Let’s do a word study.
But first, I want to preface this study by sharing with you how the Father led me to this topic.
At this time of year, many people all around the world are celebrating the Christmas holiday in honor of “the birth of Jesus.” If you know me, you know that this is a holiday I used to LIVE for, but as of several years ago have repented from and do not partake in any longer, for reasons that I have publicly discussed at multiple times throughout my walk.
The reason I felt led to give up Christmas (and all worldly holidays for that matter) is simply because I was examining myself, my faith and questioning why I did things the way I did. I wanted to worship my Father in spirit and truth. I wanted to know Him deeper. For that reason, it allowed His Ruach (Holy Spirit) to begin convicting me about it. What I came to find out is that although my “heart” was in it for sincere reasons when I celebrated certain holidays like Christmas and Easter, I realized that I was not worshipping in “truth.”
Many people, myself included (for a time), do not understand the depth of the deception around the holidays that are celebrated by Believers today. While now is not the place to discuss this in detail (I have free e-books on my website that dive deeper into Christmas and Easter), what has happened is that the enemy has robbed us of pure and proper worship. And now, many people are celebrating holidays that were not ordained by our Creator, although in their heart and even in their mind they believe that they are acceptable because it’s “what’s in their heart” that is most important.
I used to think that way too.
Because of this reason, through prayer and deeper study, I also realized that my worship was not in alignment with His Word, and I was devastated to learn that my worship was NOT pleasing to the Father, although in my “heart” I was genuine. In my “heart” I was sincere. In my “heart” I was doing the right thing.
But the thing is, I had to humble myself and admit that what my heart told me didn’t matter, when the goal was to seek to know HIS heart. I learned that when Yah said in His Word that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, I knew that this meant I needed to study His Word more. I began to understand why the Word must be our ROCK and SOURCE of truth. To understand Scripture means that you must cut ties with you opinions, emotions and personal bias that sometimes we don’t realize that we may be holding on to. My emotions and my heart had deceived me. And because I didn’t know the Word like I was supposed to, I wasn’t worshipping correctly.
That broke my heart, especially because I wanted to please Him. However, it brought me closer to the Father and it led me to study His Word deeper. And for that, I am so thankful and have been so blessed simply by having a desire to seek to know Him better. This is something that is promised to ANYONE who seeks Him with their whole heart. He is a good, good Father who desires to teach us His ways and love on us when we stumble or are in ignorant error. His grace truly is sufficient.
But with truth comes accountability.
My heart’s cry is to lovingly rebuke my brothers and sisters by showing them why we must repent and turn back to the path that Yahuah intended for His people since the beginning. I desire reconciliation and for the body to purify their worship by understanding how Yahuah, the Most High Elohim, wants us to worship Him.
This should be the supplication of each of our hearts, right?
I mean after all, He gave EVERYTHING, even His very own Son, so we could have access to know Him. But that access comes with more than just “belief.” It requires a complete surrender, even if that means forsaking what we thought we knew about Him.
He gave us instructions and appointed times that He has set apart and declared as holy, that He wants His people to honor. This is not something He gave to only “Jews,” or just the tribes of Jacob. These are for anyone who wants to be in covenant with Him. These are special moments in time where we are commanded to worship Him, praise Him and love Him.
The reason I am so passionate about this and firm in my rebukes, is because understanding how He wants to be worshipped will bless you so much!! And what grieves me is the fact that the church (broadly speaking) has taught us to reject these set apart days of worship, and has supplanted them with traditions of men that are rooted in pagan, false worship and has been cemented in the minds of many as “truth.”
The body today is in deep, grievous error.
He [Yahusha] answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me,teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”
He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.”
Mark 7:6-9
So with that being said, I wanted to take some time to break down a few Hebrew words in Scripture when it comes to the word “feast.”
“Feast” is the English word that is used most often to translate specific appointed times in Scripture. Just to be clear, a “feast” in Scripture doesn’t always mean a “big meal” as most would assume—it’s most appropriate meaning is “an appointed time for worship.” That is how the word is used most often in Scripture.
As we will discuss in this post, the appointed times of worship in Scripture are:
- Weekly sabbath days
- New moon days (which marks the beginning of a new month)
- Annual appointed times, which are:
- Passover (Pesach)
- Feast of Unleavened Bread
- First Fruits
- Feast of Weeks (Pentecost)
- Day of Trumpets
- Day of Atonement
- Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot)
But let’s look at this a little deeper.
The word “feast” is used in different ways depending on how the Hebrew word uses it. For this study, we are going to look at the following words:
“Feast” – Strong’s H4150 (moed)
“Feast” – Strong’s H2287 (hagag)
“Feast” – Strong’s H2282 (hag)
“Feast” – Strong’s H4960 (miste)
The thing is, without understanding the Hebrew words, it’s nearly impossible to understand what the difference is between a Hebrew word that has been translated to mean the SAME word in English. While these words have similarities, they also have differences. And sometimes, those subtle differences make ALL the difference, ya know?
Let’s start with moed (plural: moedim).
This Hebrew word can be found 223 times in the Tanakh (Old Testament). Moed means “an appointed time, place and meeting.”
Explicitly speaking, moedim can refer to Yah’s annual appointed times that I just listed, but generally speaking, it can also include His sabbaths and new moon days.
Here are a few verses that you can use to study...
In Leviticus 23:2-4, Yahuah says:
“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts [moedim] of Yahuah, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.”
He then goes on to list the sabbath first, and then the annual appointed times:
“Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of Yahuah in all your dwellings. These are the feasts of Yahuah, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times [moedim].”
All of Leviticus 23 describes in detail that the annual appointed times (moedim) are days that we are to worship Yahuah.
“And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts [moedim] of Yahuah.”
Leviticus 23:44
Here are a few other verses that lists the moedim, sabbaths and new moon days together:
“Then it shall be the prince’s part to give burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the New Moons, the Sabbaths, and at all the appointed seasons [moedim] of the house of Israel. He shall prepare the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings to make atonement for the house of Israel.”
Ezekiel 45:17
“The king also appointed a portion of his possessions for the burnt offerings: for the morning and evening burnt offerings, the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths and the New Moons and the set feasts [moedim], as it is written in the Law of Yahuah.”
2 Chronicles 31:3
“For the showbread, for the regular grain offering, for the regular burnt offering of the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the set feasts [moedim]; for the holy things, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and all the work of the house of our Elohim.”
Nehemiah 10:33
The sabbaths, new moon days, and annual appointed times are days of worship that we are commanded to partake in, and this understanding of worship is woven all throughout Scripture. While this post is not about sabbaths, new moons, and annual appointed times, the important thing to understand is that these are the days of worship that Yahuah desires and requires His people to celebrate. He does not want us to add to or take away from His Word.
Additionally, Zechariah 14 and Isaiah 61:23 points us to the fact that in the Kingdom to come, all people will worship Yahuah on His sabbaths, new moons, and annual feast days. If Israel kept those days when Scripture was written, and we will be keeping them in the Kingdom to come, why would we not keep them to the best of our ability now? Just a thought.
So, THESE appointed times are what Scripture outlines is for Believers today. Yahuah tells us that THIS is how He wants to be worshipped. Scripture must be our only source of authority, no matter what the world tells us. This is so important, especially as we move on to our next word...
Hagag (Strong’s H2287)
This word is used 16 times in the Tanakh and it means “to keep a pilgrim-feast, celebrate, or dance.”
A “pilgrim feast” in Scripture is one in which is referred to as a hagag, in which it involved only the feasts that required the children of Israel to congregate at the Tabernacle or Temple for, in which all families would travel to Jerusalem for. These are outlined for us in Exodus 23:14-16 as the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Weeks (aka Harvest) and Feast of Tabernacles (aka Ingathering):
“Three times you shall keep a feast [hagag] to Me in the year: You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty); and the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.”
You will also see the word hag (Strong’s H2282) used when referring to Yahuah’s appointed times as well. It is used 62 times in Scripture. We should take note of the fact that in Exodus 32:5, that same word is used when Aaron was influenced to make a golden calf:
“So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast [hag] to Yahuah.”
Exodus 32:5
This verse tells us that by the type of word being used, although it was a “feast to Yahuah,” and although it may have been done with “good” or “sincere” intentions, it was still false worship in the eyes of Yah, which is why He told Moses in a following verse:
“And Yahuah said to Moses, “Go, get down; For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.”
Exodus 32:7
Which brings me to my next point...
Let’s look at the Hebrew word miste (Strong’s H4960).
This word is used 46 times in the Tanakh.
However, this word is used when referring to a “feast” that is not one that Yahuah commanded us to celebrate. In fact, although the definition of this word means “feast, banquet or drink,” the root of this word (sata) means “to drink or be drunk” and is also used in Scripture when it comes to “drinking from the cup of Yahuah’s wrath.”
I’m not saying that the word is inherently bad, but this is one of the subtleties of variations of how this word is used that allows us to better understand the scriptural text.
So, I want to unpack this word in two ways. The first way I want to study it is by looking at how it’s used when referring to a manmade “feast.” The second way is to study how it’s used by looking at it prophetically and seeing what implications it has on our modern day manmade “feasts” today—this includes Christmas and many other holidays.
The Bible is a living book, right? There is always something new to learn from it and the timelessness of it means that we can still apply the understanding to our lives today.
Here are some examples of how it’s used in terms of this word being a manmade “feast:
1. Pharoah’s birthday:
“Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast [miste] for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.”
Genesis 40:20
2. The holiday known today as Purim:
“But the Jews who were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day, as well as on the fourteenth; and on the fifteenth of the month they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. Therefore the Jews of the villages who dwelt in the unwalled towns celebrated the fourteenth day of the month of Adar with gladness and feasting [miste], as a holiday, and for sending presents to one another.”
Esther 9:18-19
3. Abraham held a feast for Isaac:
“So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast [miste] on the same day that Isaac was weaned.”
Genesis 21:8
4. Laban held a feast:
“And Laban gathered together all the men of the place andmade a feast [miste].”
In every instance this word is used in Scripture, it is in reference to a miste, but in context, it is referring to a “get together” held by men but outside of the scriptural mandates. Again, as I said, having a banquet or a dinner with family is not a bad thing, but we always must look at the reason WHY we are doing it.
This is why I do not celebrate birthdays, the festival of Purim or Hanukkah, either. Although we SEE people celebrating in Scripture, that does not mean it’s commanded by the Most High. The Hebrew word itself tells us that it is something that was ordained by men and not by Yahuah.
Looking at birthdays and Christmas for example (since people celebrate that as Messiah’s “birthday” even though that is nowhere found in Scripture), I find it strange that the only time we see birthdays being celebrated in Scripture is regarding the Pharaoh, who we KNOW was not a follower of Yahuah at the time.
I also find it very interesting that in Ecclesiastes 7:1-2, it says this:
“A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of one’s birth; better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting [miste], for that is the end of all men; and the living will take it to heart.”
“The day of death is better than one’s birth.”
I say this without condemnation, but many Believers who celebrate Christmas and Easter, do not celebrate the biblical feasts in Scripture.
Believers celebrate the day of “Jesus’s birth,” but forget that the day we are commanded to celebrate forever, Passover, is completely neglected. Passover is a day that actually commemorates his death. Scripture literally tells us that the day of death is better than a birthday—even more of a reason to keep Passover! Especially because Passover (and all the biblical annual moedim for that matter) are all about our precious Messiah.
And the second part of that passage rings so true to many of us who have forsaken holidays for Yahuah’s holy days, and are absolutely grieved this time of year:
“It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting [miste].”
There’s that word again.
I can’t help but think about holidays like Christmas and Easter—people have elaborate meals and desserts and spoil one another with gifts and candy. They use it as a time to “inflame themselves with wine/strong drink” as Scripture puts it. People go into debt and depression just to get people gifts for Christmas. These holidays are all about wealth (for the producer) and materialism (for the consumer). In the same chapter of Ecclesiastes, it even goes on to say in verse 7 that “a gift destroys the heart.” This is not to say that giving is a bad thing, but as I mentioned in the beginning, why is the focus always about getting gifts for one another? I say this not to make anyone feel bad (please hear my heart), but some parents worry about forsaking Christmas for fear that their child will be upset that they won’t receive gifts like everyone else. Do you see the heartbreaking issue here? We are enthralled in a culture of materialism and most don’t even know it.
That is not what Yahuah ever intended for His people. He does not want you to feel that way.
Even when we do celebrate the Messiah’s death and resurrection, it’s on our OWN manmade days of “feasting/miste.” Easter and Passover will never fall on the same day—the ecumenical councils of Rome made sure of that many, many years ago. People are setting aside Yah’s commandments to keep their own traditions; their own miste. We say holidays like Christmas and Easter worship Him, but what many don’t understand is that not only are these holidays rooted in pagan worship of false deities, but they are rejecting the true holy days in Scripture for traditions of men.
Again, just to reiterate, there’s nothing wrong with having get-togethers, spending time with family or taking someone out to dinner, but we MUST examine the “why.” This is important because there are prophetic implications that come with this examination.
Let’s look at some more Scripture.
This same word, miste, is used in Isaiah 5:12, Jeremiah 16:8 and Jeremiah 51:29 in ways that indicate a very serious warning of not understanding exactly what we are engaging in or coming into agreement with, with these “feasts.”
“The harp and the strings, the tambourine and flute, and wine are in their feasts [miste]; but they do not regard the work of Yahuah, nor consider the operation of His hands. Therefore my people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge; their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.”
Isaiah 5:12-13
It is very clear that these feasts they are engaging in are not good. It is clear that the lack of knowledge they have about them is leading them to a spiritual captivity because they have no knowledge and they disregard Yahuah. This is specifically the case we have for Christmas. While so many people think they are making it about “God,” they can’t see that they are completely disregarding Him because they are lacking knowledge.
I’d like to emphasize and reiterate a very serious truth.
Remember, the ROOT of the word being miste is “sata,” and it means “to drink.”
But it’s so much deeper than just the simple act of drinking along with eating food. A lot of people who celebrate these holidays that are not rooted in Scripture, even things like Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween, New Year’s Day, etc...they don’t see that they are literally drinking from the cup of Yah’s wrath.
Let me explain.
“In their excitement I will prepare their feasts [miste]; I will make them drunk, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep and not awake,” says Yahuah.
Jeremiah 51:39
Yahuah said HE will prepare their miste and make them drunk. He said that HE would do those things! And He is not talking about physical intoxication—He is talking about spiritual delusion and deception.
“Babylon has been a golden cup in Yahuah’s hand, that made all the earth drunk: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.”
Jeremiah 51:7
This is the same golden cup in Revelation 17:4 that is filled with abominations that makes the whole world drunk, which “to drink” is the root of the word in which the prophet Jeremiah is warning people about. Which is why Yahuah says that in their feasts (miste), these appointed times that He has NOT ordained, He will make them drunk and put them into a spiritual slumber. The warning to “come out of her” in Jeremiah 51:45 is the SAME warning we are given in Revelation 18:4.
This is why He says in Jeremiah 51:49 that “as Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of the earth.”
There is nothing new under the sun. Yahuah is speaking. Are we listening?
He takes His worship VERY seriously.
These holidays (in which we can now officially call miste) are not ordained by the Father—they have been ordained in our hearts as pleasing and cemented through tradition to be perceived as truth and acceptable before Yahuah, but the honest truth is that they are simply repackaged pagan traditions, disguised as light by the enemy, and sold to us in our drunken illusions because we are choosing to do things OUR way instead of YAH’S way.
“Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations, so will I choose their delusions, and bring their fears on them; because, when I called, no one answered, when I spoke they did not hear; but they did evil before My eyes, and chose that in which I do not delight.”
Isaiah 66:3-4
What may seem as a subtle word, actually has big and heavy implications when you actually study what this word means, and the spiritual drunkenness that comes with it. This is why many cannot see how serious and important this is.
And let me tell you what’s even more sobering.
If Yahuah says that HE will choose your delusions, shut your eyes, or pour out a spiritual slumber upon you, there is no one who can get you out of that but HIM. You must love the truth before you can even pray for the truth to be revealed to you.
The other thing I didn’t include in our study of the word moed/moedim, is that when you read about the goal of the enemy in Isaiah 14, specifically in verses 13 & 14, he tells us what his #1 goal is:
“For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation [moedim] on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’”
His goal is to “be like the Most High,” but without knowing the Hebrew words, one will fail to realize that the word “congregation” here is moedim. He is telling us that his goal is to STEAL OUR WORSHIP. His goal is to sit on the mount of the appointed times and seek to control the way we worship.
And I have to say, He’s done a pretty good job at this, to the point that now, Believers don’t even BELIEVE that important days like sabbaths, new moon days and annual appointed times are even FOR them, and have accepted holidays that are not rooted in Scripture in place of them!
When Scripture says in Revelation 13:8 that “All who dwell on the earth will worship the beast, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,” while many are waiting on “end times prophecy” to be “fulfilled,” they don’t realize that the whole world, even Christianity, is ALREADY following the beast. He has stolen our worship by not only changing the calendars, but deceiving people into worshipping Him when in their spiritual slumber and delusion they really believe “in their heart” they are worshipping in truth.
If this realization does not ignite a zealous, burning indignation in your heart, I don’t know what will.
The deception is THAT deep. To my point at the beginning of this post, THIS is what devastated me when I learned that my worship was not as pure as I thought.
I share this with a completely broken heart. It breaks my heart that people today think that people like myself are “judging” them for celebrating these counterfeit days of worship, when we are just trying to help them see that the enemy has snared them in a trap and we simply want to help rescue them from it.
I truly, fearfully, and painfully believe that we are living in the warning of the third angel/messenger from Revelation 14:9-10:
“Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”
“Drink of the wine of Yah’s wrath.”
“Which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation.”
This is the same cup Jeremiah warned us about.
I exhort you, beloved, to truly examine your ways. I plead with you to repent, and ask the Father to show you how He desires to be worshipped. And ask yourself, are you celebrating His moedim, or your own miste?
“And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.”
Revelation 18:4
With love,
Stephanie