Biblical
Holy
Days
Most
of society observes Lent, Easter, Christmas, and other holidays not found in
the Bible. What you may not know is that there are specific days the Bible
commands man to keep, days that are very important for anyone who desires True Worship.
______________________________________________________
Contents
Chapter One
HOLIDAYS,
HOLIDAYS EVERYWHERE
Chapter Two
FEAST
DAYS GIVEN AT SINAI,
Chapter
Three
THE HOLY
DAYS THROUGHOUT THE NEW TESTAMENT
Chapter
Four
HOW WE
SHOULD KEEP THE FEASTS TODAY
Chapter
Five
WHY
A LESSON
FOR US
Chapter Six
BEGINNING
OF MONTHS
Published
by
© 2007 Yahweh’s Assembly in Yahshua
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Chapter
1:
HOLIDAYS, HOLIDAYS EVERYWHERE
Have you ever thought about the many holidays our society observes throughout the year? Where did they originate? Is there any reason to honor them other than the fact that they are listed on our wall calendars? For 2,000 years Christianity has been leaving a permanent mark on our world by the days it commemorates. Annually, we witness millions of sincere people observing Lent, Easter sunrise rituals, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and other popular celebrations. Most assume that these days are holy or sanctioned in the Bible. Despite their religious connotations, such observances are a time when even banks, offices, and businesses customarily close. So ingrained are these supposed Bible-based days that secular public schools close down for church-promoted holidays like Easter and Christmas. Then there are holidays with more obviously heathen origins. Most grade schools indulge in Valentine’s Day, May Day, and Halloween, teaching profane rituals to impressionable young minds. Paradoxically, many churches have now added these secular days to their calendars and have special activities in celebration. Secular society aside, we must ask why churches carry out special activities on such observances that have no Biblical justification, and that are even condemned in Scripture. But what is really puzzling is why most churches recognize only one of the Biblical Feasts, Pentecost, while ignoring the six others, replacing them with man’s observances.
A Different Message is Being Taught
Millions of churchgoers assume that they are being led down the road to salvation. Occasionally, a few who seek to learn the truth for themselves look beyond the nominal teachings of their church and study and search their own Bibles. They are astounded at what they soon discover. They learn that the Messiah and His disciples kept other days and observed times different from what are presently celebrated by mainstream religion and society. Even the Name of the one they worship on these special occasions has been changed. Consider this for a moment. All religions in the world had or have a specific name for their deity, like Jupiter, Zeus, Baal, Thor, Dagon, Molech, Mithras, Allah, Buddah, and Vishnu. But churchianity refers to its Mighty One simply by the generic title “God,” with a capital “G.” (In the Bible, Satan is also referred to as the “god of this world” with a small “g,” 2Cor. 4:4. Where’s the distinction when the capital “G” and small “g” are pronounced the same?) Most Christian ministers are quite familiar with the personal Name of the Heavenly Father “Yahweh,” but insist on calling upon Him using the common title. Others, realizing He has a Name, equivocate with “Eternal,” or the erroneous “Jehovah,” neither of which is His Name. The popular Hebrew word “Hallelu Yah” literally means “praise you Yah,” (“Yah” being the short or poetic form of “Yahweh” as in Psalm 68:4, KJV). Notice: Hallel = praise, u = you, Jah = Yah.
Many are surprised to learn that the patriarchs and prophets had the short form of Yahweh’s Name, Yah, right in their own names: IsaYah (Isaiah), ElYah (Elijah), Jerem Yah (Jeremiah), Zechar Yah (Zechariah), etc. (See any Bible dictionary.) Seminaries routinely teach the personal Name Yahweh, which is found in today’s Bible notes, commentaries, common dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference works. Perhaps it is even found in your own home library. The true Name of the Son is not the Latinized Greek name Jesus. Bible
authorities agree that the Savior was from the tribe of
We have restored the sacred Name of the Father, Yahweh, and Yahshua His Son in this booklet. (More information is available on the proper Names of the Father and Son given to mankind from on High. Write to us.)
Teaching Through Ignorance or by Design
It is most difficult to believe that so
many nice, smiling ministers professedly teaching the Bible could actually be
promoting error. But the Apostle Paul warns of this very thing in his letter of
2Corinthians
“And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the
ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”
Admittedly, there are those who are ignorant of the deeper truths of the Bible and perhaps are not aware that they are not teaching the whole counsel of Yahweh. But if one seriously studies this special book, the Bible, which the Creator has given mankind, one will find that it repeatedly contradicts what is commonly taught today. Teaching error instead of truth is not new. It was being done over 2,000
years ago. Paul told the elders in
“My people have been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to
go astray; they have turned them away on the mountains; they have gone from
mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place,” Jeremiah 50:6.
Just as today, the priests were not concerned with obedience, but merely gave lip service to Yahweh. The people felt that so long as they carried out the customs and rituals that they were being taught, that the Almighty would accept their efforts. The priests also were lax and allowed the people to worship in their own way. But Ezekiel regrets that the priests (teachers of the Book, the ministers) had not instructed proper worship according to the Bible. “Her priests have violated My law, and have profaned Mine holy things:
they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they
shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes
from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them,” Ezekiel 22:26.
Those who supposedly teach the righteousness and holiness of Yahweh have ignored Yahweh’s clear, unmistakable commandments and teach smooth things to please their audience. By doing so they make virtually no distinction between what is proper and holy and what is profane. Not explained is that our sins ñ our disobedience ñ separate us from Yahweh so that He will not hear our prayers, John 9:31. Note His words in Isaiah 59:2: “But your iniquities have separated between you and your Elohim and
your sins have hid His face from you that He will not hear.”
So long as the carnal-hearted person ignores Yahweh and His ways and insists upon going his own way, his will be a hopeless struggle devoid of help and guidance. Neither will he obtain the blessings from on high. The time is coming, however, when men shall return to the pure worship of their Creator. “And the ransomed of Yahweh shall return, and come to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away,” Isaiah 35:10 (see also Isa. 2:2-4).
Returning to the Old Paths Required
We desire to return to the Word of truth (John 17:17) and learn what the Bible says about proper worship of our Creator. That worship revolves around the days upon which He desires to be worshiped, not on days we think are acceptable. Isaiah 55:8-9 reveals: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,
says Yahweh. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways
higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Yahweh’s Word warns us not to trust man for salvation because man can lead us astray: “Thus says Yahweh; Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from Yahweh,” Jeremiah 17:5. The world’s way that may seem to be the correct worship of Yahweh profits us nothing, no matter how sincere we are and no matter how much we want Him to accept our form of worship. Again He says through the prophet Jeremiah: “This evil people, which refuse to hear My words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other deities, to serve them and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing, “ Jeremiah 13:10. Proverbs 14:12 reveals that there is a way that seems right to a man but the end thereof is the ways of death.
Chapter
2:
FEAST DAYS GIVEN AT SINAI,
The world has been tricked into accepting substitutes, both for the Scriptural Feast days and for the true Mighty One Himself. Salvation is jeopardized through the ignoring of His Word and by blindly believing the distortion of grace. Most don’t care to hear about obedience, but they wholeheartedly agree that if their neighbor would keep the Ten Commandments that this would be a far better world! They admit that the Ten Commandments are important and should be observed by good Christians today. But when reminded of the commandments concerning the Sabbath and His Name, they argue that the Sabbath is Jewish and the Name is for Hebrews. That’s not what Scripture says. The first verse of Exodus 20 reveals that Yahweh was the One who gave the law. Therefore, it is not the law of Moses or the law of the Jews, but the law of Yahweh. The law is His expressed will for those who will take hold of the covenant of promise. What’s more, millions are
ignorant of the fact that more than just the Ten Commandments were given at
Sinai. Yahweh’s Holy Feast Days were also included in the issuing of His law.
Moses is given the Ten Commandments in chapter 20 of Exodus, and he doesn’t
make his final descent from
These special observances were not intended only for ancient
It is clear from the Bible that we can worship in utmost sincerity and with joyful humility, yet do it all for nothing! Unless our worship is in harmony with His Word, the Holy Scriptures, what we do in accordance with man’s thinking is an exercise in futility. Our Savior warns: “In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of
men,” Mark 7:7. Paul similarly admonishes in Titus 1:14: “Not giving
heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men that turn from the truth.”
If we call Him by a name other than His personal, revealed Name Yahweh, by which He wishes to be called, we lack a proper relationship with Him. We can worship on a day that we choose, and find it is useless! He is to be worshiped only on the day He tells us and in a manner He has revealed to us. Anything else is disobedience, once we know the truth. Yahweh is seeking only those who are willing to make permanent changes
in both their worship and lives in order to please Him. He looks for true,
sincere repentance. He can’t work with stiff-necked, hard-hearted, unyielding
people who insist on doing it their way. Every time ancient
Almighty Yahweh makes the rules and we must abide by His rules if we aspire to be in His coming Kingdom. Going our own way and doing only what appeals to us has no value as far as our Creator is concerned.
The Special Sign Between Yahweh and His People
The Bible tells of the special sign that the Almighty Sovereign Yahweh gave to His people. He specifically said that this unique sign would set His true people apart so they would know Him as their Redeemer. This essential sign is also for us to identify, and know with certainty, the true Mighty One of the Bible: “So I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. And I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them. Moreover, also I gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am Yahweh that sanctifies them,” Ezekiel 20:10-12 (see Ex. 31:13). Yahweh says His Sabbaths (plural, meaning annual as well as weekly) are
a sign between Him and His people so that they can know Him as the One Who
sanctified
The same ancient sign of the Sabbaths applies to obedient believers today,
who are spiritual
Holidays or Holy Days?
These same Sabbaths that Yahweh gave to Israel apply to the called-out believers,
the Israel of Yahweh, today. The same Mighty One Who delivered
He has recorded for us how He delivered His people in the Old Testament.
By reading ancient
Remember, Israel’s main problem was wanting to worship as the heathen nations around them. They preferred heathen deities and pagan observances over Yahweh and His Sabbath and Holy Days. Because of their rebellion, they lost out on the promise. If the Scripture makes anything clear, it is that the same applies to us! Churchianity has adopted its own days to memorialize what it believes are important events in the life of the Savior here on earth. Christmas is erroneously kept as a memorial of His birth, and Easter, to remember His resurrection. But nowhere in Scripture are we commanded to remember the Savior’s birth! Nowhere in the Bible do we find a command to celebrate His resurrection! Perpetuating the world’s holidays is nowhere condoned in the Bible. Historians freely admit that no one knows for certain just when the Savior was born. It certainly was not in December. (Write for our explanatory booklet, The Untold Story of Christmas.) Instead of Sunday, the Savior and the Apostles kept the weekly Sabbath. Instead of Christmas, Easter, and New Year’s, the Savior and His followers observed the Father’s Holy Days of Leviticus 23. We are told in 1Peter 2:21 that Yahshua left us an example to follow. Shouldn’t we be following it? Many are surprised to learn that years after the death of the Messiah, the Apostle Paul was still observing these same Feast days given to Israel. He also taught His followers to worship on the seventh-day Sabbath, commonly known as Saturday, and to observe other Biblical Holy Days as well.
Traditional Error Dies Hard
The holidays that man has added to his worship came ultimately from pagan Babylon. Newspaper articles appearing during these times attest to this fact. The Roman church found it easier to convert the pagans who had been conquered by allowing the new convert to continue his old heathen ways, celebrating the times and days with which he was accustomed. Yahweh has definite feelings about bringing in our own worship and dedicating
it to Him. He told
“I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offering of your fat beasts.” These verses were written both for ancient
The religionists simply gave new names and new meanings to the old pagan days and ceremonies. This is known as syncretism, a blending of pagan teachings with Bible truth. It is better understood as baptized paganism. These pagan days are what have come down to us as the holidays of churchianity. Virtually none of Yahweh’s Holy Days is observed as commanded. Instead, the world has found substitutes and thereby perverts the truth. Today, we live in an advanced, complex society of high technology: rapid transportation, fiber optics, infra-red scanners, intelligence computers, gene manipulation, and many more advances all mind-boggling to say the least. Yet, with all the multi-trillion bits of information in computers and knowledge doubling every five years, our world still follows and clings to ancient, dark customs in worship. This in spite of discoveries and scholarship confirming the correctness and propriety of Biblical Holy Days.
Sabbath Extends All the Way Back to Creation
As we study the Bible, we soon realize that the Feast Days memorialize Yahweh’s dealing with His chosen people Israel. His explicit reason for having Moses go to Pharaoh was to get His people released from Egypt so that they could be free to serve Him and keep His Feasts, Exodus 5:1, 8: l. Yahweh’s true observances begin with the weekly Sabbath first established back in Genesis after the creation. Genesis 2:1-3 shows that He rested on the seventh day and blessed it, thus establishing the seventh day of rest. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week and has been so from creation. Nowhere was man authorized to change worship to the first day of the week. Paul never advocated any changes, either. (Write for our free ministudy, Does Acts 20:7 Teach Sunday Worship?) Had mankind obediently kept the Sabbath, we would not have so many believing the erroneous theory of evolution being taught today. The seventh-day Sabbath was given man to commemorate the creation of the Almighty. Notice the words of Yahweh as He thundered the Ten Commandments from
“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work: But the Seventh day is the Sabbath of Yahweh your Elohim: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, not thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath and hallowed it,” Exodus 20:8-11. Some who have argued against the Sabbath by saying that they keep every day holy violate the Fourth Commandment’s injunction that we are to work six days and rest the seventh. The Ten Commandments are repeated in Deuteronomy 5, which is the second
giving of the Law to the new generation of
Yahweh had delivered them from the bondage of Egypt, fed them in the
wilderness, gave them water out of the Rock, and brought them to the Promised
Land. In Exodus 20:8-11 Yahweh is remembered as the Almighty Creator. In
Deuteronomy 5:12-16 He is remembered as Deliverer as well as Creator. Notice: “Remember
the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Yahweh your Elohim commanded you. Six days
shall you labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to
Yahweh your Elohim: in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your
daughter, your manservant, your maid-servant, your ox, or your ass, or any of
your cattle, or your stranger that is within your gates; that your manservant and
your maidservant may rest as well as you. And you shall remember that you were
a servant in the
The Sabbath is given to us for a memorial to remember the Almighty’s great
creative power; that He made the heavens and the earth. It is also a day we are
to remember that He is also our Redeemer. He had called us out of the world of
bondage and sin just as He redeemed ancient
Observing another day such as Friday or Sunday for our worship means we have turned our back on our Creator and Redeemer, the Almighty Yahweh of the Bible. It shows a rejection of His grace. The seventh day is special to Yahweh and His chosen. It is a day we spend in close communion with Him. Because the Sabbath comes around every week, the Fourth Commandment is one of the most ignored and broken of all. Keeping any day other than the seventh is nowhere sanctioned in the Bible. Sunday was brought into churchianity by the influence of pagan sun worshipers who observed “sun-day” in honor of the sun deity. The Roman church hated anything “Jewish,” and was more than happy to accommodate the pagans.
Give Me a Break
Sociologists and physicians recognize that the more technical or demanding one’s job is, the higher the level of performance expected. Technicians, scientists, educators, physicians, and other skilled professionals in our complex society are required to take additional training and refresher courses from time to time to maintain a high level of performance. Often in the form of seminars, these programs focus on new information, reinforce skills, and inspire the participants to attain achievement levels while increasing performance. Yahweh’s weekly and annual “refresher courses” have been in existence long before our modern civilization. Yahweh knows man has a tendency to forget his purpose here on earth, and all too often gets deeply absorbed in the things of the world. Man soon loses sight of why he was born, and neglects why he should be preparing. Concerns of the world eventually consume all human attention when pulled by the many enticing temptations of entertainment, prestige, popularity, materialism, and sinful pleasures. Many become completely enmeshed in carnal worldliness, their hearts hardened by the deceitfulness of their sins, Hebrews 3:12-13. Yahweh set aside the Sabbath for man to rest and refocus on the true values by spending time studying His Word and reflecting on the purpose of life. Every seventh day Yahweh’s people cease from secular activities for a 24-hour period. This rest and reorientation reminds us of our higher spiritual goals. We then redirect our energies and time to be in harmony with our desire to attain that first resurrection. Some have argued that keeping the Sabbath is a burden and represents “works of the law.” What’s so burdensome about resting? How can resting for 24 hours be considered “works?” In His wisdom, our Creator also looked beyond the weekly rest and established additional time periods throughout the year to redirect our paths more closely toward His celestial goals. We can learn much by observing and reflecting on the annual Sabbaths, an important aspect of the New Covenant.
The Holy Days of Leviticus 23: A Survey
Yahweh established seven annual Sabbaths in addition to the weekly, seventh-day
Sabbath. These seven Sabbaths He set according to the harvest of crops
throughout the year in the northern hemisphere. Annual Sabbaths or Feast Days
are found in Leviticus 23 and form the foundation of Yahweh’s calendar.
The annual Feasts or Holy Days are as follows:
The first annual Sabbath follows the Passover and occurs on the fifteenth day of Yahweh’s first month of the year. It is known as the First Day of the seven days of Unleavened Bread. The second annual Sabbath is the twenty-first day of the first month and is the seventh and final day of Unleavened Bread. This annual Sabbath is known as the Last Day of Unleavened Bread. Passover and Unleavened Bread take place in the spring, the beginning of the year, in our March or April. Pentecost, meaning fiftieth, is the third annual Sabbath and must be counted to determine when it is observed. Known as the “Feast of Weeks” or “Shavuoth” in Hebrew, Pentecost is a one-day celebration that comes seven weeks after Unleavened Bread. The four remaining annual Sabbaths occur in the seventh scriptural month in the fall of the year, September or October. Trumpets is the fourth annual Sabbath and falls on the new moon or first day of the seventh scriptural month. The Day of Atonement follows on the tenth day of the seventh month. It is a holy day of fasting. The sixth annual Sabbath comes on the fifteenth day of the seventh month and is the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles. The eighth day following the Feast of Tabernacles is an annual Sabbath, known as the Last Great Day.
Holy Days Pivotal to Important Events
Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread have been fulfilled twice. The first occurred when Israelites were slaves of the Egyptians. They were “passed over” and spared by the destroying angel because they had obediently smeared blood on the doorposts and lintels of their dwellings. In the New Testament, our Savior was our “Passover” (1Cor. 5:7) who was put to death on Passover day. He spoke of yet a later fulfillment of Passover, when we will observe it with Him in His Kingdom, Luke 22:15-18. Pentecost or Feast of Weeks took place when the Covenant was made with
Israel and His law was codified. It is a memorial of events at
It is important that we understand the historical meaning of Yahweh’s Feast Days so we comprehend the purpose He is working out on earth and how He is sanctifying His people. These special days are a shadow of things yet to come; a future prophecy of events yet to unfold. Paul writes for us: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath Day, which are a shadow of things to come; but the body of Messiah,” Colossians 2:16-17. Notice Paul warns not to let puny man judge in respect to keeping a Feast Day or Sabbath Day for they “are a shadow of things to come.” They foreshadow future events meaning they are prophetic. Anyone who seeks to know prophecy must understand the annual Feast days thoroughly. The significant acts of man’s salvation happened at Feast times. Understanding the Feasts means we understand the plan of Yahweh and that
necessitates that we obey Him and keep his Feasts. “He that says, “I know
Him,’ and keeps not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him,”
1 John 2:4.
The fall annual Sabbaths are entirely prophetic and await a future fulfillment. These show us a work that Yahweh will yet accomplish for His people. His Sabbaths are the sign He has given between Himself and His people by which we are sanctified. The Sabbaths were given us so that we might better know Yahweh. They were not given as a meaningless burden to be thrown off and discarded at the Savior’s impalement. They have great meaning and purpose behind them. They fit into Yahweh’s overall plan anciently, through our day and into the Kingdom. The feasts were not done away at the death and resurrection of the Messiah.
The feasts were given to ancient
They are still in effect today and will be kept in the Kingdom,
according to Isaiah 66:23, Zechariah 14:16-18, Ezekiel 44-46, and others. If
they were commanded for
It is only by deliberate misinterpretation of Scripture that most of today’s ministers teach that these perpetual Sabbaths are done away.
Yahweh’s Sabbaths Reveal His Constancy
As previously shown in Ezekiel 20:12, Sabbaths means more than the weekly Sabbath, as it is plural: “Moreover, also I gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am Yahweh that sanctifies them.” These proper days are signs He gives us to help us realize that what He did for His people in the past will be done in a similar way for His people in the future. Then we will know Yahweh Who sanctifies His people and sets them apart for a holy purpose. We will come to a full realization that we are chosen, as was ancient Israel, to take hold of a special promise as they were; to have the chance to become grafted into the covenant by the death of Yahshua the Messiah at Passover, Romans 11:17, Ephesians 2:14. It must be emphasized, His Sabbath and Feasts are to help us know Who Yahweh is by understanding what He has already done and will yet do. We draw closer to Him by obediently observing the same weekly and annual Sabbaths His beloved Son observed, along with the patriarchs down through the ages. Only by knowing Him and doing what He commands will we be chosen for His Kingdom. He promises, “Moreover I will establish his kingdom forever, if he be constant to do my commandments and my judgments, as at this day...keep and seek for all the commandments of Yahweh your Elohim: that you may possess this good land,” 1 Chronicles 28:7-8. “He that keeps the commandments keeps his own soul; but he that despises His ways shall die,” Proverbs 19:16.
Our Creator’s Perpetual Handbook
Exodus 34 tells of Yahweh’s writing again the Covenant upon two tables of
stone after Moses had broken the originals. Upon returning to gathered
Verses 18-28 outline the regulations given Moses, including Passover, tithing, and His Holy Days. These festivals are amplified in greater detail in the books of the law, especially the Book of Leviticus. Notice Leviticus 25:1: “And Yahweh spoke to Moses in Mount Sinai saying...”
Take note that it is Yahweh who instructs us. Moses wrote down His words
so they could be handed to us in the Bible, the handbook of our Creator. This
handbook reveals the flawless Model, the finished product that Yahweh has made
for us to follow: His Son Yahshua who obediently kept
How long are these Feasts to be observed? Leviticus 23 verses 14, 21, 31, and 41 say they are a “statute FOREVER throughout your generations.” Out of all the words translated forever only two carry the Hebrew meaning of forever. In these verses the Hebrew “owlam” (No. 5769 in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance) means to the vanishing point, to time out of mind. “Alam” (No. 5957), which corresponds to owlam, means the future and past indefinitely. What doe this mean? Simply that the Feasts are not optional. They are perpetual, and a definite and obligatory way of life! These are the words Almighty Yahweh inspired in connection with His Name,
the Commandments, and His Feasts. They are truly to be kept forever. In
English, forever and perpetual are words understood to mean “time
out of mind” and are so rendered in Exodus 31:13-18: His Sabbaths “are a sign
between Me and the children of
In Exodus 31 Yahweh instructed Moses that the Sabbaths are a sign that whosoever keeps them is sanctified by Yahweh. That is, set apart for a holy purpose, for that is the very meaning of “sanctify.” Moreover, it is a perpetual (Strong’s No. 5769) covenant. The days themselves remain; only the way they are observed has been changed. The sacrificing of animals is now in abeyance since Yahshua our perfect sacrifice has paid the ransom price. Notice that Yahshua and His disciples gave us an example of the change at the last Passover, with the symbols of unleavened bread and fruit of the vine becoming the new emblems for this memorial service of His death, Mark 14:22-25. He is the Passover Lamb, 1Corinthians 5:7.
His Truth on Earth Nearly Stamped Out
Isaiah 1:14, Deuteronomy 31:29, Matthew 15:8-9 and many other passages show plainly that the New Covenant would be corrupted by Satan the devil through false ministers in the latter days, Jeremiah 5:31; 14:14. Today we hear another doctrine, another teaching. Amos 8:11 prophesies a most descriptive famine for our day: “Behold, the days come says the Sovereign Yahweh, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Yahweh.” Yahweh says in the end time there will be a scarcity of His truth available to the world. Churchianity in general erroneously teaches that the Law has been done away, and the Feasts are just for Jews. They have left the Sabbath for Sunday. If hundreds of denominations are in fact teaching the truth, then it was pointless for Yahweh to warn of a scarcity of the truth in our day! Yet clearly unscriptural pagan days now replace the days Yahweh gave us. Sunrise services and Easter Sunday worship is nothing more than the idolatrous worship of the Teutonic Aseastre (Easter), the pagan deity of fertility. (Easter is found in only one King James verse, Acts 12:4, a mistranslation of the Greek Pascha or Passover.) Christmas is the heathen worship of the return of the unconquerable sun in the dead of winter. Lent is a carryover from the 40 days of weeping for the Babylonian deity Tammuz. How can one learn truth when surrounded and inundated by all this error taken wholesale from paganism and pawned off as Biblical? The ways of Yahweh are so corrupted and so twisted that the average seeker of truth cannot find his way clear. But through sincere prayer and seeking Yahweh you can return to the old paths of truth that were given to Yahweh’s people, Jude 3. You can find and take hold of that Covenant He makes with His True Worshipers.
His Law for a Thousand Generations
Former President Ronald Reagan compared the national debt to a line of dollar bills that he said would reach from the earth to the moon and back. Yahweh made His own comparison in Deuteronomy 7:9, showing how long His
commands are to be honored. Although this was essentially a metaphorical usage
and for the sake of argument let’s take it literally. He said His covenant
would be with those who keep His commandments for 1,000 generations. There were
42 generations from Abraham to Yahshua, which is a span of some 2,000 years.
Since His resurrection, another 2,000 years have passed. No more than 90
generations have passed since Abraham. So looking ahead, Yahweh’s Word reveals
that His Commandments are still in effect and will continue to be in force for
over 900 more generations! Believe Him when He says His law is perpetual. The
intent of this booklet is to show the continuity of the Feasts from antiquity
from ancient
In our next chapter we will point out places in the New Testament where
Yahshua and the Apostles kept the Feasts that are listed in chronological order
in Leviticus 23. In many places in the New Testament we are told to follow
Yahshua or to follow those who follow Him (see 1 Cor. 11:1; 1 Pet.
The feasts were never done away, and are for us today. We are also warned
not to follow the ways of the Gentiles and to have nothing to do with their
pagan worship, 3John 7; Ephesians
Chapter
3:
THE HOLY DAYS THROUGHOUT THE NEW TESTAMENT
Nowhere in the New Testament can we find anyone observing today’s popular days. We find no New Year’s parties, no mailing of Valentine cards, no Easter bunny, no jack- o’-lanterns, and no Santa Claus. Neither do we find True Believers worshiping on Sunday. What we discover are the very same Feasts that we see being observed in the Old Testament. First, we’ll see the weekly Sabbath alive and in force. Leviticus 23:3 clearly admonishes us: “Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of
rest, an holy convocation; you shall do no work therein; it is the Sabbath of
Yahweh in all your dwellings.”
Keep in mind Yahweh says these are His set times in Leviticus 23:2. But
it is man’s introducing his own festivals and his perversion or changing of
Yahweh’s set times that Yahweh despises. In Isaiah
Note that the weekly Sabbath is called a convocation, a gathering together of Yahweh’s people of like faith wherever possible. Those isolated and far away are obligated to cease from mundane labors and rest in Yahweh.
Yahshua’s Personal Example is for Us
Yahshua the Messiah taught on the Saturday Sabbath, which was His custom.
We read in Luke 4:16: “And He came to
Take special note that it was the Savior’s manner or custom to join the congregation gathered at the synagogue on the seventh-day Sabbath. This is the example He gave us. We follow Yahweh and His Son when we keep the Sabbath holy and meet with others for worship on the Sabbath. Leviticus 23:3 says the Sabbath is to be a day for “holy convocation,” meaning for gathering with others in worship. There is no verse anywhere in Scripture where Yahshua told the people that upon His death and resurrection that the Sabbath would be transferred to Sunday, the first day of the week. He Himself never changed the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day of the week. Nowhere in the entire Bible is such a change made or sanctioned ñ not by anyone. This was done when churchianity adopted the pagan Sun-day, partly in an
effort to stamp out anything considered “Jewish.” Sunday was established by
decree of
The word “Sunday” is not found anywhere in the Bible. The “first day of the week” occurs only 8 times in the New Testament. In each of those 8 instances the word “day” was added by translators, and not one of those passages speaks of a worship or gathering to worship on the first day of the week! By contrast, the word Sabbath is found 60 times in the New Testament. Luke 6:6 is another instance showing that Yahshua taught on the Sabbath.
In Mark
In the Acts of the Apostles we see Paul devoutly keeping the Sabbath. Notice Acts 13:42-44: “And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of Yahweh.” Had Paul been trying to change worship from Saturday to Sunday, he missed a golden opportunity in not telling them to come back “tomorrow, on the first day of the week.” But he did not do that. The Gentiles knew Paul’s custom was to attend the synagogue on the seventh-day Sabbath and would return on the next Sabbath! On Saturday. Paul did not tell them to return on Sunday for worship, even though they were Gentiles and not Jews. Surely you have heard the argument that the reason Paul kept Saturday was so that he might preach in the synagogues when all the Jews would be gathered. Thus, it is reasoned, he could reach more people that way. But in Acts 16:13 we read, “And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.” Note the word “spake,” which in the Greek means to preach. This was not in the synagogue, but it was still on the Sabbath. Other instances of Paul’s preaching on the Sabbath are given in the Book
of Acts, all of which took place years after Yahshua had ascended into the
heavens. Read of them in Acts 13:14; 27;
The reason we draw attention to Paul’s keeping the seventh-day Sabbath is that churchianity as a whole mistakenly turns to Paul’s writings in a futile effort to do away with Yahweh’s commandments, especially the Sabbath command.
Many Twist Paul’s Writings
Although Paul kept and taught Yahweh’s perfect law, Psalm 19:7-8; Acts 24:14; 26:22; 28:23, Peter was inspired by Yahweh to warn that the unlearned and unstable would use Paul’s writings in an effort to deceive the elect, 2Peter 3:15-16: “And account that the longsuffering of our Savior is salvation; even
as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him, has
written unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these
things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are
unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their
own destruction.”
Clearly, Peter is warning us that some of Paul’s writings are difficult to comprehend properly. We have to study what he said, and make sure we ascertain the true sense and meaning. The unlearned and unstable twist his words as they also twist other portions of the Bible to their own destruction. If someone refers to Paul’s writings in an attempt to show that Paul did away with the Sabbaths, they are elevating Paul above the Savior, who said He did not come to destroy the law, Matthew 5:17, but to fulfill. The word fulfill is the Greek pleroo and means to make replete—well-filled, plentifully supplied. The Emphatic Diaglott, based on the interlineary Greek, translates this verse, “Think not that I have come to subvert, but to establish. “ The next verse proves that nothing would pass from the law until all is fulfilled (different Greek word fulfilled, meaning finished). There is no prophecy in the Old Testament saying that the Sabbath would be changed to another day.
Animal Sacrifices and Feast Not Bound Together
Many confuse the setting aside of animal sacrifices with the termination of the law and the Feast Days. They say they are all inextricably linked. If one falls, so do the others. Psalm 40 shows that from the beginning Yahweh did not desire animal sacrifices, but simple obedience is better than sacrifices. Hebrews chapter 9 and 10 expound on this theme. Spiritual worship and obedience continue,
but animal sacrifices and other sacrificial works and ritual have been set in
abeyance for now. There is neither temple nor functioning Levite priests today.
But the days of worship – the weekly and annual set times of worship – have not
changed. They are perpetual. Psalm 111:7 reads, “All His commandments are
sure. They stand fast forever and ever.”
The sacrifices listed in the Old Testament pointed to the redeeming work
of Yahshua the Messiah. The prophet Jeremiah tells us they were added to the
law because of
Animal sacrifices were done on the weekly Sabbath (Num. 28:9-10), but the weekly Sabbath remains binding even without the animal sacrifices, just as observing the annual Sabbath days continues today without animal sacrifices. In fact, sacrifices were done every day, Numbers 28:3, for “a continual burnt offering.” Those who argue that if sacrifices were done away so must the Feast days by this passage, and their logic do away with every day! Holy Days were statutes “forever,” as we have seen. The observances were part of Yahweh’s perpetual law. Sacrifices have now taken on a spiritual aspect for the sincere believer, Romans 12:1-2, 1Peter 2:5, Hebrews 13:15-16. We will soon show that both the disciples and Paul kept these days in the New Testament even after the death and resurrection of the Messiah.
New Moons and the First Month of the Year
Before we get into the details of tracing the Feasts of Yahweh in the New Testament, we must examine the proper time at which we are to observe them, as given in the Bible. Yahweh’s calendar has been neglected and all but forgotten today. Every 29 or 30 days, a thin, scimtar-shaped moon appears in the western sky known as the visible “new moon.” This crescent or new moon plays a very important part in determining the Feast Days Yahweh has ordained. Deuteronomy 16:1 tells us to “observe the month [Hebrew = new moon] of Abib.” In plain language it is telling us to visibly watch for the first moon of the new year. That moon comes in the month of Abib, meaning “green ears” (of barley), in the spring of the year about the time of the vernal equinox. Why? Yahweh’s new year starts when the barley is yet green and in the ear. His year begins when the earth comes to life in the spring with the greening of barley, which sets the start for His annual Feasts. Some churches merely calculate these times without visibly verifying their appearance and thus can have the wrong dates for observing Yahweh’s Feast Days.
Watching for the New Moon in Ancient Days
During and prior to the time of the Messiah there were no telescopes or
other aids available as today. So we take Yahweh at His command and search the
western sky with the naked eye at the time the moon should be visible. In doing
so we strive to keep the Feasts when ancient
In Genesis
Anciently, at the arrival of the new moon, a meal was apparently kept in celebration and observance of that special day, 1Samuel 20:5-18; 27-34. The people were alerted to the appearance of the new moon, but it was not a holy day or Sabbath. Society’s present calendar is actually a solar calendar from
New Moon Establishes Feast Days
David shows that the new moon was appointed for the festival seasons in
Psalm 104:19. Isaiah points out that the new moon will be kept as the time to
set Yahweh’s Feasts in the future Millennium, Isaiah 66:23: “And it shall
come to pass, that from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to
another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, says Yahweh.”
We usually observe the new moons with a Bible study to memorialize and acknowledge the beginning of a new month of Yahweh’s calendar. However, the new moons are not annual Sabbaths, and not a sacred time, except for the new moon of the seventh month, which is known as the Feast of Trumpets. Church-secular holidays such as Hallowe’en, All Saints’ Day, Christmas, New Year’s, and Valentine’s come during the year irrespective of the moon. These holidays are in the cold, winter season. But Yahweh’s Feasts are seasonal, and at a pleasant time of the year. All of Yahweh’s Feast days take place in the cool spring or fall weather. Insect pests are minimal at His Feasts. Contrast this with many churches that hold extra-biblical “camp-meetings” in the hot summer months of July or August. The week of Unleavened Bread always begins with a full moon (as does Tabernacles), which means the obedient brethren could always fellowship well into the night, being that electricity was lacking anciently. We must not neglect the new moons even though they are not Holy Days. Moons are the sign Yahweh gave us that enables us to observe special days at the proper time, and thus to worship Him properly. What could be a better place for such a reminder than the sky? Yahweh’s Assembly in Yahshua publishes a calendar each year showing when the new moons will be visible so that we can determine His Feast days. We as moon-watchers diligently seek the new moon so that the Feast Days will not come upon us unawares. We should be looking ahead to the Feast Days and making plans to observe all seven of them throughout the year.
Remembering His Death at Passover
Three times or seasons in the year the Feasts are to be observed, with a total of seven special Holy Days on which to convocate each year. Leviticus 23 lists and describes all of the annual convocations or gatherings of Yahweh’s people. There are seven of them. In Leviticus 23:5 we read: “In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is Yahweh’s
Passover.“ The Bible calls this “Yahweh’s Passover.”
Ancient Israelites were to take a lamb and kill it on the fourteenth as the
sun went into the horizon, which began the new day. They took the blood and
smeared it on their doorposts and lintels for protection from the destroying angel
who came over at
The Savior gave His disciples new emblems when He instituted the New Covenant on the night before He died. He gave them the cup that held the symbol of His shed blood, and unleavened bread, the symbol of His body. These new symbols replace the animal sacrifices of the Old Covenant. We partake of the bread and the cup to remind us of the Savior’s sacrifice of His body and His shed blood in the suffering and death for your sins and mine. Today we take the emblems of Yahshua’s body and blood in remembrance of
His death on Passover, the same night in which He was betrayed, 1Corinthians
Unleavened Bread and Doctrine to Examine
Leviticus 23:5 tells us that the fourteenth is the Passover. Although Passover is not an annual Sabbath, it immediately precedes the days of Unleavened Bread. Leviticus 23:6 reads: “And on the fifteenth day of the
same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread unto Yahweh; seven days you must
eat unleavened bread.”
By eating token amounts of unleavened bread during the next seven days, we remind ourselves of the price Yahshua paid for our sins that are past. The ceremonies here portray a spiritual housecleaning, while we examine the doctrines that we believe. Leaven represents doctrine, and for seven days we feed upon the pure and unadulterated doctrinal bread of truth. We are commanded to keep the Feasts in their seasons and to begin training
our children to do the same early in their lives, as Proverbs 22:6 reveals: “Train
up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from
it.”
This admonition was followed when Yahshua as a child, along with His family, worship | |