Pt. 1) The Biblical Holy Days Differ from Catholic/Protestant Holidays-Which are Not Ordained in Scripture
God's Biblicall Ordained Holy Days
Did you know that God has Holy Days that reveal His plan of Salvation?
Man has substituted his holidays, Christmas, Easter, New Year's Day, and many more for God's Holy Days. Because of this, man has lost sight of God's wonderful plan of Salvation and man's true destiny!
Read this article and check it out in your Bible...You may be surprised. Remember what the wise writer of Proverbs said, "He that answers a matter before he hears it is folly and shame unto him." - Proverbs 18:13
IN THE 12th chapter of Exodus, while the Children of Israel were still in Egypt—LONG BEFORE ANY OF THE LAWS MOSES HAD BEEN GIVEN — prior to the time when God revealed to Moses and the Israelites that He would make the Old Covenant with them — we find God’s annual Holy Days being observed.
And in the 23rd chapter of Leviticus we find a summary of these annual Holy Days or set feasts. The reason for calling them Holy Days is because as each day is given it states that this day is a "Holy Convocation," Holy assembly.
Now when God made the Sabbath for MAN, He gave man a rest-day carrying great significance and purpose. To His CHURCH in the wilderness, God said that the Sabbath was a covenant SIGN between Him and His people. Exodus 31:13 A sign is a supernatural proof of identity. It is the sign by which WE KNOW that He is God. How does it prove that to us? "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the SEVENTH DAY He rested." It is a memorial of CREATION.
And creation is the proof of the existence of God. Creation identifies God. The Sabbath is a weekly memorial of creation. A weekly reminder of God’s power to create. Therefore it identifies God to us. — It keeps us in the true memory of true worship of the true God. No other day but the SEVENTH DAY OF THE WEEK could have that great significance and MEANING. It was designed to keep us in the true worship of God.
The Purpose of the Holy Days
Now in like manner, when God gave His Church seven ANNUAL Sabbaths, God, in His wisdom, had a great purpose. These days, too, were given to keep God’s children in the true memory and worship of God by keeping us constantly in the understanding of God’s great plan of redemption. For these annual days picture the different epochs in the Plan of spiritual creation and mark the dispensations, and picture their meaning.
The whole story of spiritual regeneration was, in these feast days, to be reenacted year after year continually. They have vitally important symbolism and meaning. These feasts, or Holy Days, or Sabbaths, were commanded to be kept YEAR AFTER YEAR, and FOREVER! We ask the reader to retain an OPEN MIND.
Thus God purposed to impress the truths these "high" Sabbaths picture upon all the minds of His children through ALL time, keeping His Church in the true understanding of HIS PLAN!
Passover This is the beginning of God’s plan for mankind. Starting in Exodus 12 and skimming through verses one through fourteen (1) "And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, (2) This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. (3) Speak you unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb. (5) Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. (6) You shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. (7) And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. (12) For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the first born in the land of Egypt, both men and beasts; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. (13) And the blood for you will be a token upon the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. (14) And this day shall be unto you a MEMORIAL; and you shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; you shall keep it a feast by an ORDINANCE FOREVER."
The slain lamb, without blemish, represented Jesus Christ. As the children of Israel had to come under the blood of this slain lamb, we too have to come under the blood of Jesus Christ for salvation. Many places in the Bible mention Christ as a lamb. When John saw Jesus approaching him he said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." John 1:29. Also Peter says in 1st Peter 1:18, 19, "You were redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot."
The night before He was crucified, while eating the Passover Lamb Christ made a great change in this ceremony. Knowing that He was going to fulfill the real meaning of the Passover, "He took bread and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave it unto them saying, This is my body which is given for you; this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you." Luke 22:19, 20. In John 13:4, 5 he writes, "He (Christ) riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that He poureth water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded," John 13:13, 14. He continues, "You call me Master and Lord; and you say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; you also ought to wash one another’s feet."
We no longer slay a lamb at this time of the year, but take bread and wine and a meal as Christ did, as a memorial to Christ’s death. Dear friends, do you see the wonderful meaning? Do you grasp the true significance of it all? Do you see God’s purpose? The Passover pictures the DEATH OF CHRIST for the remission of sins that are past. Now let us consider the second part of God’s plan for the redemption of mankind.
The Days of Unleavened Bread
Exodus 12:15, 16 - "Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses; for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. And in the first day there shall be an Holy Convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an Holy Convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you."
Let us learn the full significance of this. Why did God ordain these Feasts days? What was His great purpose? Turn now to Exodus 13 verse 3 - "Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which you came out from Egypt." "Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and the seventh day shall be a Feast unto the Eternal". . . "This is done because of that which the Eternal did" (a memorial) — "and it shall be for a SIGN" a miraculous PROOF of identity — "unto thee upon thy hand, and for a MEMORIAL between thine eyes" — WHY? — "that the LORD’S LAW MAY BE IN THY MOUTH"... verse 9, 10. "Thou shall therefore KEEP this ordinance." Do you grasp the true significance of it all? Do you see God’s purpose? The PASSOVER pictures the DEATH OF CHRIST for the remission of sins that are past. The accepting of His blood does not forgive sins we shall commit. It does not give us license to continue in sin — therefore when we accept it, our sins are forgiven only up to that time — PAST SINS.
Shall we stop there with only past sins forgiven? We are still flesh beings. We still suffer temptations. Sin has held us in its clutch! We have been slaves to sin, in its power. And we are powerless to deliver ourselves from it. We have been in bondage to sin just like the Israelites were in bondage to Egypt! To what extent shall we put away sin? Not partly but COMPLETELY! And as leaven is also a type of sin — leaven puffs up, and so does sin — and as SEVEN is God’s number symbolizing COMPLETENESS, we are to follow the Passover with seven days of unleavened bread.
Shall we leave Christ symbolically hanging on the cross? The seven days of UNLEAVENED BREAD following Passover, picture to us the COMPLETE putting away of sin, the KEEPING of the Commandments after our past sins are forgiven. They picture the life and work of the RISEN CHRIST who ascended to the throne of God where He is now actively at work in our behalf as our HIGH PRIEST, cleansing us of sin. . . delivering us completely from ITS POWER. . . The early church kept the Days Of Unleavened Bread, notice Acts 20:6 "We sailed away from Philippi, AFTER THE DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD." Paul and his companions plainly had observed the days of unleavened bread at Philippi. The Holy Spirit would not have inspired these words otherwise. Likewise notice Acts 12:3-4, "Then were the days of unleavened bread," why this, if those days had in God’s sight, ceased to exist. This was after the crucifixion. The days of unleavened bread still existed, or the Holy Spirit could not have inspired "then WERE the days of unleavened bread."
Pentecost or Feast of Firstfruits or Feasts of Weeks
Next in order of God’s plan for mankind comes Pentecost. The word "Pentecost" is a Greek word, used in the New Testament, but not in the Old. It signifies "fifty." In the Old Testament this feast is called "Feast of Firstfruits," and "Feast of Weeks." In Leviticus 23:9-10-11, "And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel saying unto them, When you come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you; on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. (The Israelites were not allowed to harvest any early grain crop until this day.) Verse 15-16 And you shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath (during the days of unleavened bread) shall you number fifty days:" Verse 21 "And you shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an Holy Convocation unto you; you shall do no servile work therein; it shall be a statute in all your dwellings throughout your generations." This is the very feast that Jesus’ disciples were observing as recorded in Acts 2:1
"And when the day of Pentecost (Feast of Firstfruits) was fully come, (being observed) they were all with one accord in one place." This is the day God gave His Holy Spirit to the Church. Christ had told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem for this power.
To be continued...
Did you know that God has Holy Days that reveal His plan of Salvation?
Man has substituted his holidays, Christmas, Easter, New Year's Day, and many more for God's Holy Days. Because of this, man has lost sight of God's wonderful plan of Salvation and man's true destiny!
Read this article and check it out in your Bible...You may be surprised. Remember what the wise writer of Proverbs said, "He that answers a matter before he hears it is folly and shame unto him." - Proverbs 18:13
IN THE 12th chapter of Exodus, while the Children of Israel were still in Egypt—LONG BEFORE ANY OF THE LAWS MOSES HAD BEEN GIVEN — prior to the time when God revealed to Moses and the Israelites that He would make the Old Covenant with them — we find God’s annual Holy Days being observed.
And in the 23rd chapter of Leviticus we find a summary of these annual Holy Days or set feasts. The reason for calling them Holy Days is because as each day is given it states that this day is a "Holy Convocation," Holy assembly.
Now when God made the Sabbath for MAN, He gave man a rest-day carrying great significance and purpose. To His CHURCH in the wilderness, God said that the Sabbath was a covenant SIGN between Him and His people. Exodus 31:13 A sign is a supernatural proof of identity. It is the sign by which WE KNOW that He is God. How does it prove that to us? "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the SEVENTH DAY He rested." It is a memorial of CREATION.
And creation is the proof of the existence of God. Creation identifies God. The Sabbath is a weekly memorial of creation. A weekly reminder of God’s power to create. Therefore it identifies God to us. — It keeps us in the true memory of true worship of the true God. No other day but the SEVENTH DAY OF THE WEEK could have that great significance and MEANING. It was designed to keep us in the true worship of God.
The Purpose of the Holy Days
Now in like manner, when God gave His Church seven ANNUAL Sabbaths, God, in His wisdom, had a great purpose. These days, too, were given to keep God’s children in the true memory and worship of God by keeping us constantly in the understanding of God’s great plan of redemption. For these annual days picture the different epochs in the Plan of spiritual creation and mark the dispensations, and picture their meaning.
The whole story of spiritual regeneration was, in these feast days, to be reenacted year after year continually. They have vitally important symbolism and meaning. These feasts, or Holy Days, or Sabbaths, were commanded to be kept YEAR AFTER YEAR, and FOREVER! We ask the reader to retain an OPEN MIND.
Thus God purposed to impress the truths these "high" Sabbaths picture upon all the minds of His children through ALL time, keeping His Church in the true understanding of HIS PLAN!
Passover This is the beginning of God’s plan for mankind. Starting in Exodus 12 and skimming through verses one through fourteen (1) "And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, (2) This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. (3) Speak you unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb. (5) Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. (6) You shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. (7) And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. (12) For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the first born in the land of Egypt, both men and beasts; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. (13) And the blood for you will be a token upon the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. (14) And this day shall be unto you a MEMORIAL; and you shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; you shall keep it a feast by an ORDINANCE FOREVER."
The slain lamb, without blemish, represented Jesus Christ. As the children of Israel had to come under the blood of this slain lamb, we too have to come under the blood of Jesus Christ for salvation. Many places in the Bible mention Christ as a lamb. When John saw Jesus approaching him he said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." John 1:29. Also Peter says in 1st Peter 1:18, 19, "You were redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot."
The night before He was crucified, while eating the Passover Lamb Christ made a great change in this ceremony. Knowing that He was going to fulfill the real meaning of the Passover, "He took bread and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave it unto them saying, This is my body which is given for you; this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you." Luke 22:19, 20. In John 13:4, 5 he writes, "He (Christ) riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that He poureth water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded," John 13:13, 14. He continues, "You call me Master and Lord; and you say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; you also ought to wash one another’s feet."
We no longer slay a lamb at this time of the year, but take bread and wine and a meal as Christ did, as a memorial to Christ’s death. Dear friends, do you see the wonderful meaning? Do you grasp the true significance of it all? Do you see God’s purpose? The Passover pictures the DEATH OF CHRIST for the remission of sins that are past. Now let us consider the second part of God’s plan for the redemption of mankind.
The Days of Unleavened Bread
Exodus 12:15, 16 - "Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses; for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. And in the first day there shall be an Holy Convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an Holy Convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you."
Let us learn the full significance of this. Why did God ordain these Feasts days? What was His great purpose? Turn now to Exodus 13 verse 3 - "Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which you came out from Egypt." "Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and the seventh day shall be a Feast unto the Eternal". . . "This is done because of that which the Eternal did" (a memorial) — "and it shall be for a SIGN" a miraculous PROOF of identity — "unto thee upon thy hand, and for a MEMORIAL between thine eyes" — WHY? — "that the LORD’S LAW MAY BE IN THY MOUTH"... verse 9, 10. "Thou shall therefore KEEP this ordinance." Do you grasp the true significance of it all? Do you see God’s purpose? The PASSOVER pictures the DEATH OF CHRIST for the remission of sins that are past. The accepting of His blood does not forgive sins we shall commit. It does not give us license to continue in sin — therefore when we accept it, our sins are forgiven only up to that time — PAST SINS.
Shall we stop there with only past sins forgiven? We are still flesh beings. We still suffer temptations. Sin has held us in its clutch! We have been slaves to sin, in its power. And we are powerless to deliver ourselves from it. We have been in bondage to sin just like the Israelites were in bondage to Egypt! To what extent shall we put away sin? Not partly but COMPLETELY! And as leaven is also a type of sin — leaven puffs up, and so does sin — and as SEVEN is God’s number symbolizing COMPLETENESS, we are to follow the Passover with seven days of unleavened bread.
Shall we leave Christ symbolically hanging on the cross? The seven days of UNLEAVENED BREAD following Passover, picture to us the COMPLETE putting away of sin, the KEEPING of the Commandments after our past sins are forgiven. They picture the life and work of the RISEN CHRIST who ascended to the throne of God where He is now actively at work in our behalf as our HIGH PRIEST, cleansing us of sin. . . delivering us completely from ITS POWER. . . The early church kept the Days Of Unleavened Bread, notice Acts 20:6 "We sailed away from Philippi, AFTER THE DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD." Paul and his companions plainly had observed the days of unleavened bread at Philippi. The Holy Spirit would not have inspired these words otherwise. Likewise notice Acts 12:3-4, "Then were the days of unleavened bread," why this, if those days had in God’s sight, ceased to exist. This was after the crucifixion. The days of unleavened bread still existed, or the Holy Spirit could not have inspired "then WERE the days of unleavened bread."
Pentecost or Feast of Firstfruits or Feasts of Weeks
Next in order of God’s plan for mankind comes Pentecost. The word "Pentecost" is a Greek word, used in the New Testament, but not in the Old. It signifies "fifty." In the Old Testament this feast is called "Feast of Firstfruits," and "Feast of Weeks." In Leviticus 23:9-10-11, "And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel saying unto them, When you come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you; on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. (The Israelites were not allowed to harvest any early grain crop until this day.) Verse 15-16 And you shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath (during the days of unleavened bread) shall you number fifty days:" Verse 21 "And you shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an Holy Convocation unto you; you shall do no servile work therein; it shall be a statute in all your dwellings throughout your generations." This is the very feast that Jesus’ disciples were observing as recorded in Acts 2:1
"And when the day of Pentecost (Feast of Firstfruits) was fully come, (being observed) they were all with one accord in one place." This is the day God gave His Holy Spirit to the Church. Christ had told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem for this power.
To be continued...
Comment
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Comment by Minister Robbin Swinger Otey on January 13, 2009 at 2:05pm
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thank you so much for sharing these truths! i have also been investigating the re-occurance of New Moon feasts in the old testament and as it is mentioned in the book of John's Revelation always in conjunction with the Sabbath.
peace & much love.
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Comment by Eemah Martha aka Hephzybah on January 9, 2009 at 4:33pm
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Excellent teaching Sis Anna. It is so odd that we were raised to honor days not in scripture and at the same time taught that the days in the scriptures were abolished. Rome truly knew how to deceive us. Their deception was so massive that we now think to honor the Word of Abba Yahweh is pagan. I truly weep within for our people.
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