to miss the return of the Messiah; there’s so many different views.  But my guest Mark Blitz says there’s something missing from most of these view.  It’s the same thing that’s missing from most of the church and that is the Biblical appointments that God says to observe forever because He calls them My Feasts.  And we learned over the last few days that the word Feasts in the Hebrew means my appointments.  So these are not just Jewish Feasts, not just biblical Feasts, these are God’s Feasts or God’s appointments.  And Pastor Mark Blitz why does God say to observe these Feasts forever?

Mark:  Well, I think that the reason that God wants us to observe these Feasts forever is because these are His Feasts and His word is forever; and He wants us to be aware of what’s coming and that’s why these are rehearsals.  His first coming was all rehearsals, that’s what these were.  And I believe His Second Coming; all the Feasts, the fall Feasts are rehearsals just for that and so He wants us to connect with Him.

Sid:  On yesterdays broadcast you were talking about how these Feasts predict the exact day even, the exact hour of the events of His First Coming.  How would you have liked to have been a Jewish person and snuck into a dress rehearsal of the First Coming of Jesus?  Hah, better yet how would you like to be alive today and sneak into a dress rehearsal of His return?  I imagine you’d throw away a lot of the books on end times that you’re reading these days.  Mark, tell us a bit about His First Coming and how that was prophesied to the very hour.

Mark:  Sure, I think that’s so important for us to understand.  The Lord said, that He wanted them to keep the Passover forever and the reason why, these were dress rehearsals.  Every year on Passover they went through the binding of the Passover lamb, the slaying of the Passover lamb at three in the afternoon the time of the evening sacrifice.  And that’s exactly, they were rehearing the event that would come 1500 years later when Messiah not only died on the Feast of Passover, but he was bound on the very time of the morning sacrifice.  He died at the very time of the evening sacrifice, and then on the Feast of the Unleavened Bread here He is the Matza, He’s the unleavened bread, and then three days later on the Jewish Feast of the First Fruits He rises from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits.  And then they have what’s called the counting of the Omer, and it leads right up to Shavuot or Pentecost.  Many Christians think Pentecost began in Acts not realizing the Jews in Deuteronomy 16:16 were commanded to keep that Feast.  And here if you remember Peter said, “These men aren’t drunk it’s the third hour of the day.”  Well, that’s 9:00 in the morning, time of the morning sacrifice on the Feast of Pentecost, that’s why all these Jews were in Jerusalem in Acts because they were required to be there.  Because God wanted them to see His First Coming and that’s why He’s wanting the Jews to Alliyah and get back the land because He wants them there for His Second Coming.

Sid:  And we’re going to talk about it because you discuss each one of the feasts in the four DVD series, “The Feasts of the Lord.”  One of the things that’s so amazing to me is the Talmud tells us something very supernatural that happened forty years before the destruction of the Temple, about the year 30AD, tell us what the Talmud shows.

Mark:  Yeah, it’s just amazing here the temple was destroyed in 70AD and the Talmud records that forty years before, which would put it right at 30AD when Messiah died.  They said, these four ominous events all took place right before the Temple’s destruction.  The High Priest would have two lots that would determine which goat would be for the Lord and which goat would be led out to the wilderness to be thrown over a cliff.  Well, the lot for the Lord’s goat would come up in the left hand, and that was a horrible sign because before the lot for the Lord should always come up in the High Priests right hand.  And then the other thing the Talmud records is they had tied a scarlet thread to the goats that was taken out to the wilderness and they also tied a scarlet thread to the door of the Temple.  Well, on Yom Kippur, if everything went well the scarlet thread on the Temple would supernaturally turn white and that’s how they knew that their sins were forgiven and that’s based on Isaiah 1:18 where it says, “Though your sins be as crimson they should be white as snow.”  Well, low and behold forty years before the Temple was destroyed the scarlet thread its recorded stopped turning white.  And then also the western most light on the Temple menorah in the Holy Place it just wouldn’t stay lit it kept going out.  And then finally the last thing the Temple doors would open all by themselves, these Temple doors, people don’t realize, were 75’ high, 7 1/2 story doors.  And you’ll see that they said they were like 25 ½ feet wide and it took 25 men to open the doors they were so big and heavy.  And yet all of a sudden these doors supernaturally would begin to open all by themselves.  And the Talmud records it was based on a verse in Zechariah Chapter 11 verse 1 where it says “Open your doors oh Lebanon that the fire may devour your cedars.”  And the Temple had a lot of cedar in it and they saw it meant destruction was coming and so all these supernatural events are recorded in the Talmud.

Sid:  But what occurred at approximately the year 30AD to show God’s dissatisfaction with what’s going on in the Temple?

Mark:  Well, I think we know it, it was the Messiah; He had died in 30 AD right at that time.

Sid:   Isn’t it amazing coincidence it’s at 30 AD; isn’t it amazing coincidence that everything to the day showed the First Coming of Jesus in the Jewish Biblical Feasts?

Mark:  Yes, it is totally amazing; I think that it shows it’s a supernatural sign from God.  I mean God always wants to communicate with His people on His Feasts days and He does everything He can to get His word out.

Sid:  Oh, tell us some more exact hours and dates the things happened.

Mark:   Yes, one of the most amazing things to me is John Chapter 7.  And in John Chapter 7 it talks about how it was the Feast of Tabernacles it brings it up.  And then toward the end most people remember that’s when Jesus stood up and He said, “If any man thirsts, let him come after Me” as the scripture says and out of his belly shall flow rivers of Living Water.  Well the amazing thing to me is what was going on in the Temple; the Talmud records all of this and that’s why it was so amazing for both Jews and Christians if they go the Talmud they would see exactly what was going on during the Feast of Tabernacles.  And because there was like Josephus said 2 ½ million people there, they divided the twenty-four courses of priests into three groups of eight.  And one group, all they would do was slaughter all the sacrifices because everyone was bringing sacrifices.  But the amazing thing on the south side at the water gate and the High Priest with his Assistant would go south down by the City of David by the Pool of Siloam because the Pool of Siloam had Living Water.  And He would fill this Living Water into a gold pitcher and his Assistant had a silver pitcher filled with wine; so here wine represents blood.  So here we have living water and the blood and they’re marching in this huge procession with hundreds of thousands of people on either side like there is this big parade and event while the High Priest and his Assistant are going back up into the Watergate back up into the Temple.  And they literally would pour the water and the wine onto the altar and while they’re doing that at the same time simultaneously another group of priests would go out the Beautiful Gate or the Eastern Gate.  And the Talmud records that they would go down to the Motza Valley and they would grab willow branches that were like 30’ long and there would be rows and rows and rows of priests thirty 30’ apart with these big giant willow branches and they would wave them.  And in step with the High Priest coming up the south side these priests would be going up the eastern side and when you can imagine all these gigantic willow branches waving and rustling in the breeze; the Hebrew word for wind is Ruach which is also translated as Spirit.  So here going up to the eastern side of the Temple you can hear the wind of God, or the Spirit of God coming up to the Temple.  On the other side you have the Living Water coming up to the Temple and when they both got to their respective gates there would be a flute player who would play the flute and the flute player was known as the Pierced One.  So here we have the Pierced One who’s calling for the Spirit, the wind and the water to enter into the Temple.  And then they would go into the Temple and the priest would march like a Jericho march around the altar once every day, but on the seventh day and this is what John records in the Gospels; that on the last day the seventh day of the Feast; here they’re doing this Jericho march around and that is when it says Jesus stood out and cried!  Well, the amazing thing is that again they would always sing the Hallel, which is Psalms 113 through Psalms 118.  And so what…

Sid:  The Stone that the builder’s has rejected has become the Chief Cornerstone; if that’s not amazing I don’t know that is.

Mark:  Exactly, exactly and the other thing they sing is “The Lord is my strength and my song and He has become my salvation.”  Well the Hebrew word for salvation is “Yeshua,” which is also very interesting.  But in…

Sid:  So the Lord has become my Jesus, is that what you’re saying?

Mark:  Ha-ha, exactly, exactly and then the other thing that is so amazing to me is it also says this, and it’s from Exodus 15 where Miriam says “The Lord is my strength and my song.” you know “When He has become my salvation!  Well, the Talmud records they also think from Isaiah 12, it says “Behold God is my salvation I will trust and will not be afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is the strength and my song; He has become my Yeshua; therefore with joy will you draw water from the wells of Yeshua.”  And right when they sang, “With joy will you draw water from the wells of Yeshua, that’s when He shouted out, “Yes,” as the scripture says, “He who comes to Me out His belly will flow wells of Living Water.”

Sid Roth:  Mishpochah there’s such richness that has been stolen from you…