"There is a subtle deception that has been invading the Christian Church in the past few years. Many fellowships have been taking on traditions that stem from Hebrew customs and rituals. These types of required behaviors were done away with at the cross. The things of the Old Covenant were done away with. The veil was torn and we all have access to the Holy of Holies. These rituals run from celebrating the feasts to wearing prayer shawls and even using Hebrew names to replace the English of “Jesus” or “God.” "
The post goes on to state:
"We cannot attain more piety by calling Jesus Yeshua. Much of this stems from a lack of understanding as to what a “name” meant to Hebrew Eastern thinkers. A name was not an identifier of an individual but instead defined the character of an individual. Some say they are honoring Christ or God by using the Hebrew names. There is no honor given to Christ by duplicating a group of letters from 2,000 years ago. The honor to Christ is duplicating in you the character trait that is described by those letters. When you are in a group of unsaved people are you Christ (an anointed one) to them? If so, you honor Christ by that act and not by a set of letters."
Here are my comments:
I'd like to comment on the following points presented in your post:
(1) May I point out that "Jesus" is not an English name for Yeshua. It is only a transliteration of the Greek Iesous. (The final 's' is appended to this Greek name because all male names in Greek must end with an 's'.) Instead of "Jesus", the English name commonly used for Yeshua is Joshua, the most well known of whom is Joshua son of Nun who led the people of Israel successfully across the Jordan and brought down the walls of Jericho.
Most of the people I know who prefer to use Yeshua instead of Jesus do so because they feel it more appropriate to call the Hebrew Anointed One by his original Hebrew name, not so much because doing so can win God's approval. At the same time, it would appear odd, even somewhat mischievous, to use a transliteration of a Greek version of the original Hebrew Name to refer to the Hebrew Messiah when His original name is clearly known and easily understood.
To those who insist on calling the Anointed One with an English name, why wouldn't you at least call Him by the well-known English name "Joshua" instead of a non-english transliterated word "Jesus"?
(2) While I agree that our Master Yeshua the Anointed One is our Passover Lamb who has delivered us from Death, and that he is also our Eternal High Priest who has
- entered the real Holiest Place in the real Tabernacle of YHWH with His Once-for-all sacrifice
- in fulfillment of the annual sacrifice of the Bull and the Goat,
- and the release of the Scape Goat to carry away the sins of the people of YHWH,
I do not agree that the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) should be forgotten.
On the contrary, the Day of Atonement should be solemnly commemorated with all Godly respect, albeit without the sacrifices commanded in Leviticus chapters 16 and 17. By the way, people of the Jewish faith today observe Yom Kippur by resting, fasting, depriving themselves of pleasure and repenting from their sins of the previous year. They do not offer any animal sacrifices because their temple in Jerusalem has been destroyed and is not yet rebuilt.
My point is, if the Jews can observe the Day of Atonement on the Tenth Day of the Seventh Month as commanded by God by fasting and repentance, so can the Christians. All the more so, because Christians believe that this is THE day that our Master, the Anointed One of YHWH, has fulfilled by his offering of himself for the sins of the world.
