Pt 1) The Biblical Feasts: Redeeming The Time
The Feasts: Redeeming the Time
For most of its existence, the Christian Church has been unaware that it is surrounded by a pulsating cycle of seasons and celebrations ordained by God ... a wellspring of revelation just beyond its reach.
It has tried to set a rhythm of its own with "holidays" and liturgical observances, many taken over from pagan celebrations. But even Easter, the oldest and most revered observance, vibrates slightly out of sync with the ancient and powerful beat of time, because it has been cut loose from its moorings.
Ancient civilizations from Sumer to Egypt geared their whole society to the mystic wheels of life and fertility. Times of sowing and reaping, birth and death were mysteries, at once dangerous and holy, and became the seed beds of religion. The tribes and clans of primitive society acted out, in rituals of initiation and sacrifice, their response to the overpowering drama of nature.
Feast Schedule
Passover
Unleavened Bread
True Sabbath
First Fruits
Pentecost
Rosh Ha Shanah
Yom Kippur
Tabernacles
Hanukah
Their awe became centered on gods they could worship. The gods they formed in their minds became gods they formed with their hands--visual objects of their own creation that at the same time blinded them to "the invisible things of God" revealed by His creation around them. The process of idolatry continues today on a larger scale and with different labels.
In the desert of Sinai 3,500 years ago, the Law given to Moses consisted mostly of instructions on how to observe a cycle of feasts that would be celebrated "in perpetuity" to mark these seasons--tent pegs to hold together the universe and the concept of eternity.
The writer of the Book of Hebrews emphasizes that the Law, including the feasts, is a "shadow" a blueprint, outlining the Creator's plan for the redemption of man. The feasts were not ends in themselves, but pointed to something beyond. Christ's life, death and resurrection fulfilled the Law, including the feasts, showing us how we should walk and live.
Modern Christianity has been cut off from an appreciation of this truth, in part by the technology that permeates our culture and desensitizes us to nature. But more importantly, because the church decided early in its history to sever all ties to its Jewish roots. The result--ignorance of the Law has been devastating.
For most of its existence, the Christian Church has been unaware that it is surrounded by a pulsating cycle of seasons and celebrations ordained by God ... a wellspring of revelation just beyond its reach.
It has tried to set a rhythm of its own with "holidays" and liturgical observances, many taken over from pagan celebrations. But even Easter, the oldest and most revered observance, vibrates slightly out of sync with the ancient and powerful beat of time, because it has been cut loose from its moorings.
Ancient civilizations from Sumer to Egypt geared their whole society to the mystic wheels of life and fertility. Times of sowing and reaping, birth and death were mysteries, at once dangerous and holy, and became the seed beds of religion. The tribes and clans of primitive society acted out, in rituals of initiation and sacrifice, their response to the overpowering drama of nature.
Feast Schedule
Passover
Unleavened Bread
True Sabbath
First Fruits
Pentecost
Rosh Ha Shanah
Yom Kippur
Tabernacles
Hanukah
Their awe became centered on gods they could worship. The gods they formed in their minds became gods they formed with their hands--visual objects of their own creation that at the same time blinded them to "the invisible things of God" revealed by His creation around them. The process of idolatry continues today on a larger scale and with different labels.
In the desert of Sinai 3,500 years ago, the Law given to Moses consisted mostly of instructions on how to observe a cycle of feasts that would be celebrated "in perpetuity" to mark these seasons--tent pegs to hold together the universe and the concept of eternity.
The writer of the Book of Hebrews emphasizes that the Law, including the feasts, is a "shadow" a blueprint, outlining the Creator's plan for the redemption of man. The feasts were not ends in themselves, but pointed to something beyond. Christ's life, death and resurrection fulfilled the Law, including the feasts, showing us how we should walk and live.
Modern Christianity has been cut off from an appreciation of this truth, in part by the technology that permeates our culture and desensitizes us to nature. But more importantly, because the church decided early in its history to sever all ties to its Jewish roots. The result--ignorance of the Law has been devastating.
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