FEASTS OF THE LORD
The Feasts (annual holy days) where not only commanded to be kept prior to Christ, they where also kept by Christ, and his apostles. If you look closely, you will find that the Church continued to observe these annual holy days after Christ's resurrection.
But have the annual feasts (Holy Days or Sabbaths) been done
away with at Christ's death?
There were seven yearly memorials or feasts that where commanded to be kept.
(Three of which all males in the family where to provide an offering for God)
"Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which you will observe as holy assemblies, these are my feasts." (LEV 23:2)
1) Passover (LEV 23:5) In the fourteenth day of the
first month at dark is the Lords Passover.
2) Feast of unleavened bread (All males shall provide an offering). (LEV
23:6) The fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread.
3) Feast of harvest (all males shall provide an offering). (LEV 23:10)
then you will bring a bundle of grain from the first fruits of your harvest to
the priest and he shall wave the bundle before the Lord, to be accepted for you.
4) Memorial of Trumpets (LEV 23:24) In the seventh month, on the first
day of the month, you will have a Sabbath, a memorial blowing of trumpets,
5) Day of Atonement (LEV 23:27) Also on the tenth day of the seventh
month there will be a Day of Atonement.
6) Feast of tabernacles (all males shall provide an offering). (LEV
23:34) The fifteenth day of the seventh month will be the feast of tabernacles,
for seven days.
7) The eighth day (LEV 23:36) And on the eighth day will be a holy
assembly, a solemn assembly.
Now lets look at how the annual feasts were to be conducted.
PASSOVER
The observance of Passover was a memorial feast to commemorate
the freeing of God's people from the bonds of slavery in Egypt. This annual
observance is celebrated the first month of Abib on the 14th day according to
Gods calendar.
Passover also marks the beginning of the seven days of unleavened bread.
(EXO 12:11-14) it is the Lords Passover This day will be a memorial, and you will keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You will keep it a feast by law forever.
(EXO 12:25-27) And when it comes to pass that your children ask you what this service means, you will say, it is the sacrifice of the Lords Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, that he smote the Egyptians, and protected our homes.
(EXO 12:42-49) It is a night of watching to be much observed to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is the night of the Lord to be kept by all the descendants (as Christians we become spiritually adopted) of Israel in their generations. ...
(LEV 23:5) In the fourteenth of the first month at dark is the Lords (it's not for us, it's for the Lord) Passover.
(NUM 9:1-14) keep the Passover at its appointed season. In the fourteenth day of this month at dark you will keep in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, you will keep it. ...
(NUM 28:16) And on the fourteenth day of the first month is the Passover to the Lord.
(DEUT 16:1-7) You will therefore sacrifice the Passover to the Lord ... in the place the lord chooses to place his name. Observe in the month of Abib the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib God brought you out of Egypt by might. You will therefore sacrifice the Passover to the Lord from the flock and from the herd in the place the lord chooses to place his name. ...
(EZE 45:21) In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you will have the Passover,
(MAT 26:17-29) Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread (the first day is passover) the disciples came to Jesus, saying, where will you have us prepare for the eating of the Passover. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed and prepared the Passover. ...
(Mark 14:12-24) And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover, his disciples said to him, Where will you have us go and prepare the Passover to eat?...
(Luke 22:8-16) And he (Jesus) sent Peter and John, saying, go and prepare us the Passover that we may eat. I shall eat the Passover with my disciples. And he said unto them, with desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God (notice here that Christ will be keeping the feast when the kingdom of God comes to earth).
(1 Corinthians 5:7-8) For Christ is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast (passover/unleavened was still being kept after Christ's death), not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
FEAST OF UNLEAVENED
The feast should be a constant reminder to us of the need to remove sin from our lives, just as we remove leavening from our homes beginning on the fourteenth of Abib for seven days.
(EXO 12:15-20) Seven days you will eat unleavened bread, on the first day you will remove all leaven out of your homes, for who ever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. And on the first day there will be a holy assembly, and on the seventh day there will be a holy assembly, no type of work can be done on them, except that the meals must be cooked to eat, and that only may be done. You will observe the feast of unleavened bread, for on this day did I bring you out of the land of Egypt. You will observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at dark, You will eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at dark. Seven days there can be no leaven found in your homes, for who ever eats that which has leavening, that person shall be removed from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger, or born in the land. You will eat nothing leavened in all your land but you will eat unleavened bread.
(EXO 13:6-7) Seven days you will eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day you will have a feast before the Lord your God, you will eat unleavened bread seven days. No leavened bread can be seen with you, or can leavening be found in all your homes.
(EXO 23:15) You will keep the feast of unleavened bread and none can appear without an offering.
(EXO 34:18) You will keep the feast of unleavened bread, seven days you will eat unleavened bread,
(LEV 23:6-8) The fifteenth day in same month is the feast of unleavened bread, seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you will have a holy assembly, you can do no servile work on this day. ... On the seventh day you will have a holy assembly, you can do no servile work on this day.
(NUM 28:17-18) The fifteenth day of this month is the feast, seven days will unleavened bread be eaten. On the first day you will have a holy assembly, you can do no manner of servile work on this day.
(DEUT 16:3) seven days you must eat unleavened bread, known as the bread of affliction, because you came out of the land of Egypt in a hurry and that you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.
(DEUT 16:16-17) Three times during the year must all the males appear before the Lord at the place that he shall choose. At the feast of unleavened bread, and at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of tabernacles, and they can not appear without an offering, every man will give according to the blessings he has received from the Lord.
(Matthew 26:17-29) Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, where will you have us prepare for the eating of the Passover. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed and prepared the Passover.
(Mark 14:12-24) And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover, his disciples said to him, Where will you have us go and prepare the Passover to eat?...And as they did eat Jesus took bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to them and said, take eat this is my body. And he took the cup and when he had given thanks he gave it to them and they all drank of it. And he said to them, this is my blood of the new testament which is shed for many.
(1 Corinthians 5:7-8) For Christ is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
PENTECOST
In determining the date of this festival, unlike the other feast dates that have a set date in the year, you count fifty days beginning with the day after the weekly Sabbath that occurs during the feast of unleavened bread.
(Ex 34:22) And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end (at the end of the biblical year).
(Le 23:10-21) ... And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days; ... And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
(Nu 28:26) Also in the day of the firstfruits, when ye bring a new meat offering unto the Lord, after your weeks be out, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work:
(De 16:10-11) And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God, according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee: And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place his name there.
TRUMPETS
This day is a Sabbath day, with the blowing of trumpets to signify the event.
(Le 23:24-25) Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein:
(Nu 29:1) And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you.
(Ps 81:3-5) Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob. This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.
ATONEMENT
This is a Sabbath day of fasting, no food or water.
(Le 16:29-34) And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: ... It shall be a Sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever. ... And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the Lord commanded Moses.
(Le 23:27-32) Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, ... And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.
(Nu 29:7) And ye shall have on the tenth day of this seventh month an holy convocation; and ye shall afflict your souls: ye shall not do any work therein:
TABERNACLES
The first day is observed as a Sabbath day.
(Le 23:34-43) ... The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord. On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. ... on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; ... it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. These are the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, ... on the first day shall be a Sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a Sabbath. And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. 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. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
(Nu 29:12) And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work, and ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days:
(De 16:13-17) Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, ... And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates. Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord shall choose: because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice. 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: Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee.
(De 31:10-11) ... At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles, When all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
(Ne 8:14-18) And they found written in the law which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month: And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written. So the people went forth, and brought them, and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim. And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness. Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner.
THE DAY OF SOMBER ASSEMBLY
The day of somber assembly or eighth day occurs at the end of Tabernacles.
(Le 23:36-39) Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; ... it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. These are the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, ... 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. Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a Sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a Sabbath.
(Nu 29:35) On the eighth day ye shall have a solemn assembly: ye shall do no servile work therein:
(Ne 8:17-18) ... And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner.
WHERE DO WE KEEP THE FEASTS?
It says to keep them at the place he has placed his name.
As stated above, the Lord has placed his name in only one place, Jerusalem, no where else can you find that claim or anything pointing to any other location.(2Sa 7:13) He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
(2Ch 2:4) Behold, I build an house to the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel.
(2Ch 6:17-40) Now then, O Lord God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David.
But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built! Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee: That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place.
......Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.
If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name;
......If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name:
......Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.(2Ch 7:12-16) And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
(JER 7:11) Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.
(JER 7:12) But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
(JER 7:14) Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.
JER 7:30) For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.
(NUM 9:1-14) ... If any of you are unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey far off, they shall still keep the Passover, only on the fourteenth day of the second month at dark will they observe it, ...
KEY POINTS
Why scripture even states that after Christ's return, the feasts, see Zechariah 14:16-18 and Nahum 1:15, will again be observed. Again, the question is if they where kept prior to, during, and will again be kept after his return, should we be keeping them now and how?
Though they could travel beyond their own borders, they where instructed to live within their borders ( Israel), making it possible to hold the Holy Days in Jerusalem.
The annual feasts (Holy Days) were not part of the law of Moses, but were observed before the ritualistic ordinances contained in the law of Moses was given.
Yes it is true that Christ did away with the sacrifices, but he did not do
away with the sabbaths, they still remain.
It is clear that sacrifices were also offered on the weekly Sabbath, but this
does not do away with the weekly Sabbath, in fact, sacrifices were offered on
every day of the year (Num. 28:3).
Yet how we observe them is not what most have been taught. To celebrate these days as prescribed, we are required to do so in Jerusalem. Seeing as that is not possible, we are to simply hold them holy as we would a Sabbath day.
So the answer to the question, "have the annual feasts ( Holy Days or Sabbaths) been done away with at Christ's death?", is no, just the way we celebrate them has changed.
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