Burning Bush Festival

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Date: Labor Day weekend
Festival August 30 -September 2, 2024.
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The Festival

Burning Bush Festival - 20l2 KumbaYa 5:02

The Burning Bush Festival is a festive gathering of the people, for the people, and by the people.

Festivals within ancient societies played a critical function in maintaining the liberty of the people by forming the social bonds of a free society through the perfect law of liberty. This was accomplished by supporting a social safety net of society administered by the ministers of their society through a daily ministration of freewill offerings as opposed to compelled tribute established through the bands often created by contracts, covenants and constitutions and the "gifts, gratuities, and benefits" provided by men who exercise authority one over the other.[1]

Socialism and the welfare state dissolves those social bonds of a free society which normally maintain its viability through faith, hope, and charity rather than the force, fear, and fealty of the world.

Festivals of the past

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Celebrating the Feasts and Festival of a free society played a critical function in maintaining the freedom of a peculiar people by consolidating the social bonds of a free society through the perfect law of liberty by supporting the ministers of a daily ministration of Pure Religion. Socialism and the welfare state dissolves those bands of a free society which normally maintained its viability through faith, hope, and charity rather than the force, fear, and fealty of the world.
Festivals were the celebration of a network of rugged individuals who provide for themselves and their family while taking the time and energy to make the sacrifices necessary to care for one another through fervent charity and love as God commanded.
Both the Church in the wilderness and the early Church kept the feasts in accordance with their righteous purpose and practical function. Follow the Burning Bush Festival on Facebook.
Conversations in one of the yurts
A class being taught at the WhiteRockGathering.com in one of the yurts set up at the church.


The Feasts and festivals of Ancient Israel had a purpose according to the teachings of Moses. Those events punctuated the life of people as a reminder for those who came together in the union and discipline of a free society as the nation of God bound by love in order to take care of one another and attend to the Weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith which include caring for the needs of our neighbors and the widows and orphans of our society through Pure Religion in matters of health, education, and welfare. We are NOT to provide for the needy of society through the Covetous Practices and the men who call themselves benefactors but who exercise authority one over the other like the socialists do.

The Way of Christ was like neither the way of the world of Rome nor the governments of the gentiles who depend on those fathers of the earth through force, fear and fealty who deliver the people back in bondage again like they were in Egypt. Christ's ministers and true Christians do not depend upon systems of social welfare that force the contributions of the people like the corban of the Pharisees which made the word of God to none effect. Many people have been deceived to go the way of Balaam and the Nicolaitan and out of The Way of Christ and have become workers of iniquity.

The Christian conflict with Rome in the first century Church appointed by Christ was because they would not apply to the fathers of the earth for their free bread but instead relied upon a voluntary network providing a daily ministration to the needy of society through Faith, Hope, and Charity by way of freewill offerings of the people, for the people, and by the people through the perfect law of liberty in Free Assemblies according to the ancient pattern of Tuns or Tens as He commanded.

The modern Christians are in need of repentance.


"Follow me!" —Jesus the Christ.


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Abraham sought to do the will of God by freeing people from the ways of Nimrod's city state like Ur, Haran, and Sodom. Moses came back to Egypt to free the people through a process of redemption from the bondage of Egypt. And Jesus also came to set the captive free from the world of Rome and the Sin of Corban, for Christ's way of the Kingdom of God was the way, the truth and the light.

The rulers of the world who call themselves Benefactors bring people into bondage as merchandise or "human resources" by spreading among them those "gifts, gratuities and benefits". The Festivals were meant to help people fulfill what Christ commanded his disciples in order to facilitate the way of righteousness as a society of love and charity through faith instead of force.

Burning Bush Festival - Promo 2012 2:09

The Festivals were not about a day, but a way. All the Feasts had a purpose and a plan to benefit the people by helping them learn to love one another in a system of service and sharing rooted in the righteousness of God.

The ancient Fall festivals of free people—like Ancient Israel and their Feast of Booths (or Tents) and other fall or harvest festivals seen amongst other cultures and nations—had that same purpose within those societies that was essential for the health and well-being of the people and the maintenance of liberty within their communities. The nobility and virtue of the festivals were dependent upon the character and spirit of the people who held them.

The The Burning Bush Festival is what the people make of it if they will seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness.


The use of the lunar calendar for determining the time of the festival was simply a practical way of setting the date for people spread out over a large area. It also guaranteed they would be gathering during the full moon which was important because there were no electric lights nor flashlights. There are reasons for those who will understand. The Burning Bush Festival Website is http://www.burningbushfestival.org
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BurningBushFestival and at
Preparing you website link is http://www.preparingyou.com/wiki/Burning_Bush_Festival.
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Feasts and festivals

The Function of the Feast
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The Feasts of Israel were in-gatherings and played an essential role in maintaining a free nation. Without these festivals, there was no practical way to bring a free nation together nor to create the voluntary social bonds in communities and the greater society as one nation under God which are essential for the functioning of a free and healthy state rooted in liberty.

Israel was not a One purse commonwealth where everything belonged to the State. The power of the State remained with the people who stood, worked, and occasionally fought together as a nation but remained a network of individuals.

Because rights are endowed upon individuals who desire to live in a natural state of liberty and freedom they must guard their neighbor's rights with the same passion they would guard their own.[3] They were a kind of citizen of a nation who enjoyed rights "not connected with the organization or the administration of government" but because they were the government of, for and by the people[4] they were "free from things public"[5].

There was no civilly enforceable contract to compel performance in that early republic because the status or state of the people was independent according to the nature of a republican form of government in its purest form.[6]

There was no taxation in Israel and the only corporate form of government consisted of the Levites who were called and established by Moses to serve the tents of the congregation of the people and manage the sacrifice of the people through mutual living altars of clay and stone. The tithe was provided to individual Levites of your choice "according to his service".[7]

Since religion[8] was how you cared for others within your community and society, these gatherings were essential for the maintenance of a governmental system based on liberty. Each elder of each family was required, by common sense, to participate.

Making this system work was dependent on everyone working and doing their part. There was no central leader forcing everyone to pay their share. What you contributed and how you participated set the path for success or failure of society.

Acceptance of personal responsibilities for yourself and your neighbor or the rejection through sloth and avarice of those religious duties by the people was the foundation of either a brotherhood of caring for one another in free communion or the collective corrupting through covetousness of controlling despotic hearts.

This Kingdom of God, like all utopias, depended on individual virtue and the nobility of character of every participant. Without the Character of God written on our hearts and minds there would be no salvation in this world nor the next. This Kingdom of God also depended upon a fundamental structure or pattern.

There was local charity provided through a daily ministration by way of the Church in the wilderness, but in the case of calamity there could be a need for a national charitable network which could provide an emergency response. Each level of this priestly public service was elected by the group they served in patterns of Tens with sometimes seven men elected by the people but appointed by the called out public servants, the Levites. They had no authority over anything except that which was freely given.

Many of the ministers of this chain of national public service did not see each other on a regular basis. They did not meet every Sabbath because they lived farther and farther apart. As they were designated overseers in a voluntary network of service that covered a wider and wider area, they called three festivals a year to keep the national network functioning and viable.


The Kingdom of God is from "generation to generation" and not just from congregation to congregation. The Feasts made this possible as families united by marriage and friendship and meeting the challenges of a peculiar people who live by faith, hope, and charity through a perfect law of liberty.



Feasts of generations

When many people faithfully came to these Feasts and festivals, a secondary effect would occur which was equally important. The family is the seed bed of society.

Anything that weakens the family weakens the whole of society.

Festivals allowed families to create familial bonds which would unite through the union of marriage because of the relationships that would spawn at these festivals.

His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.[9]

Generations and families could be united in familia networks of moral values and virtue far beyond the pattern of tens.



Pilgrimage Festivals

There were three gatherings often classified as Pilgrimage Festivals, in Hebrew Shalosh Regalim (שלוש רגלים). The Shavuot (Feast of Weeks or Pentecost), and Sukkot (Tabernacles, Tents or Booths). During these festivals, the people would make a pilgrimage to the Tabernacle, which moved to different tribal areas. This would keep everyone familiar with all the territory of Israel and people in different parts of the nation or the world.

Everyone could participate in festivities in conjunction with the services of the kohanim ("priests") at the Tabernacle. The Pesach, or Passover, did not really call for a pilgrimage except of the heart. It was a congregational festival. Friends and families would gather for an all-night meal, with enough people to consume an entire lamb before morning. They were not to leave during the night, although they were to be prepared to go. It was a gathering about sharing and the protection that the "blood of the lamb" offers those who will share.

These gatherings were festivals but allowed young people to develop relationships with people in other areas. There were also serious issues that could be brought up, such as when the tribe of Reuben appeared to be setting up a system independent of the other tribes. The bonds of a free nation are not contractual but relational. These Pilgrimage Festivals were essential to building personal relations and connecting all the people of a nation through a charitable network that could provide assistance in the case of misfortune or mishap but also relief and refuge in the event of catastrophes, calamities, and cataclysm.

Pentecost and Shavuot

Israel's harvest festival of Shavuot commemorates God giving the Ten Commandments to Moses and the people at Mount Sinai fifty days after the Exodus. The modern Church often plays down the commandments, equating them to the law that was nailed to the cross. But it was the abuse of statutes of Moses by the government and doctrines of the Pharisees that was done away with by the cross. The same confusion they sowed about the commandments they fostered about the altars and feasts.

“And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” Exodus 20:6, Deuteronomy 5:10

If this message of keeping the commandments of God is repeated over and over again in Old and New Testaments[10] we must ask can you have faith in Christ but not strive [11] to keep His commandments? We should be doing what Jesus said to do[12] in order to inherit eternal life in this life or the next.[13]

Jesus made it clear that we must strive to keep the commandments to inherit eternal life but we do read in John 3:15 “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” But John also talks about deeds by which we can gauge the truth of which a man truly believes and which is a liar.[14]

John 3:17 “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved... And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”

If a man's “deeds were evil” then we should know that they do not really believe nor do they love the light. How do we know if their deeds are evil? Do they keep the commandments or are they liars?[14]

Most professing Christians today do contrary to what Christ said to do and many ministers seem ignorant of some of the basic commanded instructions given by Christ to those who would be His Church. The modern Church certainly does not do what the early Church did nor do they seem to understand why it is important to follow those directives and precepts of Christ.

The modern Church excuses the coveting of their neighbor's goods as long as they do so through consent with their modern governments. They allow application to those governments to obtain benefits from men who call themselves benefactors but exercise authority one over the other. They have approved of the socialist state despite the words of Old and New Testaments.[15]

Sacrifices of worshippers

The apostles had been appointed a kingdom by Jesus Christ.[16] But they were not to be like the other governments who exercised authority in their service to the people.[17] They still collected funds from the people and provide benefits to the people but this was all done by faith, hope and charity.

This system required free will offerings and a virtuous population that did not covet their neighbors' goods, but actually loved their neighbor as they loved themselves. Such true love is rare today and when we find it amongst the people, we must nurture it on a local and national level. This was the purpose of the feasts.

The Day of the First Fruits was the last day of the Feast of the Unleaven Bread and the first day on which individuals marked the first fruits of their labor to be offered. From that day they counted fifty days to Pentecost, the [Festival of Weeks]. Pentecost was the feast for the Israelite nation called Shavuot.[18] The Festival of Weeks was the completion of the Day of the First Fruits. This day and Festival served several functions in their national government under God. It was their opportunity to offer to God and His servants (Bikkurim) the substance needed to serve the nation. This sacrificial giving was worship and the one who gave was a worshiper[19] in the sense of a servant or one who works as a slave or servant.[20]


Originally, the temple was a tent set up in different areas because it moved around. The living stones of that temple were the true living servants of liberty under God who were called the Levites. They had been the first to come out when Israel began to create a central bank to bind the people in the camp of the golden calf.[21]

Three times a year the people would meet as a people to deal with matters of the government of Israel. Since they did not gather to rule over each other what was the purpose of their gatherings? These times of giving the Fruits of your labor in a national charitable feast was the gathering of the people under the God of faith and charity.

One purpose was to fund the free government of God with free will offerings. This free will offering given according to the will of God the Father revealed in every heart was worship and those who gave in service to all were the worshipers of God. Three times a year the people gathered to pay their taxes to the government of God but unlike the governments of the world the people taxed themselves. The Levites were the government of the people and the people only chose to tithe to Levites who were men of service to their families and their congregations of families.[22]

It was also a time to organize the network of public servants that was essential in a free government. The local congregations of ten families confirmed their minister before the assembly. That minster got together with other ministers like himself and chose someone to be their minister. This pattern continued until you had all the ministers of the government chosen up to the high priest, who could be called the prime minister of their government. But again, these servant ministers were titular and did not exercise authority one over the other.

These were not offices of power to rule over the people. Their government was composed of servants who served the tents of the congregations of the nation. Family was the core of the nation but in order to bind the people as a nation and be faithful to God, they could only bind them with love and honor. There is no other way if they were to remain a free people. These feasts allowed for that liberty under God and therefore it was called the kingdom of God.

Worshippers of faith or force

This was a feast for everyone and everyone who came was expected to contribute their freewill offerings to the minister of his choice. They were reminded that the alternative of these free will offerings is that they will end up in the bondage of Egypt again like they were before. If they dd not cultivate the virtue of sharing and supporting the servants of their nations they would be enslaved again.

They did not drop these funds in a central treasury like the Golden calf but gave them to the minister of their choice who in turn took a share of what he received to the minister of his choice. Because you are dealing with a whole nation of people networking together through servants of servants of servants some of the servants of that nation come from locations that are farther and farther apart.

This distance creates a greater need for national gatherings in order to make these choices that will link the whole nation in that network of charity and mutual concern. It was also a time for people to meet others from other areas of the national network. Other bonds were created through marriage and friendships. Remember, these ministers of national charity were also the appeals courts manning cities of refuge to insure justice throughout the nations.[23]

The people that were in Jerusalem on the Pentecost 50 days after Christ's resurrection were there to pay their taxes or their tithe. They had two choices, stay with the baptism of Herod and the Pharisees or get the baptism of Christ which would get them kicked out of the system of Herod which had become a snare. The Pharisees were forcing the contributions based on their membership in their system of Corban which Jesus had already stated made the word of God to none effect.

John the Baptist and his cousin Jesus was very clear that His government, like that of Moses, was based on free will offerings. Whatever you could afford to pay by your own choice was considered paid in full.[24] Thousands chose the government appointed by Christ and were cast out of the government of the Pharisees and Herod.[25] Early Christians did not go to any government that forced contributions from the people to obtain any benefit. If you had need you would go to church, not Caesar, nor the Pharisees.

The choice for the social safety net of society has always been through the faith, hope and charity of pure Religion or the force, fear, and fealty of the covetous practices of public religion.

Modern Christians covet[26] their neighbors' goods through legal systems of social welfare not unlike that corban condemned by Christ[27]they create through their government. They then make applications to these governments and the men who call themselves benefactors. Now again they are entangled in the bondage of the world[28] through “covet means”.[29] Had their ministers been serving Christ and tending to His weightier matters the people would not have returned to the bondage of Egypt.[30]

Any government that does not rely on free will offerings is not a government of God, Moses, or Jesus Christ/Yeshua the Messiah. Those governments of the world created by men who covet their neighbor's goods and say let us have one purse and desire to eat at the table of rulers may do so at their peril. The states they create are allowed by God to punish the wicked who choose to reject God and create those systems. True Christians who believed in and loved Christ would not want to be a part of such system and they would turn around and seek to create the alternative which was the Church established by Christ.[31]


The Feasts and festivals were not just fellowships but they had a practical side to them for the support of a voluntary government.

The Feasts of Israel

Were the Feasts of Israel about Faith or Fun?

Were those feasts a memorial of their rites of a fervent sacrifice practiced in their daily ministration by living altars?

Did the feasts of their festivals bear the fruit of faith or the fealty of the foolish of idolatry?

Was the validity of the feasts dependent upon the ritual of the festival or was it dependent upon the righteous ways of Israel?

Was it the means and method and what they did between those festivals in their daily attendance to the weightier matters?[32]

The Corban of Herod and the Pharisees funded the ministry of their feasts but its means and method made the word of Hod to none effect.

That fruit fed a national system of charity and hope that provided aid for all in times of emergencies. It was their Faith Emergency Ministry Auxiliary, FEMA of a nation of people that were to be priest to all nations?

There was a purpose for the feasts. They had a function in the greater community of the people and only filled those needs of society when the people came together for the true purposes of those institutions of God.

"Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:" Deuteronomy 16:16

Most people who think they are celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles today have no Living Network of Ministers who are supplying a Daily ministration. They have neither Apostles nor Levites who are actually providing social services of their people, for their people, nor by the people. Nor do they elect and support living stones to become the living altars of a peculiar people.

"This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with [their] lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching [for] doctrines the commandments of men." Matthew 15:8, 9

Modern Christians praise Jesus with their mouth and honor him with their lips too. They have many doctrines written by men and denominations which bring division. They sing familiar hymns and echo the saying of the righteous. But what are they doing? What are their daily practices? Is their social virtue manifest in the charity and sacrifice of Christ or the Corban of the Pharisees? Are their deeds those of the Nicolaitans? Are their benefactors Nimrod, Caesar and the fathers of the earth?

No false religious doctrines elaborated by scholars or fools will save them. Because of their Wantonness and Sloth, they have returned to "the mire".

Who will Repent and build a network practicing Pure Religion through Faith, Hope and Charity by way of Freewill offerings of the people, for the people and by the people through the Perfect law of liberty in Free Assemblies like both Israel and the Early Church?

Some modern Churches think they are celebrating the feasts as "spiritual feasts" of God's word. Christ was far more practical in his ministry where real loaves and fishes were served, the hungry fed, the naked clothed, the sick healed, all without the Free bread and Benefits offered at the table of Caesar.

The Eucharist of Christ was not just a wafer or "crumb" but actual meals shared with the people. The early Church services we see in the Bible were actually real service provided by a servant government. But the function within a Christian community is only fulfilled in society when the true Kingdom of God is written on the hearts and minds of the people.

What poses as Church service today is merely about making people feel saved and righteous. Actually, seeking the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness is not only ignored but rejected by the believe only philosophy of Modern Christians.

While the Feasts of old, like Feast of Tabernacles, were a time and place that generated lots of interaction, good times and fond memories among the people who came, both Jew and Gentile alike, to actually Celebrate the Feasts went much deeper and meant a lot more to the faithful individual and his society as a whole.

Early Church Festivals

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place." Acts 2:1
Those who believed in Jesus as the Christ repented and received His Baptism at Pentecost, which was one of the Feasts of Israel. They were put out of the system of Corban that was making the word of God to none effect. The people, by necessity, needed to immediately organize congregations through a Charitable network of ministers in patterns of companies of tens in ranks of fifty and ranks of a hundred as Christ commanded. These free assemblies, through the practice of Pure Religion, by way of fervent charity alone, unspotted by the world, allowed the Church appointed by Christ to become a Kingdom of God at hand."

The last supper was the Passover meal where Christ states, "This do in remembrance of me." Fifty days later, on Pentecost, the Apostles and the 120 receive the Holy Spirit. Later we see Paul in Acts 20:16 "determined... if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost." And later in 1 Corinthians 16:8 he expresses his desire to "tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost."

There was a purpose for these gatherings. The purpose for such gatherings was religious — “for the worship of Jehovah” — but Pure Religion was the caring of the needy of society. The festivals allowed the ministers of God to gather and establish the connections and network according to the tens which would facilitate the "union an discipline" of a free society.

To worship God was to bow to His will and ways of charity and hope in faith in the righteousness of God instead of the unrighteous ways of the world of force. To faithfully strive and persevere in The Way of God's kingdom the connecting bonds and fellowship of the ministers, bishops and elders[33] seeking the kingdom of God needed to be affirmed and clarified annually at these pilgrimage festivals. That is the primary purpose and function of the festivals.

The Bible and other historical records of the apostolic era confirm that the original Christian Church continued to observe the same festivals Jesus observed. The practice of observing these festivals continued into the fourth century. With the new Christianity of Constantine we see, in 325, a debate over the Passover known as the Quartodeciman controversy. The Anti-Semitic sentiment of these new Constantinian Christians found a minority among real Christians to agree to abandon the observance of the Passover at the Council of Nicea[34]. That choice was met with fierce opposition from the people in congregations and early Church leaders vigorously resisted rejecting the example and practice of Jesus and the apostles.



“But the bishops in Asia were led by Polycrates in persisting that it was necessary to keep the custom which had been handed down to them of old. Polycrates himself in a document which he addressed to Victor and the church of Rome expounds the tradition which had come to him as follows. ‘Therefore we keep the day undeviatingly, neither adding nor taking away, for in Asia great luminaries sleep, and they will rise on the day of the coming of the Lord, when he shall come with glory from heaven and seek out all the saints. Such were Philip of the twelve apostles … There is also John, who lay on the Lord’s breast … , and there is also Polycarp Smyrna, both bishop and martyr, and Thraseas, both bishop and martyr, from Eumenaea... [Also] Sagaris... Papirius... and Melito... All these kept the fourteenth day of the Passover according to the gospel, never swerving, but following according to the rule of faith. And I also, Polycrates, the least of you all, love according to the tradition of my kinsmen, and some of them have I followed. For seven of my family were bishops and I am the eighth, and my kinsmen ever kept the day when the people put away the leaven. Therefore, brethren, I who have lived sixty-five years in the Lord and conversed with brethren from every country, and have studied all holy Scripture, am not afraid of threats, for they have said, who were greater than I, 'It is better to obey God rather than men.' ”[35]

Polycrates would not observe Easter or teach its observance. He had been a contemporary of the disciple John and knew the disciple, Philip. But more significantly, he knew the importance and purpose of the practices of the early assembly of the people. The free assemblies of the early Church were unswerving in their observance of the feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread because without them the daily ministration to the people could not be internationally effective.

The pagan converts of this new Christianity of Constantine, who gladly ate at the table of the Caesars, brought in divisions.

"Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened [bread] of sincerity and truth." 1 Corinthians 5:8

The Greek verb translated “let us keep the feast” is the hortatory subjunctive[36] used ‘to urge someone to unite with the speaker in a course of action upon which he has already decided’” [37]

Paul was talking about our "delivery from Satan" who was the adversary. The adversary of the Church was seen in the Christian conflict with Rome as the welfare system of the temples where men who called themselves Benefactors forced the contributions of the people to provide their free bread.

Those who ate at the tables of the pagan temples of the Roman government were the "fornicators of this world" whose practices were those of the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.

He tells them "not to keep company" with those people he saw as "fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat." 1 Corinthians 5:11

The leavened bread was not about the yeast but that which comes with bread provided by those men who called themselves Benefactors but exercise authority one over the other.

The networking that the feast facilitated allowed Paul and Barnabas and others to provide aid to support an international daily ministration.

Many groups try and keep the feasts but have unmoored their purpose from the practice. They often focus on the metaphor of the ritual and miss the vital nature of the practice of Pure religion through charity, foolishly continuing to depend on the very men who called themselves Benefactors but exercise authority one over the other to provide their welfare, which Paul warns us is a snare.

No one is truly keeping the feasts and festivals if they are not keeping their purpose which is to establish private welfare through a network of fervent charity alone. This, of course, is why Christ commanded that his disciples "make" the people sit down in the pattern of Tens.

We should not forsake the gathering together in congregations which provide the daily ministration through Faith in The Way. It is through the charity within that Living network that we should wisely and freely give for the welfare of all.

Love Feasts of a Nation

The people of Israel and the Levites who were called out organize themselves in patterns of Tens as Christ commanded His disciples to do with the people.


Israel was a nation of Peculiar people who had no taxation other than a half shekel once a year. Everything else was supported through a network of Levites by way of freewill offerings of, for and by the people. Levites of your choice were given tithes "according to their service" to support all government services.

The idea of a government supported by "charity only" is so foreign to our thinking that few people today even have the faith to seek such a government or imagine it to be possible. Yet that is what the Kingdom of God is and that is the only way to pursue the righteousness of God.

The election of leaders who can exercise authority one over the other by the voice of the people brought in forms of governments that foolishly "take and take and take" and are by their nature a rejection of God, that He should not rule in their hearts and minds.

Eventually, the people cry out because of the burdens placed on them by the civil gods they have chosen for themselves[38] through their covetous practices. This makes them merchandise and brings despotism. The people will complain but God will not hear them[39] nor can they see the nature of God's way until they repent.[40]

The Kingdom of God is from "generation to generation" and not just from congregation to congregation. The Feasts make this possible as families unite by marriage and friendship, meeting the challenges of a peculiar people who live by faith, hope and charity through a perfect law of liberty.

If people actually repent and start to love their neighbor as themselves they will eventually organize themselves in companies of Tens and ranks of one hundred as Christ commanded.

Both the Church in the wilderness and the Church that was appointed by Christ were one form of government that required a "servant bureaucracy", sometimes called priests, and a peculiar people who were willing to repent of their covetousness and sloth. Together they established a voluntary system where all learned to actively love their neighbor as themselves.

The people of all nations gather for protection against natural and menacing catastrophes. How that protection is provided is dependent upon the hearts of the people. If they have the heart of Cain and Nimrod they will give according to the commands of Nimrod, or Pharaoh or Caesar. These rulers will call themselves Benefactors and are the Fathers of the earth. Yet they can only provide what they have taken from others by the power of their exercising authority.

But if the the people have the heart of Christ and John the Baptist they will share out of love and charity in hope according to the Perfect law of liberty. This is what they did in Israel. There was no king to force their contributions until they rejected God and elected to have a ruler as related in 1 Samuel 8.

How many people will come together and support those minsters of a kingdom that provide a daily ministration through charity which keeps the people from having to apply for the public welfare of men who call themselves Benefactors but who exercises authority one over the other?

How many men, Elders of families, will gather in Congregations? Can they choose ministers to serve groups of tens within a broad network? Will they practice the common sense of Deuteronomy 16:16 where it says "Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:"?

Will they come together in the name of Christ who came to serve and sacrifice? Many will come empty handed except for the meals they will eat at the feasts. Will they follow the wisdom of Deuteronomy 16:17 "Every man [shall give] as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee."?

And who will give so that the ministers can form an emergency system to serve in war or peace to help the people near and far?

We know that if you only love those in your family and your local group there is no Grace.

These ancient festivals are gaining popularity amongst many people. Some try to imitate early Israel. Most of the people who go to feasts like Tabernacles are not doing what early Israel and the Levites were doing, nor anything different than those who celebrate the 4th of July.[41]

Many US Citizens today are the most dependent people that ever lived on the American Continent. They are celebrating their independence day as if they are still free but the truth of their bondage seems to go right over their heads.

That is not what the word Celebrate means when you see it mentioned in Leviticus:

"And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month." Leviticus 23:41

Who can say they abide by Ezra 3:4 "They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as [it is] written, and [offered] the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required;"?

In a free nation the head of every house would freely give to the minister. To remain free as a nation they need to choose to give to their public servants to provide for the common Welfare. These two Welfare types, one of force and the other of freedom, define the nature of the nation and the destiny of the people. One is free and the other foolish and will lose its freedom.

We see in Leviticus 23:34:

"Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month [shall be] the feast of tabernacles [for] seven days unto the LORD. : 35 On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. 37 These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day: 38 Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD."
Celebrate? Are we "here for the party..." or the righteousness of God? If you want to Celebrate the Feasts you need to find out what the word Celebrate in the Bible means.

It took lots of work and substance[42] to train up a servant government and lots of love for one another to motivate that funding without force. Only those who have true faith in the ways of God and His righteousness shall be free souls under God. Those who are slothful in these sacrifices will end up under tribute. Their Corban will make them merchandise.

Historically people determined the time of the Feasts in a uniform manner based on the lunar calendar not because there was some magical formula but for practical reasons. They made use of the light of the full moon to see in the darkness where there were no flashlights or street lights or LED solar lights by the latrine.

Since there were no cell phones or radio or internet, using the lunar calendar was also a practical way to let all the people know when to meet because everyone could see the moon. These Peculiar people also used other calendars for planting and navigation. People like the Pharisees were constantly unmooring the purpose and the precept from the ritual and focusing on the letter to avoid the true sacrifice and love of God. The feasts served a national purpose in organizing the people and funding a voluntary government of free people. It was not just a party.

The Kings and Fathers of the earth created international connections via marriage alliances. In Israel, before they rejected God in 1 Samuel 8 and elected a central king to rule over them and be their benefactor, there were No Kings because every man was king in his own house.

If you want your rights back you have to take your responsibilities back. You have to think a different way which is called repentance.

Everything about the Festivals has a purpose which is to facilitate the bonds of society based on charity and love. If the people who think they are "celebrating" or "keeping" the Feast are not donating to a body of servant ministers providing services for the nation of God and at the same time using the feasts to firm up their voluntary connections of the tens hundred and thousands, then what are they doing at the Festivals?

There was another connective purpose found in these festivals of charity and hope. Boys and girls met, fell in love and got married. This prevented the inbreeding of small village life but also bound remote areas of the Kingdom of God by natural family bonds.

That connection of the families of the Kingdom of God from "generation to generation" was essential to bind the people and prepare them for times of disaster or catastrophe. The bonds were those of love, not Contracts, Covenants and Constitutions with men.

If people are not going to the festivals for these purposes, then they are not really keeping the feasts.


Audio

Live audio from the 2019 Burning Bush Festival

Here is an audio broadcast made live at the Burning Bush Festival from the main tent that speaks of everything from "legal title" to Altars of Stones. We hope for people to understand the Hebrew language, its metaphors and meaning in relationship to the Christ and the early Church. Modern Christians, modern Jews, and even modern Torah followers often misunderstand many of the messages of the Old Testament and even the New Testament when some people unmoor the meaning from the metaphor and worship "form". We try to answer some "fringe" questions about the hassles with tassels, and the delusion of days and ways through self-righteous "forms" which is idolatry instead of the righteousness of God which we are supposed to be seeking.


Also, there was an audio from 2013 which covers a broader topic base:

Moses' burning bush, and the "unicorn syndrome"; Christ's goals and focus; What are you doing to seek KoG for neighbors; Which Jesus...?; Errors of Balaam, the Nicolaitans, and Esau; Creating the alternative; The perfect law of liberty The liberty of choice; What Jesus taught; God allows; Are you Willing to see truth; Cognitive dissonance; Images of Jesus; Bible - in context of history; "My little flock"; ALL the care and welfare is the Purpose and function of the "clergy"; Who's your real clergy; Offices of service or power; Choice, and the spirit of forgiveness; Pastors are in trouble and need to be Rebuked, Legal charity and discretionary charity; Power of contract; Ecclesiastical/Cannon law difference; Love for the providing own benefits; The Devil wants us selfish - it's in his character; Paul?; Together, creating the alternative; One day, walking to the zoo... in the riots; Real power is in the spirit; Difference between goats and sheep; The way; Start living the ways of Christ.



Final thoughts

In these free societies, where the people were not bound together by the legal forces, contracts or the autocratic power of a ruling class, the people were bonded together by the “perfect law of liberty” through the relationships of love, honor, benevolence, diligence, peace and courage. In other words, by virtue.

“A country cannot subsist well without liberty, nor liberty without virtue.” Daniel Webster

To nurture the gracious bands of a free society, it was necessary to gather and renew those bonds of mutual friendship and virtue. This is a primary purpose of the Burning Bush Festival. But it is also to learn to share and share to learn.

“Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people.” John Adams

The Burning Bush Festival is dedicated to the purpose of sharing information, knowledge and skills that lead to independent living for men and women. Alternative methods of pursuing the virtuous and righteous happiness of a free society are a primary focus at all festivals.

All cultures change over time, or elements creep into them and alter their original nature and character. The only protection from the sloth and slavery of an apathetic society is the individual's diligence and dedication to setting all men of the same virtue free by sharing the skills of liberty.

“When virtue is at liberty, so to some extent is vice.” —Barbara Amiel

Like ancient Israel, some people seek to be freed from bondage and in attempting to govern themselves in righteousness they come face to face with their own lack of virtue. What they were doing during their annual festivals often seems to be as mysterious today as the symbol of the “burning bush” that inspired Moses to seek to set those people free. Throughout history, mankind has moved from bondage to liberty and back to bondage again. Coming together to celebrate the principles and precepts that have set all mankind free is a passion that burns the hearts of virtuous men and women all over the world. It is that fire which does not consume.

“A country cannot subsist well without liberty, nor liberty without virtue.” —Daniel Webster

The theme of life and liberty is independent living.

“Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.” —Thomas Jefferson

Independent living is responsibility in action. It is your Festival, and therefore it is up to you to make it a festival worth celebrating by being a part of it. If you have a talent, skill or just wish to be of value and service to others in their quest for virtuous liberty, come and share it with others.

“It is necessary to make virtue fashionable.” —Jose Marti




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Footnotes

  1. Not exercise authority
    Matthew 20:25 "But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you:..."
    Mark 10:42 "But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you:..."
    Luke 22:25 "And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye [shall] not [be] so:..."
  2. Matthew 20:25-26 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
    Mark 10:42-43 But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister:
    Luke 22:25-26 And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.
  3. Leviticus 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I [am] the LORD.
    Matthew 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
    Matthew 19:19 Honour thy father and [thy] mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
    Matthew 22:39 And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
    Mark 12:31 And the second [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
    Luke 10:27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
    Romans 13:9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if [there be] any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
    Galatians 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, [even] in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
    James 2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
  4. "This Bible is for the Government of the People, by the People, and for the People." is attributed to the General Prologue to the John Wycliffe Bible translation of 1384.
  5. libera res publica
  6. See Republic vs Democracy.
  7. Numbers 7:5 Take [it] of them, that they may be to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man according to his service.
  8. Pure Religion.
  9. Daniel 4:3 How great [are] his signs! and how mighty [are] his wonders! his kingdom [is] an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion [is] from generation to generation. Daniel 4:34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion [is] an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom [is] from generation to generation:
  10. Deuteronomy 7:9 , 11:1, 11:13, 11:22 , 19:9, 30:16. Joshua 22:5, Nehemiah 1:5, Psalms 119:127, Daniel 9:4, John 14:15, John 14:21, John 15:10, 1 John 5:-3, 2 John 1:6.
  11. Luke 13:24
  12. Matthew 19:16-17, Mark 10:17-19, Luke 10:25-28, Luke 18:18-20
  13. Mark 10:30
  14. 14.0 14.1 1 John 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
  15. Sacrificed to Idols, From the book The Higher Liberty, Sec. 50 - To heal our land.
  16. Luke 22:29 And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me;
  17. Matthew 20:25; Mark 10:42; Luke 22:25 And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors....
  18. Exodus 34:22
  19. Worship or not
    2 Kings 10:19 Now therefore call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice [to do] to Baal; whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did [it] in subtilty, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers<05647 serve > of Baal. 20 And Jehu said, Proclaim a solemn assembly<06116 > for Baal. And they proclaimed [it].21 And Jehu sent through all Israel: and all the worshippers<05647 serve > of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not. And they came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was full from one end to another. 22 And he said unto him that [was] over the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers<05647 serve > of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments. 23 And Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal, and said unto the worshippers<05647 serve > of Baal, Search, and look that there be here with you none of the servants of the LORD, but the worshippers<05647 serve > of Baal only.
    John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true(228 alethinos) worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship(4353 proskunetes) him.
    John 9:31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.
    Acts 19:35 And when the townclerk(1122 grammateus) had appeased the people, he said, [Ye] men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper<3511 serves temple> of the great goddess Diana, and of the [image] which fell down from Jupiter?
    Hebrews 10:1 ¶ For the law having a shadow of good things to come, [and] not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. 3 But in those [sacrifices there is] a remembrance again [made] of sins every year.
  20. 05647 ^דבע^ ‘abad \@aw-bad’\@ a primitive root AyinBeitDalet; v; AV-serve 227, do 15, till 9, servant 5, work 5, worshippers 5, service 4, dress 2, labour 2, ear 2, misc 14; 290
    1) to work, serve
    1a) (Qal)
    1a1) to labour, work, do work
    1a2) to work for another, serve another by labour
    1a3) to serve as subjects
    1a4) to serve (God)
    1a5) to serve (with Levitical service)
    1b) (Niphal)
    1b1) to be worked, be tilled (of land)
    1b2) to make oneself a servant
    1c) (Pual) to be worked
    1d) (Hiphil)
    1d1) to compel to labour or work, cause to labour, cause to serve
    1d2) to cause to serve as subjects
    1e) (Hophal) to be led or enticed to serve
    • Also see the verb 05648 ^דבע^ AyinBeitDalet;
    • The word worshipper does not appear in the Old Testament except as a translation of abad which clearly means to serve. The word for worship is shachah. Study Aboda
    • ע Ayin also U. Divine Providence "eye" or "fountain" of five states of kindness or severity. AlefYodNun or nothingness as opposed to AlefShin something [eye, watch] (Numeric value: 70)
    • ב Beit Purpose: God's Dwelling Place Below - a house or God's house here. [household, in, into] (Numeric value: 2)
    • ד Dalet Selflessness – Charity, back and forth or through a door or pathway, to enter like a fish (Numeric value: 4)
  21. Money vs Mammon Audio, and Text.
  22. Deuteronomy 16:10-17, Numbers 7:5
  23. Numbers 35:6, Numbers 35:25
  24. Luke 16:8, Matthew 18:31
  25. John 9:22-35
  26. 2 Peter 2:3
  27. The Corban of the Pharisees
  28. Galatians 4:3, Galatians 5:1, 2 Peter 2:20
  29. “For we are opposed, around the world, by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy, that relies primarily on covet means for expanding its fear of influence... instead of armies by day,” John F. Kennedy Speech, April 27, 1961. American Newspaper Publishers Association. Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York, NY.
  30. To Enslave a Nation, and Laws, Loves, and Liberty, and Employ vs Enslave
  31. Exodus 20:17, Proverbs 1:10, Proverbs 23:1, Psalms 69:22 , 1 Samuel 8:7 , Romans 11:9, Acts 17:7
  32. Jeremiah 22:16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then [it was] well [with him: was] not this to know me? saith the LORD.
    Hosea 6:6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
    Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what [is] good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
    Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
    Amos 8:10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only [son], and the end thereof as a bitter day.
    Jude 1:12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds [they are] without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
    2 Peter 2:13 And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, [as] they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots [they are] and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; 14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
    Isaiah 5:12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.
    Jeremiah 51:39 In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.
    Ezekiel 46:9 But when the people of the land shall come before the LORD in the solemn feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth over against it.
  33. "Bishops, presbyters(Elder) and deacons occupy in the church the same positions as those which were occupied by Aaron, his sons, and the Levites in the temple." Jerome, Ep. 146.
  34. The Way to the Kingdom' audio. Constantine's Council at Nicea, Baptism without Repentance, Death in the name of Christ, Denominations, Conforming to Christ, Appearance of being godly, What ritual?, What doctrine?, What is the Church? Freedom without control, Altars of clay and stone, Living by the sword, True giving, Why are you afraid?, Congregations of Congregations, Episkopos, The Lowerarchy of the Church, World government, Burnt offerings, Unhewn stones, Sacred purpose trust, What the Church should look like, Anti-Pharisee or Anti-Christ?, Ekklesia, Guidelines of His Holy Church, Conversion, Bound by virtue, Choosing ministers, Empowering without losing power, Unincorporated Association - stay away, Who's the beneficiary?, Feed my sheep, Who else is teaching this?, Christ IS King!
  35. Eusebius, The Ecclesiastical History, English translation from the original Greek by Kirsopp Lake, Vol. II, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1926, pp. 505, 507.
  36. 1st person plural exhortations
  37. Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, p. 464.
  38. Judges 10:14 Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.
  39. 1 Samuel 8:18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.
    2 Kings 18:12 Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them.
    Jeremiah 11:14 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.
  40. : Micah 3:4 Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.
    John 10:8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them unless they repent and seek to go another way.
  41. : Why do you Celebrate the 4th of July?
    Is there cause to celebrate?
    http://www.hisholychurch.org/news/articles/4thjuly.php
    4th of July - High Quality Mp3 Audio
    Part 1 Fourth of July Message
    http://www.hisholychurch.org/media/audio/rm/july4thprt1.mp3
    Part 2 Fourth of July Message
    http://www.hisholychurch.org/media/audio/rm/july4thprt2.mp3
  42. Luke 8:3 And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.