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Usually when you ask
churchgoers what are the holydays of the bible, they will respond,
“Christmas and Easter”. Which is false. Actually, neither of those days
are mentioned in scripture or even recorded as being kept by Jesus, the
disciples or any of the first century churches! Not mentioned is the fact
that Jesus and His followers always kept the holydays revealed by God to
Israel. These days are rich with meaning and outline God’s plan of
salvation. The are a shadow of things to come as Jesus fulfilled each of
them on their appointed time. In the Passover and the days of unleavened
bread we see Jesus being the sacrificial lamb and putting sin {leaven is a
type of sin} out of our lives; Pentecost being the birthday of the church
and granting access to the Holy Spirit to true believers. Those days being
fulfilled, we celebrate the feast of Trumpets as Jesus returning as a
conquering king and raising the Saints to life followed closely is the Day
of Atonement, as the binding of Satan and setting people free from his
deception; and finally, the Feast of Tabernacles as the setting up of
God’s Kingdom on earth for one thousand years. {Rev 19 & 20/ 1 Cor 15:52}
These days are known as Jewish holydays and viewed as for Jews alone to
keep- yet there are thousands of Christians who celebrate them. In years
past it was mostly Messianic Jewish congregations keeping them, but now it
seems that the good news is out and many groups both small and large
throughout the world are rejoicing in Gods feasts. Even nominal
denominations that do not themselves keep them, study the meaning and
prophetic implications of the feasts of Leviticus 23. The feasts of the
Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are MY
FEASTS. After God sets up His Kingdom on earth it will be mandatory to
keep them- all nations shall keep the feast of tabernacles or shall be
punished by not receiving any rain! {Zech 14}. No longer will it be
invitational- but mandatory.
Church history records an aggressive effort to rid the Christian church of
its Jewish roots and embrace days long held sacred by pagans. It is well
known that December 25 was a celebration of the birth of the sun as it
marked its return from its diminishing autumn cycle. More obviously,
Easter is the name of the goddess of the spring, complete with the
trappings of fertility rites of rabbits and eggs. It is documented that
this was done to attract the heathen to the Christian religion. Some feel
that the church had the authority to drop laws or adopt practices at will,
but the bible is clear that the prophets are subject to the prophets. The
words of God go unheard, learn NOT the way of the heathen for their
customs are vain {Jer 10}
If nothing else, the bible is a history of man's disobedience to God- and
that disobedience continues- albeit ignorantly. Sin separates men from
God! It is vital for folks seeking the face of God to realize what the
definition of sin is. Sin is: the transgression of the LAW {1Jn3:4}. The
focus of Satan's wrath is directed at those who KEEP the commandments of
God. {Rev 12: 17}. Common sense should dictate that God would want men to
keep his laws- yet men have been deceived to believe the opposite. If one
loves God he will KEEP the commandments {Jn 14:15}.
There are many books in Christian bookstores about the biblical feasts why
not study into this interesting subject and see if they are for you.
By Wayne Schatzle
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