Feast Days - God's road map | One Truth One Way

God's Appointed Times

Leviticus 23:4-5 In addition to the Sabbath, these are the Lord’s appointed Feast Days, the official days for holy assembly that are to be celebrated at their proper times each year.

The Feast Days of God are His appointed times, they are not Jewish holidays. The appointed times of God teach us what He is doing and when He is doing it. They must be kept at there proper times each year because they act as a road map to help us to identify the true Messiah and help us to know God's plan and timeline.

"Fall Feast Days and Spring Feast Days"

The Spring Feast Days with Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of First fruits and the Feast of Pentecost, were fulfilled by Messiah at His first coming, the Fall Feast Days with the Feast of Trumpets, the Feast of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles and I like to include the eight day, which is the completed Kingdom of God. All this is mapped out Messiah's second coming so why, in the world, would God do away with the Fall Feast Days when His plan has not yet been completed?

If we do away with or change God's road map, like what many churches have done, we might find ourselves wondering around in the wilderness and following a false messiah. This is exactly what happened. As a matter of fact, God said it would happen in the last days through Antichrist and his kingdom.

Daniel 7:24-25 As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings. He will speak pompous against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest and he will intend to change the feast days and the law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.

Today, many of mainline church goers have been taught that the Feast Days of God have been done away with, but this is false and is part of the Replacement Theology movement.

Replacement Theology teaches us that Israel is out and the church is in. They say that the church replaced Israel and with this came many false doctrines. Today's church goers will tell you that you are in bondage if you celebrate God's Feast Days, yet, these very same people celebrate Christmas, Easter, Good Friday and Sunday as the Lord's day, which all have their root in Babylon and actually distort God's plan and timeline. This is what God calls, strong delusion.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 This man of lawlessness will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Delusion: a fixed false belief that is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual fact:

In this study we will see how the Replacement Theology movement was able to change God's Feast Days and God's Law through misinterpreting verses and by changing or adding words in the Bible to help support Replacement Theology. For example, the word Easter. Easter is a pagan festival that has nothing to do with God or His plan. Easter is a pagan festival that has its root in sun worship and the pagan god, Ishtar. It's from Babylon, which means (confusion) and we know Easter is confusion because rabbits don't even lay eggs.

Here is the history of Easter: The Easter or Ishtar symbolism of the Sunday resurrection of the spring fertility cult (Easter, the Anglo-Saxon form of Ishtar), is a pagan system of worship that first penetrated Christianity in the second century. The symbolism stems from the death of Tammuz on Friday and his resurrection on Sunday. The 40 days of Lent were picked as one day for each year of his life since he died at age 40. The rest of the traditions of Easter were "Christianized" into the story of the death and resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah. "{WikiBooks & Wikipedia}

Easter has nothing to do with God, Israel or the Christian faith, yet, you will find the word (Easter) in the Bible.

Acts 12:4 And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. ~ KJV

Why is the word (Easter) in the Bible? Because it was injected into the Bible to help support Easter as a Christian holiday. They took out God's Feast Day called, Passover, and replaced it with the pagan festival, Easter.

Newer translations of the Bible restored the word back to Passover, but the damage has been already done. Here is how Acts 12:4 should be translated.

Acts 12:4 So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover. ~ NKJV

In Leviticus 23 there are seven Feast Days which God calls, His appointed times. These Feast Days identify the true Messiah and map out God's plan and timeline for redemption and the restoration of all things. The first four Feast Days are called the spring Feasts because they take place during springtime. The last three Feast Days are called the fall Feasts because they take place in the fall.

The spring Feasts include the Feast of Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of First Fruits and the Feast of Pentecost. These Feast Days were used as shadows before the cross to teach us how God was going to do away with sin through Messiah. Messiah fulfilled the spring Feast Days during His first coming.

The fall Feast Days include the Feast of Trumpets, Feast of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacle. These Feast Days still have yet to be fulfilled at Messiah's second coming. To say the Feast Days are done away with is to cut God's plan and timeline short. It's like driving across the country and throwing the road map out half way through your journey.

So how do we understand the verses that people use to do away with the Feast Days?

The spring Feast Days have to do with the sacrificial system and how God was going to do away with sin through Messiah as the sacrificial Lamb. Messiah coming and dying for the sins of the world, being placed in the tomb and giving the Spirit at Pentecost fulfilled all the spring Feast Days.

Messiah is the Passover Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

1 Corinthians 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

Leaven represents sin and since Messiah was without sin, He represents Unleavened Bread.

Luke 22:19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

1 John 3:5 You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.

Messiah is the first fruits because He was the first to rise from the dead in God's plan of redemption.

1 Corinthians 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.

1 Corinthians 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

The Spirit of the New Covenant is Messiah's Spirit that came and filled the disciples at Pentecost.

John 14:17-18 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.

The whole sacrificial system acted as a shadow to teach us what God was going to do through Messiah at His first coming. The sacrificial system was a very meticulous system that needed to be followed perfectly in order to be accepted by God. Everything had to be perfect and meticulous because it pictured the life and work of Messiah.

Me-tic-u-lous: showing great attention to detail; very careful and precise.

In the sacrificial system there were special ceremonies and symbols that included special days, drink offerings, grain offerings and burnt offerings that were used to atone for Israel's sins under that system.

Ezekiel 45:17 Then it shall be the prince’s part to give burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the New Moons, the Sabbaths, and at all the appointed seasons of the house of Israel. He shall prepare the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings to make atonement for the house of Israel.”

This was all part of the sacrificial system that Messiah fulfilled at His first coming. Each one of these ceremonial acts were to be done very meticulously according to the Law. The sacrificial lamb had to be perfect and without spot or blemish. Everything had to be done a certain way at a certain time or it would not be accepted by God.

Exodus 12:5 You must have an unblemished lamb, a year-old male; you may take it from either the sheep or the goats.

Messiah is the perfect unblemished Lamb of God who died on the cross for our sins.

1 Peter 1:19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

In Messiah's first coming He fulfilled the whole sacrificial system.

Hebrews 10:10-12 For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time. Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.

Since Messiah died for our sins, we now have complete forgiveness in Him. There is no longer a need for the old meticulous sacrificial system because it has been fulfilled in Messiah. Therefore, since we have forgiveness of sin, through the shed blood of Christ, don't let anyone condemn you in how you celebrate the Feast Days because there is no meritorious value in keeping them when you're in Christ. In other other words, we are not trying to pay for our sin, earn salvation or become justified by how meticulously we keep the Feast Days.

Colossians 2:13-17 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. Therefore don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.

The Feast Days teach the plan of God. The literal sacrificial system teach us about the purpose for Christ's sinless life and the reason for His death and resurrection. Messiah fulfilled the shadows, which makes Him the substance of the shadows, therefore don't let people judge you in how you celebrate them.

Colossians 2:16-17 Therefore let no one condemn you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.

Messiah fulfilled the sacrificial system by becoming our sinless Lamb offering for our sin. Today, our forgiveness is in Messiah, not the sacrificial system, THEREFORE, don't let anyone condemn you in how we celebrate the Feast Days. If you were still under the old sacrificial system, prior to Messiah, this is what you had to do.

Numbers 28:9-29:39 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘My offering, My food for My offerings made by fire as a sweet aroma to Me, you shall be careful to offer to Me at their appointed time.’ “And you shall say to them, ‘This is the offering made by fire which you shall offer to the Lord: two male lambs in their first year without blemish, day by day, as a regular burnt offering. The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, the other lamb you shall offer in the evening, and one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering mixed with one-fourth of a hin of pressed oil. It is a regular burnt offering which was ordained at Mount Sinai for a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord. And its drink offering shall be one-fourth of a hin for each lamb; in a holy place you shall pour out the drink to the Lord as an offering. The other lamb you shall offer in the evening; as the morning grain offering and its drink offering, you shall offer it as an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord. ‘And on the Sabbath day two lambs in their first year, without blemish, and two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with oil, with its drink offering— this is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, besides the regular burnt offering with its drink offering. ‘At the beginnings of your months you shall present a burnt offering to the Lord: two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year, without blemish; three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with oil, for each bull; two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with oil, for the one ram; and one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with oil, as a grain offering for each lamb, as a burnt offering of sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord. Their drink offering shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, one-third of a hin for a ram, and one-fourth of a hin for a lamb; this is the burnt offering for each month throughout the months of the year. Also one kid of the goats as a sin offering to the Lord shall be offered, besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. ‘On the fourteenth day of the first month is the Passover of the Lord. And on the fifteenth day of this month is the feast; unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. And you shall present an offering made by fire as a burnt offering to the Lord: two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year. Be sure they are without blemish. Their grain offering shall be of fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah you shall offer for a bull, and two-tenths for a ram; you shall offer one-tenth of an ephah for each of the seven lambs; also one goat as a sin offering, to make atonement for you. You shall offer these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a regular burnt offering. In this manner you shall offer the food of the offering made by fire daily for seven days, as a sweet aroma to the Lord; it shall be offered besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. And on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. ‘Also on the day of the first fruits, when you bring a new grain offering to the Lord at your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. You shall present a burnt offering as a sweet aroma to the Lord: two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year, with their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths for the one ram, and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs; also one kid of the goats, to make atonement for you. Be sure they are without blemish. You shall present them with their drink offerings, besides the regular burnt offering with its grain offering. ‘And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. For you it is a day of blowing the trumpets. You shall offer a burnt offering as a sweet aroma to the Lord: one young bull, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year, without blemish. Their grain offering shall be fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs; also one kid of the goats as a sin offering, to make atonement for you; besides the burnt offering with its grain offering for the New Moon, the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, as a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord. ‘On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall afflict your souls; you shall not do any work. You shall present a burnt offering to the Lord as a sweet aroma: one young bull, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year. Be sure they are without blemish. Their grain offering shall be of fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the one ram, and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs; also one kid of the goats as a sin offering, besides the sin offering for atonement, the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings. ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work, and you shall keep a feast to the Lord seven days. You shall present a burnt offering, an offering made by fire as a sweet aroma to the Lord: thirteen young bulls, two rams, and fourteen lambs in their first year. They shall be without blemish. Their grain offering shall be of fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths for each of the two rams, and one-tenth for each of the fourteen lambs; also one kid of the goats as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering. ‘On the second day present twelve young bulls, two rams, fourteen lambs in their first year without blemish, and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance; also one kid of the goats as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings. ‘On the third day present eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen lambs in their first year without blemish, and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance; also one goat as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering. ‘On the fourth day present ten bulls, two rams, and fourteen lambs in their first year, without blemish, and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance; also one kid of the goats as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering. ‘On the fifth day present nine bulls, two rams, and fourteen lambs in their first year without blemish, and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance; also one goat as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering. ‘On the sixth day present eight bulls, two rams, and fourteen lambs in their first year without blemish, and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance; also one goat as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering. ‘On the seventh day present seven bulls, two rams, and fourteen lambs in their first year without blemish, and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance; also one goat as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering. ‘On the eighth day you shall have a sacred assembly. You shall do no customary work. You shall present a burnt offering, an offering made by fire as a sweet aroma to the Lord: one bull, one ram, seven lambs in their first year without blemish, and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance; also one goat as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering. ‘These you shall present to the Lord at your appointed feasts (besides your vowed offerings and your freewill offerings) as your burnt offerings and your grain offerings, as your drink offerings and your peace offerings.’

The spring Feast Days are still God's appointed times. They still teach us and remind us what He did for us, how He did it and when He did it but they are to be free from the meritorious rituals and legalistic burdens. It's the meritorious and legalistic mindset that puts us in bondage to these things, not the Feast Days themselves. The Feast Days are actually called "Love Feasts" in the New Covenant.

Jude 1:12 These people are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots.

The Feast Days are love Feasts. We come together and have potluck, fellowship and teach what the day means and represents. We don't rebuke each other for not performing the ceremony the correct way or maybe the table wasn't set the way it should have been.

1 Corinthians 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Celebrating the Feast Days can be fun and a blessing because of the food and the fellowship of like minded believers. Celebrating the Feast Day give us an opportunity to gather and teach what the day means and represents. The Feast Days are a perfect time to teach our children what God has done for us through His Son, Christmas, Easter, Good Friday and Sunday as the Lord's day have no teaching value because they distort God's true plan and don't glorify Him.

"The Feast Days and the early church"

Paul, as well as, the early church continued to honored the Feast Days, including the seventh day Sabbath, long after the death and resurrection of Messiah. The fact that they still honored the Sabbath on the seventh day, long after Messiah's death and resurrection, tells us that Messiah made no changes to the Sabbath.

Luke 23:56 Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.

Acts 13:42 So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.

Acts 13:44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.

Here is something that many people miss. Paul gathered every Sabbath with the church at Corinth.

Acts 18:4 Every Sabbath day Paul talked with the Jews and Greeks in the synagogue, trying to persuade them to believe in Jesus.

He continued at Corinth for a year and six months.

Acts 18:11 So Paul continued in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

Paul gathered with the Corinthian church every Sabbath for a year and six months. That's 76 Sabbaths. The Corinthian church was a Sabbath keeping church.

Messiah was speaking to His disciples when He told them of the destruction of Jerusalem, which was to take place forty years after His resurrection and He was still confirming the Sabbath.

Matthew 24:19-20 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.

Even in the Millennium the Sabbath will be honored.

Isaiah 66:22-23 As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord, “so will your name and descendants endure. From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the Lord.

After the death of Messiah, they were still gathering on the Feast of Pentecost.

Acts 2:1-2 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

The early church continued to kept the Feast Days long after Messiah's resurrection.

1 Corinthians 5:7-8 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

1 Corinthians 16:7-8 For I do not wish to see you now on the way; but I hope to stay a while with you, if the Lord permits. But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost.

Acts 18:20 When they asked him to stay a longer time with them, he did not consent, but took leave of them, saying, “I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, God willing.” And he sailed from Ephesus.

Acts 27:9 Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement.

God's appointed times will even be honored during the 1000 year millennium.

Zechariah 14:1-17 And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain.

Celebrating God's appointed times, including the seventh day Sabbath, is a good thing. They still have teaching value, they still help us to be ready, they still strengthen our faith and give us hope in what God is planning and keeping them still sets us apart as God's holy people. All these things are also an expression of our love for God.

Ezekiel 20:19-20 I am the Lord your God. Keep My Laws and obey My Words. Keep My Sabbath holy, and they will be something special to see between Me and you. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.

Exodus 31:13 “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

We should not think that we are trying to be justified by keeping God's appointed times or that we are trying to earn salvation, as some people do still think this way. There are people, even today, who will put you under a system of does and don'ts during God's holy days. God says don't let this happen. Do not let anyone judge or condemn you in how you celebrate His holy days.

Colossians 2:16-17 So don’t let anyone judge you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.

Today, we still celebrate Passover at it's appointed time but we don't kill a Lamb. Today we celebrated the Lord's supper during the Passover because Messiah was the Lamb who died on Passover. We remember His death on Passover as our sacrificial Lamb who atoned for the sins of the world.

1 Corinthians 11:22-29 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, and after he had given thanks he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself first, and in this way let him eat the bread and drink of the cup. For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself.

The verses that people use to do away with God's Feast Days are not doing away with the Feast Days. What we find in these verses is a rebuke to those who are still keeping them with a meritorious and legalistic mindset. They are meticulously, ritualistically and legalistically keeping the Feast Days in order to somehow justify themselves before God and in doing so, they are falling from grace and making themselves and others miserable.

Galatians 5:4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.

It's like they have become bewitched because of all their man-made regulations and legalistic rules they started applying to the Feast Days. This still happens even today. I remember attending a church that said you could go to the beach on the Sabbath but you could only go in the water up to your waist. If we went any deeper it would be a violation of the Sabbath. Some people today won't even turn on a light switch during a Sabbath. They won't push an elevator button on a Sabbath. They will only walk so many feet on a Sabbath. It's like they are trying to earn justification by how well they obey God's appointed times. This is what was happening in the church in Galaticia and the kicker is, none of the rules they were applying are supported by Scripture.

Galatians 3:1-3 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?

Paul was not condemning them for celebrating the Feast Days, but rather, he was rebuking them because of the way they were celebrating them. He was rebuking their meritorious mindset in how they were legalistically keeping them. They were trying to be made perfect by meticulously keeping God's Holy Days. Paul rebuked this meritorious mindset again later on in Galatians.

Galatians 4:9-11 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.

The word, (observe) in the above verse is the Greek word, (paratēreō). This word defines someone who is scrupulously following something or who is observing something carefully. They were putting themselves in bondage by their meritorious and legalistic mindset in how they were scrupulously observing God's appointed times.

Scru·pu·lous·ly: with great effort to avoid doing wrong.

The Feast Days should not be a burden because you are not trying to earn acceptance from God by keeping them. The Feast Days are love Feasts to those who are born again because they teach us and remind us of what God did for us and what He will do for us in restoring His people and a new creation.

The Feast Days are times of celebration, feasting, fellowship and drawing closer to God. They are times to teach our children what God has done for us and what God is about to do for us. The Feast Days help us to identify the true Messiah. The true Messiah perfectly fulfill everything about the spring Feast Days, including their proper timeline. Everything about Messiah's life from His birth, His death, His resurrection, His second coming, what He will do at His second coming and the finished work in the end is all in accordance with the Feast Days. Do you see why it's so important for Satan distort them or better yet, do away with them?

Today's mainline Jesus is a false messiah because he does not fulfill God's spring Feast Days.

Matthew 24:23-24 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

2 Corinthians 11:4 When someone comes to you telling about another Jesus whom we didn’t tell you about, you’re willing to put up with it. When you receive a spirit that is different from the Spirit you received earlier, you’re also willing to put up with that. When someone tells you good news that is different from the Good News you already accepted, you’re willing to put up with that too.

The true Messiah was not born on December 25th, He did not die on Good Friday, He did not raise on Easter Sunday, He is not returning before the Antichrist is revealed, He is not coming secretly or quietly and Sunday is not the Lord's day. Just to name a few.

The youth of today are falling away from church because it's all built on sand. Children are being brought up on Christmas and Santa Clause, Easter and the Easter Bunny, Sunday as the Lord's day and Good Friday, which are all pagan fairy tails that have no power to keep today's youth in the faith. There is sustaining power and blessings from God when you believe and practice something that can be found and taught in Scripture. Remember, we are saved by grace but we are sanctified by truth.

John 17:17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

Sanctification is what draws us close to God and living close to God is life changing. Celebrating the Feast Days is one aspect of worship that helps us to draw close and stay close to God.

What do the Feast Days teach us?

"The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread"

Leviticus 23:4-8 These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. On the first day hold a sacred assembly it shall be a Sabbath. For seven days present a food offering to the Lord. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.

The Feast of Passover is the shadow that teaches us about the blood on the door posts that caused the judgement of God to pass over the people. Passover also teaches us about the sacrificial lamb that was slain for sin. The blood of Christ causes the judgement of God to pass over us. Christ is our sacrificial Lamb because He is the substance of the shadow. Messiah is also the unleavened bread because He was without sin.

John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

1 Corinthians 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

Luke 22:19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

1 John 3:5 You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.

Today, we have the Lord's supper to celebrate the Passover in that the bread and wine symbolizes the body and blood of Messiah. Notice how it's very important that we are confessed up to date and have no lingering issues with others before we partake of the ceremony.

1 Corinthians 11:25-27 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

Some people believe that the Lord's supper should only be done on the evening of night before Passover, because that's when the Lord's supper took place. In my opinion, it seems that the verse is saying, as often as you partake, seems to mean whenever and how often, meaning it's not locked into just once a year on the evening before Passover. Either way, it would be nice to also partake on the eve of Passover in light of the fact that it is Passover.

"The Feast of First fruits"

Leviticus 23:9-11 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath.

Messiah is the first fruits because He was the first to rise from the dead in God's plan of redemption. He is also the first fruit wave offering that was accepted by God.

1 Corinthians 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.

1 Corinthians 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

Did you know that most of the Christian world have no idea what Messiah was saying to Mary in John 20:17 because they threw out God's Feast Days?

John 20:17 Jesus said to her, “Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.

Messiah had to present Himself to the Father, after the Sabbath, as the First Fruit wave offering. This was according to what we just read in Leviticus 23:11.

Leviticus 23:11 He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.

"The Feast of Weeks or Pentecost"

Leviticus 23:15:16 From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord.

The Feast of Pentecost is the giving of the Spirit. Messiah's Spirit is that Spirit which was poured out at Pentecost. This is also the time that God writes His Law in the hearts and minds of His people.

Messiah's Spirit is the Spirit that indwells us at Pentecost.

John 14:17-18 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there isliberty.

1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.

Acts 2:32-33 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.

"The Feast of Trumpets"

Leviticus 23:23-25 The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the Lord.’”

The Feast of Trumpets is when Christ returns with a trumpet blast and the dead in Christ, who lived in obedience, will rise first and then we who are still alive, at His coming, will be changed in a twinkling of an eye and meet the Lord in the air. Both the people who are alive during this time, but never heard the Gospel, and those who believed the Gospel but are not living up to God's standards, due to no fault of their own, will enter into the 1000 year millennium as mortal people.

Isaiah 24:5-6 The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.

Those who reject God and those who refuse to respond to the Gospel will be destroyed at that time by the fire of the Lord's presence.

2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 God will do what is right: he will bring suffering on those who make you suffer, and he will give relief to you who suffer and to us as well. He will do this when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven with his mighty angels, with a flaming fire, to punish those who reject God and who do not obey the Gospel about our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction from the presence of the Lord and from his glorious might, when he comes on that Day to receive glory from all his people and honor from all who believe. You too will be among them, because you have believed the message that we told you.

The dead righteous and the righteous who alive, when Messiah returns, will, together, meet Him in the air.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

At the Feast of Trumpets, Messiah will raise His people, both Jew and Gentile, and bring us into our own land.

Isaiah 56:7-8 I will bring them also to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and make them full of joy within my House of Prayer. I will accept their sacrifices and offerings, for my Temple shall be called “A House of Prayer for All People”! For the Lord God who brings back the outcasts of Israel says: I will bring others, too, besides my people Israel.

Ezekiel 37:12-14 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’ ”

The resurrection of the righteous is the first of two resurrections. Those who are resurrected and those who are changed at this time will rule and reign with Christ for a 1000 years.

Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

We, as Messiah's Bride, will meet Him in the air and go with Him to the place that He has prepared for us.

John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

There will be a glorious marriage supper of the Lamb for His Bride.

Revelation 19:7-9 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”

"The Feast of Atonement"

Leviticus 23:26-32 The Lord said to Moses, “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the Lord. Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God. Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people. I will destroy from among their people anyone who does any work on that day. You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. It is a day of sabbath rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”

The Day of Atonement is a Sabbath that we don't celebrate, but rather, we deny ourselves because it's at this time when Israel sees Messiah seated on His throne and recognizes Him as their promised King.

Luke 1:32-33 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

Zechariah 12:9-11 It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.

At the same time they recognized Messiah, they remember what they did to Him at His first coming. This is why this Sabbath is not a celebration, even though God wants us to count it as a delight. There seems to be mixed emotions and you will soon learn why.

Isaiah 58:13-14 If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken.

A perfect picture of this is seen in the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors. His brothers threw him in a pit and then sold him into slavery. Joseph ended up becoming second in charge of Egypt. Joseph's brothers had to go to Egypt because there was a famine when they saw Joseph in charge and remember what they did to him. They were horrified but Joseph didn't punish them, he hugged them. The Day of Atonement is a day of no pleasure but we call it a delight.

"The Feast of Tabernacles"

Leviticus 23:34-36 Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.

The Day of Atonement comes ten days after the the Feast of Trumpets, which was the second coming. This means Messiah returns to earth right after the marriage supper is over. He returns to earth with 144,000 saints to set up His Kingdom on the earth to reign on the earth for a thousand years from the throne of His father, King David. This is now the Feast of Tabernacles.

Revelation 14:1 Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.

At Messiah's first coming, His feet never touched the earth, His Bride ascends to meet Him in the air, but on the Day of Atonement, He comes down to set up His Kingdom, this sets off the 1000 year Millennial reign on the earth mapped out in God's timeline as the Feast of Tabernacles.

Zechariah 14:4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south.

Isaiah 2:2-4 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

Satan is bound for the thousand years and we rule with Messiah on the earth with a rod of iron for a 1000 years.

Revelation 20:2-3 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

Revelation 5:10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.

Revelation 19:14-17 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

The millennial reign of Messiah here on the earth will last for a 1000-years and then there will be a second resurrection, the resurrection of the unjust. Some of these people will enter into the Kingdom based of what they did with what they knew, the rest will be cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death.

Revelation 20:11-15 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

"The Eight Day"

Leviticus 23:34-36 Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.

Some people don't consider the Eight Day a Feast Day but I like to add it to the Feast Days because of what it represents. After the Feast of Tabernacles is over, the Son will turn over the finished Kingdom to His Father, this is the eight day, also called, the Great Day.

Leviticus 23:36-37 On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it. ‘These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations.

The eight day is right after the seven day feast of Feast of Tabernacles. This is when the holy city comes down and Messiah turns the finished Kingdom over to His Father and He will wipe away all our tears and there will be no more death, pain or sorrow. There will be nothing that sin brought into God first creation. Amen for such a long journey God had to take to restore the world.

Revelation 21:2-5 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

The Eighth Day is when Messiah turns over the finished work of the Kingdom to His Father.

1 Corinthians 15:24-28 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

Do you see the powerful truth that is contained in the Feast Days? If we do away with God's appointed times you end up with the Secret Rapture, Christmas, Easter, Good Friday and Sunday as the Lord's day. These pagan festivals have their root in Babylon, pagan sun worship and Replacement Theology. This is why in the last days God is calling His people out of Babylon.

Revelation 18:4 I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of Babylon, my people, so that you do not participate in her sins and suffer from any of her plagues.

Celebrating God's appoint times will help lead you, and others, out of Babylon and it will help to keep you out of Babylon. Amen

Email: MessiahofIsrael@aol.com

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