This Monday (September 21, 2009) began the first of the three annual fall feasts that God commanded his people to meet with him.  Feasts do NOT mean food as we might think of it, but in the Hebrew "mo ed" for an "appointed time".  Yes, God actually has times that he set aside on the Biblical Calendar that he first gave the Isrealites for all of humanity...to set aside and spend with Him.  Not the secular holidays that man has created, but times he appointed and said he would meet with us.  Feast days are not just some ritualistic practice, but celebrations of what God has done for all believers in him (not just Jews) and shadows prophetically of the things to come with the return of Christ after The Tribulation and his millinial reign here on earth.  That's 1000 years of peace that humanity will experience after the horrendous hell on earth that is still to come.  It's a beautiful picture and one so fulfilling once understood and practiced.  Unfortunatly, most mainstream churches have abandoned (or have never known) the celebration of feasts.  They have been dismissed as "Jewish", nailed to the cross, irrelavent.  However, this twisting of history and doctrine have led so many people who desperately want to understand more about the heart of God terribly astray.  Our family included, as prior to a few years ago we had no understanding of these wonderful times because we had been told that the law was "done away with" and "don't worry about that old testament" stuff".  We had become so blinded by church doctrine and tradition that  we never knew to question, because aren't the clergy and pastors supposed to teach us the right way?  Sadly, our spiritual journey has led us to the truth that in this life we must question everything and that Satan is also the power of the air, so yes, even well meaning pastors can lead us astray.  So, like God says "prove all things" and this is exactly what we do now. 

Discovering the relevance of the Old Testament and the feasts that we will ALL be celebrating once Jesus returns has been like becoming reaquainted with a long lost relative.  The scales have fallen from our eyes and we see the Bible in an entirely new context.  We want to please our maker by doing the things he has asked of us.  We can't earn our salvation through works, but through faith our lives should produce good works.  To love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength we should be willing to DO what he has asked of us...not out of obligation, but out of LOVE.  Interestingly, the first four of the 10 Commandments tell us how to love God...the last six tell us how to love our neighbor.  So, tell me that the commandments are irrelavent TODAY!

The Feast of Trumpets is the fist of the fall feasts, followed by the Day of Atonement and then the Feast of Tabernacles.  Atonement is a day of fasting and reflecting on our year and our sins that we need to acknowledge...it's a time for purifying ourselves physically and spiritually in preparation for the Feast of Tabernacles the week of October 3rd-10th.  Tablernacles is the celebration of when Jesus will reign on earth during the 1000 years with man to show us all how to live peacefully.  Satan will be bound and will not be able to inflict any more pain until after the 1000 years when he will be "loosed for a time" to test humanity.  So, our church and many others during this time will often vacation together and study and spend wonderful, restful time together.  We will be going to a retreat center on the beach in Florida where we will celebrate and "do as our heart desires" (not like a Mardi Gras Party though).  Yes, the Bible even talks about "having strong drink" during this time.  Course it condemns drunkenness but there's nothing wrong with a drink among "responsible" adults.  The time is commanded to be fun and no place for sorrow...the kind of holiday anyone would want! 

Deut 14:26 And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. NKJV

     Leviticus 23:1-44 NKJV
1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2. "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts (NOTE: not the JEWS, but God's FEASTS)
3. 'Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.
4. 'These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.

God's Annual Holydays

It may come as a surprise to many Christians, but God has not commanded, and Jesus never observed, Christmas, Easter, Lent, Epiphany, St. Valentine's Day and Trinity Sunday. These were all added to Christianity after the time of the New Testament church!

What days did Jesus and the Apostles observe?

The New Testament makes clear the Jesus and the Apostles observed:

The weekly Sabbath:

This is observed from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. It is a memorial of creation, an acknowledgement that God is our creator. It is also prophetic of the return of Jesus Christ as King of Kings to establish eternal spiritual rest.

The Passover:

              Passover commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, as recorded  in                the book of Exodus.  This annual observance "on the night he (Jesus) was betrayed"  and       celebrates the  inauguration of the New Covenant (in his blood) as Jesus takes on  himself the penalty for our sins.

The Days of Unleavened Bread:

              During this seven day time-period, beginning and ending with a day of holy assembly, we put leaven out of our homes and diets (picturing putting sin out of our lives). We also take in unleavened bread (picturing taking in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth - Jesus Christ).

The Day of Pentecost (Feast of Weeks):

This observance, on the first day of the week (Sunday), 50 days after the Sabbath during the Days of Unleavened Bread, pictures the giving of God's Holy Spirit, and the first spiritual harvest of children into God's family.

The Feast of Trumpets:

This day pictures God's dynamic activity. At the sound of the last trumpet, Jesus will return. Before that, we are to raise up our voices like trumpets to warn all humanity of the inevitable effects of sin.

The Day of Atonement:

This is a day of national repentance, as we acknowledge our sins before God, and receive forgiveness through the once-for-all-time perfect sacrifice of Jesus. This day also pictures the putting away of all sin - to be accomplished eschatologically by the binding of Satan.

Feast of Tabernacles and Last Great Day:

This 8-day time-period begins and ends with commanded assemblies. It pictures the Children of Israel wandering in tents (tabernacles) in the wilderness, and then, on the last day, living in their permanent homeland. It pictures Christians as strangers and pilgrims on earth. It pictures Jesus as tabernacling among men. It also pictures the Tabernacle of God being with men when Jesus reigns on this earth in the Millennium.

There is far more symbolism to God's Holydays. But, to really understand them, one has to observe them. Christianity is not a spectator religion. "It is not the hearers, but the doers who shall be justified!"