Assemblies of Yahweh Ministries Newsletter

Issue No. 10                                               India                                                           Feb. 2004

Festival Dates for 2004

English Name                         Roman Date      Hebrew Name    Hebrew Date

New Years Day                                      March 23                   Rosh Hashanah          Abib 1

Passover/Unleavened Bread               Apr. 5-12                   Pesach/Matzos            Abib 14-21

Pentecost or feast of Weeks                May 30                     Shavout                        mamaharath ha shabbat ha shebiiy

(morrow of 7th Shabbat) Trumpets     Sep. 17                      Yom Teruah                 Ethanim 1

Day of Atonement                                 Sep. 26                      Yom Kippur                 Ethanim 10

Tabernacles                                             Oct. 1-8                     Sukkot                          Ethanim 15-22

                                          (Dates above start with the previous evening)

The Feast of Unleavened Bread will be celebrated at various places in Andhra Pradesh.  One place will be in Eluru, W.G. Dt.  Pastor G.B. Benoni will keep all eight days of the feast, for more info his phone # is 8812-235109.  This feast site will be in Telugu.  Bro. Matithyah from A.P. plans to keep the entire feast in the state of Mizoram with bro. J.H. Thangliana and congregation, the meetings will be in English and Mizo.

If any are keeping a complete feast in their area do contact us and let us know the places, so that we can tell others.

Doctrinal Belief #9, Dress and Decorum

Immodest, extravagant dress and decorum is inappropriate for believers in Messiah Yahoshua. I Tim. 2:9; I Pet. 3:1-4; Rev. 17:1,4; 12:1. In the day of Yahweh's judgment, His people should not be adorned with gold, pearls and costly array, which engender pride, but with modesty, simplicity and righteousness. Lev. 16:2,4; Rev. 19:7,8; Isa. 3:13-26; Eze. 28:13,17; Rev. 14:7; Ex. 32:30 and 33:4,5.

The life of Yahshua Messiah shows us that man should not seek to glorify himself, but that he should sacrifice for the good of others.  Money spent for costly ornaments could better be spent in helping to further the truth of Yahweh.  Yahweh has not forbidden the wearing of expensive ornaments, as several verses show, Ex. 3:22;  Eze. 16:11-14;  Prov. 25:12;  Job 42:11 with 1:1.  But when mankind is in a time of judgement, it is not good to have any distractions that might hinder one from fully doing the will of Yahweh.  The last day people are to proclaim a message that, "the hour of Yahweh's judgement is come", Rev. 14:6,7.  In times of judgement, Yahweh has commanded His people to remove their ornaments, Lev. 16:2,4;  Ex. 32:30 with 33:4,5;  Isa. 3:13-26.  The counsel of the Apostles Paul and Peter in I Tim. 2:9,10 and I Pet. 3:1-4, was given by men who had a sense of urgency to proclaim the truth as quickly as possible in the best ways.

We should be as zealous today, to proclaim the truth, as the Apostles were in their day.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

A friend at last!                                                 

A friend you need in times of need                        

All you need is a friend indeed                               

But where to find and how to know                       

When those in need will tell you 'no'                     

A friend of needs is ache in deed                          

But where is one that has no need                       

No one needs a need for friend                             

But needs to have a hearty end          

Find yourself a friend of all

And let them know that they can call

To tell you how they need you more

To hear your hearty ocean's roar

All they need is how you care

Like a brother, be one to share

What they need is a friend to come

And all you say is 'don't mention'

                Shmuel Yacobi, Vijayawada

___________________________________________________________________________________________

The law of the Tsi-tsith

In Numbers 15:37-41 we read,

^"37And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying, ³⁸Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes(tsi-tsith,heb.) in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe(tsi-tsith) of the borders a thread of blue: ³⁹And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of Yahweh, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring: ⁴⁰That ye may remember, and do all My commandments, and be holy unto your Elohikim. ⁴¹I am Yahweh your Elohikim, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your Elohim: I am Yahweh your Elohikim."

In Dt. 22:12 we read, "Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself."

Yahweh knows that man is forgetful and so He commanded us to put something on our clothes to help us remember His commandments.  Upon the four corners of the garment that a person covers with, Yahweh has commanded that a fringe with a thread of blue be placed.  The color blue is a symbol of Yahweh and  His Law,Ex.24:10;  Eze.1:26; 10:1.  No mention is made of what color to make the fringes.

Yahshua Messiah is our example(1 Pet. 2:21), and He wore the tsi-tsiths also.  Mk. 6:56 says, "⁵⁶And wherever He went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might touch even the fringe of His cloak; and all who touched it were healed." The New Revised Standard Version, see also Mt. 9:20; 14:36;  Lk. 8:44.

How did the people know to touch the tsi-tsith for healing?  Mal. 4:2 says, "But unto you that fear My Name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing on His wings;"  The Hebrew word for "wings" in this verse is the same Hebrew word that is used in Num. 15:38 and Dt. 22:12 to tell where the fringes are to be placed, so thus the people knew where the healing would be.

One can get inventive and make a set of tsi-tsiths on their own, or a set of four can be ordered for 225Rs. ($5) from the following address.  The above price includes postage.  Write:  Danielle Briese, 225 Garden Lane, East Peoria, Illinois 61611-9508, USA, email- Bmidbar1538@msn.com

The above set of tsi-tsiths that Danielle sells, are long white and blue cotton strands that are tied the traditional way that the Jews tie them.  Someone in India will have a hard time ordering from America, so it is suggested that any Indian who wants to purchase a set of the above, should send 225Rs by M.O. to the address below, and we will see that you get a set of the tsi-tsiths . 

Unity, by bro. Matithyah

In Yahshua's last prayer for His disciples He prayed for their unity with each other, He said, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word; ²¹That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. ²²And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given Them; that they may be one, even as We are One: ²³I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me."  John 17:20-23

The Apostle Paul said, "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  ³ Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit— just as you were called to one hope when you were called—  ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism;  ⁶ one Eloah and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."  Eph. 4:2-5

In Dt. 12 Yahweh made it plain that it was not His perfect will that the Israelites do worship in any place and in any way they chose.  For He told them "Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: ¹⁴But in the place which Yahweh shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee." vss.13,14  Moses was careful to add, "Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth." vs.19 

Yahweh showed that it was not His will that each tribe of Ysrael set up their own independent worship doing their own thing, independent of the rest of the fellow tribes.  The Scriptures show that Yahweh wants His followers to be organized and supportive of each other and see that the worship services are carried forward in various places in a harmonious and right way.  Also, in Num. 18:26-28 we see that the teachers of the Torah that received tithes of the people were then required to give a tithe of their tithes to a higher body that was responsible for organizing the worship, services and activities of the general body.  

Yahweh gave his Holy Spirit power to the early disciples only after they had come into unity, Acts 2:1-4.  Because without unity their witness would be hindered.  It is my prayer that the general body of believers in Andhra Pradesh and beyond will seek to come into harmony with Yahweh and their fellow man so that we can have the unity that the early believers had, and that Yahweh has ordained that we should have.  Only then will we be able to receive the fullness of Yahweh's Holy Spirit power and fulfill the great commission that Yahshua Messiah has given to us.

Telugu Hebrew Names Bible Project

The books of Gen.-2Chron., Prov.-Song of Solomon, Dan., Matthew, and Jude have been completed.

Contact Information for Assemblies of Yahweh Ministries:

G. Raja Prasad                                                     bro. Matithyah  08812-250404 (telefax)

9-9-43 Mangapuram Colony                               www.sevendayweek.com

Vishakhapatnam, A.P. 530017      >>>                yahweh@vsnl.com

0891-2575569 or 9849147243

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Yahshua the Author and Finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of Eloah". Heb. 12:1,2