Whose Feasts Are They?

 

Often, those in the Church refer to the feasts ordained by God and revealed to Moses, as "The Jewish Feasts". This is not an accurate label. The LORD describes the feasts to Moses in this way:

"Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, "Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are My feasts."  Lev. 23:2

The LORD calls these appointed feasts "the feasts of the LORD", and "My feasts", therefore these feasts belong to Him. The feasts are to be proclaimed as "holy convocations", or in Hebrew, mikrah kodesh. This holy convocation is a calling together, a sacred assembly. This should bring to mind the definition of the Ekklesia, the Greek word translated as "church": the called out assembly of God's people. Mikrah, or convocation, also means "a rehearsal", or "a practice for something yet to come", so these convocations are a holy rehearsal for a coming event. Those coming events have to do with the Messiah, Jesus, as we shall see. It should be noted that included in these holy convocations, these feasts of the LORD, is the Sabbath (Lev. 23:3), which the Church has chosen to alter until it is unrecognizable, and unobserved. Instead, the Ekklesia should be proclaiming the holy convocation of the Sabbath feast of the LORD with Jesus who said, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Mt. 11:28), and, "There remains, therefore, a rest for the people of God...Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest..." (Heb. 4:9-10).

The Apostle Paul confirms the prophetic nature of Christ in all of the feasts of the LORD when he tells the Church:

"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ."  Col. 2:16-17

These feasts are (present tense used) a prophetic shadow. They are not a work of the past, but exist in the present, and by their prophetic nature, extend into the future. If this is the case, then why does the Church choose to ignore, or forget, these holy rehearsals of coming events, these feasts that belong to the LORD? The point of the verse above, and of all of chapter 2 of Colossians, is not to tell the Church to ignore the feasts. The purpose is to warn the Church not to allow those who impose onto the observances of the feasts "philosophies, vain deceit, and the traditions of men", all based on the ways of the world. Rather, the Church is to keep the fullness of Christ found in these feasts as their foundation (v.8). Men shrouded the feasts of the LORD with religious legalism and tradition, until the Body of the feasts, Christ, became hidden. Paul said to keep the ultimate triumph of Christ in these feasts. With Christ being the Head of these feasts, the whole Body is joined together, nourished, and "increaseth with the increase of God." (v. 10-15, 19). There is something being "joined together" in the Ekklesia through these feasts. Keep in mind that Paul is writing all of these things regarding the keeping of the feasts of the LORD to a Gentile church in Colossae. These Gentile believers were keeping the feasts. Paul opened this discussion of the feasts by saying they were "the mystery of God and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," (Col. 2:2-3).

While the Church is to reject the religious traditions and legalisms of men regarding these feasts, many have, instead, associated the feasts with pagan customs like Santa Claus, Easter bunnies, and the like, making the resulting observances unrelated in any manner to God's feasts, or to His Word. This wasn't so in the early church.

Paul expected the Gentile church at Corinth to understand his references to Passover, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread:

"Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."  1 Cor. 5:7-8

The very communion we share in the Body of Christ, the Table of the LORD, is from the Passover seder overseen by Christ with His disciples (1 Cor. 11:23-29, Lk. 22:7, 15-20).

When the Ekklesia forgets the feasts of the LORD, we also forget this solemn Word:

"The LORD was as an enemy...And He hath violently taken away His tabernacle...He hath destroyed His places of the assembly: the LORD has caused the solemn feasts (appointed sign, signal, meeting, assembly, betrothed for marriage, set time) and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of His anger the king and priest."  Lam. 2:5-6

We, the Ekklesia, are kings and priests before God (1 Pet. 2:9, Rev. 5:10). We should not be disregarding the importance of all the feasts of the LORD.
As the Ekklesia was taught by the apostles the power, and prophetic shadows of Christ in the feasts of the LORD, it was for the purpose of provoking Israel to jealousy "by them that are no people" (Rom. 10:19). Instead of this, by ignoring, or corrupting the meaning of the feasts, we have in many ways re-built the wall of partition between Jew and Gentile that Christ, having abolished this enmity between the two in His own flesh, made one new man (Eph. 2:14-16). This very thing is part of the above mentioned "joining together" to which Paul refers. We partially nullify the work of Christ in us when we re-build that wall of separation and enmity between Jew and Gentile.
Let us restore the apostolic foundation regarding the feasts of the LORD in sincerity and truth.

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Prepare the Passover

                                     

On the night that Israel was delivered from their slavery in Egypt, as told to us in Exodus 12, the LORD instructed them to prepare (make ready) the Passover. Every household would prepare to sacrifice a lamb without blemish. The blood of the lamb would be applied to the door posts and lintels of each home, in order to protect that household against the last devastating plague against the Egyptians. The LORD would pass over the door of the house, not allowing the destroyer to enter. To a believer in Messiah, this is the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus, who redeems us from death, saves us from the wrath to come. He was crucified on Passover, and raised from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits.
Along with these preparations, each person should be ready to leave quickly. Their shoes were to be on their feet, and their loins girded. This means pulling up the robes between the legs and tucking them at the waist, in order to be able to run. Your walking staff was to be held in the hand while eating the Passover. This would be a quick deliverance.
Their bread was to be unleavened, the sacrificed lamb was to be roasted, and the bitter herbs were to be eaten with it.
This Passover was an ordinance to be observed by that generation and future generations forever (Ex. 12:24).
Jesus observed the Passover with His disciples (Lk. 22).
The Apostle Paul taught the churches about the depth of meaning in the Passover:
"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 Cor. 5:7-8

Today, purging, or cleansing the house of all leaven is part of the Passover preparation. Leaven represents sin in our lives. A candle is used to light the search for any leaven, and a feather is used to sweep away any crumbs that might be left behind. Any leaven found is then burned. The candle used represents the light of the LORD that searches the hearts of men:
"Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my thoughts;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting."                   Psalm 139:23-24
                        And
"The spirit of a man is the candle of the LORD,
Searching all the inner depths of his heart."         Prov. 20:27

Paul taught us above, that we are to use this time to examine ourselves by the candle of the Lord, and to rid our lives of old leaven (sin) as we prepare for the Passover. In the same manner, the Bride also prepares herself for the coming marriage supper of the Lamb:
"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 (prepared)."                        Rev. 19:7

We are looking for the same miraculous Passover deliverance that comes in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye! (1 Cor. 15:52).

Let us prepare the Passover, and share it together.
                                                                        

If you would like to celebrate the Passover Seder*, the following links will have some information you will need:



Messianic Passover Haggadah
"Dayenu" Passover Song
"Let My People Go"

*You can also join our Seder, Sat. 4/23/16 at 2 PM, via Skype.