Defending the Christian observance of Jewish feast days

Our 2014 mini sukkah built with craft sticks, felt and the leaves of an evergreen tree

Interior of our mini family sukkah, awaiting the handmade furniture

October 8, 2014 marks the beginning of the current season of Sukkot or Feast of Tabernacles where some Jews that observed the mitzvah and slept in a booth and might have seen the lunar eclipse. For me, while I made a mini sukkah (see above) with my girls, I spent the night looking at the lovely moon through my window. Wrapped in the comfort of my warm blanket, I did not envy anyone who had to sleep outdoors (especially in the Ontario, Canada) on that night. However, I do envy the spiritual lessons and blessings that those who did would be learning and receiving.

I recently read the preface of a paper by Tom Roberts that discusses that Christians can "glean much from every religious tradition". He further went on to state that "truth is not the property of any one organization or creed". Robert continues to suggest that:

Christianity in general owes the Jewish people a great debt for giving us the Hebrew Bible as well as the Jewish Messiah which led into the Hebrews roots of early Christianity. While much was wrong with these traditions that Our Lord encountered, they still preserved the revelation of God so the truths in scripture could be found by those who are guided by the Holy Spirit.

While I do not know if I fully agree with all of Robert's statements, they definitely resonate with me. I believe that Christianity today is a religion that is formed from an amalgamation of Jewish and pagan traditions. However, my stance as a Judeo-Christian believer is that the pagan traditions of Christianity should be given up and that we should return to our more Jewish traditions. However, this idea has been found problematic and even offensive to Jews.


I still remember when a Jewish rabbi unfriended me from Facebook because I announced my celebration of a "Christian Passover". He found it offensive and I could not understand why. Well, it was not until the 2014 Passover season when I discovered this article by Rebecca Cynamon-Murphy, a wife of a Jew, but also a Christian that made these remarks which made it more clear why a Christian Passover is offensive:

When people learn that, as a lifelong and practicing Christian, I am married to a Jewish man and that we practice both religions in our house, I often become the safe person to ask about Judaism. I like this advocate role for the opportunity it gives me to gently encourage folks to look at ways in which their privilege as a member of a majority population can sometimes cause them to cause offense.

Several times, I have encountered folks who wanted to host their own Passover seders. Their logic is that since Jesus was celebrating Pesach during the week when he was arrested, tried, executed and resurrected, in a desire to be more Christ-like, they too should celebrate the holiday. 

Christians may desire to become more Christ-like or to develop deeper understanding of Christian roots, but hosting a Jewish Passover outside of the context of Jewish relationships does more harm than good. Christians celebrating their own Passover do unwitting harm to the Jewish people because they ignore centuries of persecution of Jews—and they do harm to themselves by ignoring their real-life Jewish neighbors, treating them as relics rather than people.

That article better helped me to understand why my rabbi [former] friend found it offensive. Cynamon-Murphy (2014) raises the sensitive issue of cultural appropriation. I appreciated this point as I can understand how someone from another culture appropriating something from another person's culture can be deemed offensive.

But it brings me to the reflection that Christianity has nothing much that is original. The majority of our traditions and teachings were appropriated from either Jewish or pagan origins (Greek or Roman). In fact, Christianity tends to appropriate national cultural heritage into their traditions. We use Jewish texts and add to it. We then interpret those texts using Greek and Roman philosophies and interpretative methods. Or we appropriate pagan stories and substitute the name of the pagan characters with Christian ones.

Hence, as I reflect, I have the same Bible as the Jews, except with the New Testament additions. Am I therefore not free to adopt any traditions that help me better appreciate the Bible and its context? Christianity does not have any [non-pagan] family traditions that help children to relive the stories of scriptures. As a friend of mine once said:

Judaism puts a lot more stock in the traditions of the fathers than Christians do. They tend to follow what they have inherited. Christians form new traditions with every new group; and they aren't as ingrained, partially because they are often learnt through conversion, not through parent-child relations.

I believe that the Haggaddah and other Jewish traditions help me to fulfill the Deut. 6:6-9 verse (and even Psalm 78:3-8) that tells me to talk about God's commandments and deeds to my children. Of course I could create my own, but it is so much easier to borrow best practices and reinvent them to meet personalized needs. Isn't preferable to adopt and appropriate the traditions from the people who God gave his oracles (Romans 3:2) rather than from those who Satan deceived? 

Edited for some corrections regarding the timing of the lunar eclipse and other minor wordings.

References:

Cynamon-Murphy, R. (2014, Apr. 11). Why Christians should not host their own Passover Seders. Religion Dispatches. Retrieved from http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/atheologies/7774/why_christians_should_not_host_their_own_passover_seders/

Roberts, T. [n.d.]. The Law, Sabbath and redemption. Retrieved from
https://www.academia.edu/8678234/The_Law_Sabbath_and_Redemption

Bible study on the Feasts of the LORD in the New Testament

God recently gave me the opportunity to lead a Bible study at church on the Feasts of the LORD in the New Testament. As I prepared for the Bible study, I approached it with an open mind, seeking just to find the facts and draw conclusions only based on facts. As such, I present in this post what I found and my conclusions on what I found.

First, let me begin by indicate the scope and limitations of this post and Bible study. It is meant to be a mere overview of the feast days in the Bible, particularly as they are mentioned in the New Testament Scriptures. My study does not cover all possible mentions of the feats. Further I present the feasts in the order that they appear in the Jewish calendar.

1. Passover/Pesach and Unleavened Bread
From my study, Passover and Unleavened Bread observance are the only feasts commanded in the New Testament for Christians. Jesus first commanded it, that the Passover feast should commemorate his sacrifice (Luke 22:19). Then Paul, speaking to Gentiles in Corinth, declare that they must keep the feast, not in the old Jewish way, but with the new meaning infused into the feast by Jesus (1 Cor. 5:6-8).

Finally it is clear that what apostle Paul refers to as the Lord's Supper is different from what we call communion and celebrate today. The Lord supper according to Paul was an activity that involved more eating than just bread and more drinking than just a small cup or sip of wine (or grape juice). So abundant was the feasting at the Lord's supper that some people were drunk, while others came expecting to have food and were hungry (1 Cor. 11:17-34).

Finally in Acts 20:6, we see that Luke (a Gentile) also use

2. Pentecost/Shavout
Unlike Passover, there is no explicit command for the keeping of Pentecost. Despite that, the apostles were obviously together on that day (Acts 2:1). Paul made special arrangements to keep this feast in Jerusalem, despite other Gentile Christians wanting him to minister to them (Acts 18:18-21;20:16).

However, I would be hard pressed to state that Christians are commanded to observe the festival.


3. Feast of Trumpets/Rosh Hashanah
Unlike the previous festivals, Feast of Trumpets is not explicitly mentioned. In fact, the feast is only referred to in the New Testament implicitly through symbolism. Perhaps the best way to identify symbolic references to this feast is to browse the New Testament scriptures for allusions or references to the blowing of a trumpet or trumpets (See Matthew 24:31; Revelations 11:15-19; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; 1 Cor. 15:51-52).


4. The day of Atonement/Yom Kippur
This feast is the only one that I consider not a "feast" as it is actually a fast. In Acts 27:9, the feast may be alluded to as "the Fast". The symbolism of this feast is mentioned through Hebrews Chapters 9 and 10 (Hebrews 9:6-14,24-28; Hebrews 10:1-3,11-13).

5. Feast of Tabernacles/Booths/Sukkot
Like the fellow fall festivals, Feast of Tabernacles is not explicitly mentioned in the New Testament, except for the references to the observance of these Festivals and events in the life of Jesus. Jesus goes up to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast, even though he was risking his life in doing so (John 7:1-14). On the Last Great Day of the feast, Jesus announces the promise for living water for those who are thirsty (John 7:37-39). The symbolism of this feast is also alluded to in Revelations 21:1-6, where God comes from heaven to dwell with human beings and establishes a living stream that quenches the thirst of all the inhabitants living in God's earthly residence.

Concluding points
From these findings, I conclude that

1. The festivals/feast days were as much a part of the Jewish calendar as they were of the Gentile Christian calendar. Gentiles like Luke use the calendar to mark times and significant events in his account and retelling of the history of the early church and the biography of church leaders and apostles such as Paul.
2. One feast observance is explicitly commanded, both by Jesus and apparently even by Paul. This one feast explicitly commanded for Christian observance is not tied to the ceremonial laws nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14). Passover and Unleavened (Exodus 12) comes before the Sabbath in Exodus 16 and the giving of the 10 commandments in Exodus 20. The very first Passover was kept before a tabernacle or temple was instituted. 
3. There is no evidence that Jesus commanded the discontinuation of the observance of these festivals or feasts. Rather, the feasts continue to be alluded to throughout the New Testament Scriptures.

I will hopefully in my next blog post thoroughly analyse why Christians should keep the feast of Passover and Unleavened bread.

Cracked Cisterns

After a long spell of not writing down my reflections, partially because I had little time to reflect and have been swept into a life of bustle and activity, I now pause to write and tackle some issues that I am thinking about as it relates to the state of Christianity today.

I begin by recalling my early experience when I was persuaded about the 'Sabbath truth' and sharing with friends who were otherwise minded. At that time I was on job at a public library, and pulled for encyclopedias to convince my audience that what I was telling them was not being made up by me or even the denomination that I was apart of at that time. I was delighted at that time that the encyclopedia did not disappoint and was able to show them 'who changed the Sabbath'. One of my friends begged me to stop, and so I did.

Years later, the landscape of my entire worldview of Christianity has shifted. It is not just the Sabbath that has been changed, but a whole lot of 'traditions of men' have been inserted and a whole lot of  the practices of the early apostles have been abandoned. I have even recognised that seventh-day Sabbath-keeping churches have also been guilty of the same issues as Sunday Christians.

Think for a moment with me. If the logic for observing the seventh-day Sabbath is because it was a custom of Jesus, then why just observe one such custom and ignore the others? Why do we attend 'church services' instead of 'synagogue services'? Why not keep Sabbath services on the mountain, by the beach, by a lake or by a river, in people's homes or school? Why create a specific building to formally minister to the needs of people?

On the matter of the feasts of the LORD beside the Seventh-day the Sabbath, there are also problems. Most denominations I know observe Communion and justify the practice by arguing that Jesus commanded its observance. Unfortunately, as practiced by denominations, it reflects nothing like what Jesus actually practiced and instituted to the early church or Christians. First, most denominations celebrate the custom as often as seeming suitable to them. In addition, the communion no longer becomes a supper, as it is usually celebrated in the day. Further, it is celebrated without a meal, so that Christians only eat the bread and wine. No bitter herbs, no dip. Further, some Christians celebrate the supper with leavened bread, biscuits or cakes. Jesus and his disciples ate unleavened bread (bread without yeast). So whether or not Christians say they are following Jesus command to celebrate the Lord's supper, it is yet to be established that they are in fact doing so, as the time has been changed both in terms of time of day and even the season. Also the emblems have been changed. These have been done without biblical authority, but man's theological extraction and development. It is therefore correct when they do not use the term - the LORD's supper, but instead use the term communion. For it is indeed a communion meal in honour of the LORD, but not the LORD's. As Jesus says ""Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" (Luke 6:46 NIV).

Were Christians today doing what the LORD command, the operation of the church today would be different. However the corruption or influence of the world has creeped in, and traditions of men have usurped the commandments of God. I don't have all the answers and have just raised the questions. My intention is not though to raise doubt about the Church or Christianity, but more so to cause reflection about the state of Christianity today. We celebrate pagan festivals while claiming that the festivals of the Bible have been nailed to the cross. Even those festivals of the Bible that we celebrate, we choose how we feel that they should be celebrated and command others to do the same. Without authority we have established broken cisterns.

"For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me--the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all! (Jeremiah 2:13, New Living Translation, 2007)

So cracked we are, that the Holy Spirit (the living water) which should be poured in us, is flowing through our cracked vessels and cannot be fully entertained in our formal church services. He flows through our cracks and we end up with little power and little results in our ministries (that is if he flows or is poured in any at all). In fact, Jesus tells us that cracked vessels cannot be used, as they would be ruined (See the parable in Matthew 9:17). We cannot receive the outpouring of the Spirit, if our vessels are cracked, because we are unable to keep him in us. So that's why we feel alive at some times, and dead at other times. That's also why we can do God's work this minute, and the Devil's work the next. Cause we ain't full. Vessels that are cracked are never full.

I therefore sit on the fence, for after 2 decades of church involvement, I find that the work that I do is not all about serving the LORD, but carrying out denominational duties and the traditions of men. But the one who I really want to serve is the LORD. May we all have that wish and desire, and examine ourselves to see if we are indeed in the faith (2 Corinthians 13: 5).

God bless you.

Conversation on the Judeo-Christian Feasts

I had another discussion on the Judeo-Christian feast days with a colleague of mind. I made the point that the churches need to engage in more discussion of the santuary and the feast days and the symbollism thereof. One can not understand New Testament or Biblical prophecies without understanding these and the rest of the Old Testament.

I also made the point that I do not hear much of this discussion in churches back in Jamaica, except for the Amstrong groups and the Messianic Jewish congregations.

My colleague then responded that the topic has come up directly or indirectly in almost all of the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) lessons over the past couple of years. I replied that it may have been raised a few times, but not much and not in detailed seminars.

I also went on to share of the need for Christians to celebrate at least one communion similiar to how the modern Jewish Passover is observed.


My friend in curiosity requested more details about how such a communion would be celebrated.

This gave me the opportunity to share that the communion in the New Testament is with a meal - a real supper, with table spread with some of the Jewish passover symbols. Here is a transcript of some of the dialgoue that ensued:


My friend: Sounds nice but I am not sure why one would want to do that. The first communion was held on Passover but they commemorate different events. That is why the symbols are not all the same and do not bear the same significance.

Me: But Jesus Lord's Supper did have a meal. And Apostle Paul did mention it, rebuking those who came and greedily ate the supper. Supper also implies having the meal at night. Churches have it in the day. So we are out of step with the symbollism.

My colleague: I wouldn't go so far as to claim that the time of night is symbolic. I would say we should be able to have it at any time of day. We probably need to ask ourselves what the purpose of the communion is and then what is the purpose of each thing that we do in achieving that purpose. It would be good to have a fellowship meal during the communion service but is not having such a meal taking away from the symbolism?


Me: Well communion implies fellowship and eating together. So it just seems a natural fit to have a meal and not just break bread and have a little sip of grape juice. In fact Paul said some persons got drunk at the Lord Supper, which implies that they had a lot to drink, and that it was not a littl sip of grape juice.


My colleague: I agree with you on both counts but I keep going back to the symbolism. What has been lost? If we have only lost gluttony and drunkenness then the change was a good one.

Me: Well...we can only know what was lost if we recreate the original symbollism or least close to it (without the sacrificing of a real lamb, which would be unlawful now). After all, the church is being restored to its original doctrines lost over centuries. Yet Reformation is only a gradual process.

My colleague: You mean a little over a century and a half? (assuming you are speaking about the SDA church) It is not always good to return to original doctrines. If people always did that then reformation would be of no effect. A mature religion/church is one that is not afraid to admit that not everything we believed in the past was right and that we might not yet know everything that we are supposed to know.

Me: No. I mean the church of the apostles and their traditions. Before Anti-semitism separated the Jewish Christians from the Gentile Christians. Agree with this though: "A mature religion/church is one that is not afraid to admit that not everything we believed in the past was right and that we might not yet know everything that we are supposed to know." As the Spirit leads us, which is gradually into "ALL truth".

My colleague: Amen...and so we continue searching for (the fullness of) truth... me gone.

(Published November 24, 2011; Revised November 26, 2011)

Seeing G-d's message globally

In every human institution, analogies of G-d can be seen. Evidence of this can be seen throughout the Bible, as both Old and New testament draws on analogies and metaphors of human institutions such as marriage, government, law, business and agriculture to make known G-d's message to his people. It is evident from these many examples, that G-d is willing to go to a far extent to get home a message to us and to everyone who needs that message to be delivered in a different way.

G-d however has also sought to use the seasons and day and night to communicate with us. The scripture declares that each day and night speaks about G-d (Psalm 19:1-4). The message of G-d is therefore new each day. Everyday, someone needs to know about G-d. There are some who are born and new to the earth that G-d wants to the day and nights to speak to. Then there are those who have been so distracted by the world, that G-d has encoded a message to when they are finally ready to listen. The day, night and skies are like G-d's answering machine; his pre-recorded message to let humanity know "I am here, but not on earth now, but I plan to get back to you".

Not only has G-d left footprints in nature to communicate with us, but he has taken steps to leave a permanent written utterance to let us know that he is and what he plans to do with us and about us. As such, Psalms 19:7 goes on to utter about the perfection of G-d's law and how it makes one wise. It is through that law, that G-d reveals again that he is present, and has a plan and purpose for the entire earth and humanity.

Within that law, he has set seasons and times to help us reflect on his communication and to further obtain more knowledge on his plan. As today is part of the festival the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot, we need to be reminded in this season that we need to take the time today to hear what G-d has to communicate about his existence and his plan for us and our habitat.

In fact it is interesting that in the Jewish celebration of Sukkot, they dwell in a booth for seven days, where in they can look up and see the sky. See this photo from King (2011) for illustration. By design, G-d has caused them to have 7 days to look up at the sky and to be reminded of all the messages that the firmament can communicate.

Today, even if you are not celebrating Sukkot, spend  some time to look at the sky both during the day and the night to listen to what they have to say about G-d. He has a message recorded in them for you today (and every day).

References:

King, G. (2011, Oct 17). Celebrating Sukkot. Yakima Herald-Republic. http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2011/10/17/photo-celebrating-sukkot

G-d's Days of Commemoration

The Passover season is coming up and it will soon be time to contemplate its significance. It is the only feast so far that Jesus Christ was physically present on earth when it was fulfilled. After that, he was gone back to heaven and was not physically present in the New Testament to keep the other festivals and to command their observance.

Many Christians feel that Jesus abolished all other laws except the 10 commandments, when many of them have not yet been fulfilled (Matthew 5:17). In fact, if we study the scriptures carefully, only three of the festivals/feasts were fulfilled.

At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came. That is another occasion that we have neglected to celebrate according to God's calendar. SDA Pentecost does not fall in God's time line either, as SDA church leaders have chosen a convenient day for "Pentecost and More". Generally, some other churches name themselves after the feast, for example Pentecostals, and totally ignore this celebration of the anniversary of the Holy Spirit entering the church. Instead, the church leaders chose to remember Azusa Street Revival.

The Day of Atonement - which is believed to be of special significance to SDA theology is also not commemorated corporately or even on the correct day. However, Feast of Trumpets is all but ignored in SDA theology, despite the fact that it comes before the Day of Atonement.

It is a pity that some feel that Jesus abolished all other laws except the 10 commandments, when many of them have not yet been fulfilled. While the sacrificial ceremonies have been abolished (or perhaps suspended since G-d promised Phineas the Levite an everlasting priesthood in Numbers 25:13), because of the fulfilment of Jesus as our sacrifice, it was not God's intention that we do not commemorate these special seasons, especially those with future meaning and significance. They are still his Feasts, even the Sabbath (Leviticus 23:2).

It is not about observing days and times, but about reflecting and commemorating on God's work and intervention in human affairs. As Christians we love celebrations and annual special times like Christmas and Easter. Why should we just choose our own anniversaries to celebrate G-d, when he has his own?

Supporting Wednesday Crucifixion theory

A friend of mine sent me a forward from a person arguing against the Wednesday Crucifixion theory. To the e-mail I had to respond, giving my thoughts.

I believe that the Wednesday crucifixion theory is a more solid one than the theory of Jesus being crucified on a Good Friday. In this blog entry, I will give the foundation for my view, without reference to the argument of inclusive reckoning, which I believe has to be dealt with by itself. For Christian background on the inclusive reckoning and Wednesday Crucifixion, check the following URLs: http://www.remnantofgod.org/wedcruci-fiction.htm or http://biblelight.net/pasover.htm. For some thoughts about how an Orthodox Jew sees inclusive reckoning see http://en.allexperts.com/q/Orthodox-Judaism-952/Inclusive-Reckoning.htm

However, in this blog entry, I would like to examine three ideas. First the concept of preparation day, as I believe that this concept requires more deliberation. Secondly, I would like to defend the view of two Sabbaths intervening between crucifixion and resurrection. Finally, I want to further consider and further raise some issues regarding the relevance of the annual Sabbaths beyond just what Christ did, but the relevance extending to the future of Christianity and the world.

While preparation is needed for the weekly sabbath, especially as it relates to meals, as cooking was forbidden on the Sabbath (Exodus 35:3), there is indication from the scriptures that the preparation was not for a weekly sabbath.

John 19:14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about the sixth hour.

With this said, perhaps you would argue that the weekly sabbath and the annual sabbath would be occuring on the same day. If you take that view, then that view cannot be refuted unless the idea of inclusive reckoning is dealt with. As mentioned before that will be outside of the scope of this blog entry.


However, what I can address is the idea of two Sabbaths between the crucifixion and the resurrection. It is generally accepted that Jesus rose on a Sunday, which when interpreted Biblically is refered to as the first day of the week. The first day of week in the Bible begins after the evening of the Sabbath (Saturday evening) to Sunday evening. Hence, when the scriptures speak of Jesus being raised on the first day of the week, everyone understands this to mean Sunday (even though I think Jesus rose in midnnight on Saturday night as the women went to the tomb early Sunday morning to find Jesus already gone).

Since the firstday is a Sunday, people generally take the preparation day to mean Friday. Unfortunately, the majority of Christianity does not realise that Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread requires preparation too. Since, it is less accepted that Passover and Feast of Unleaven Bread requires preparation, I must declare that Passover preparation (which also entails preparation for the Feast of Unleavened Bread) required more preparation than that for the weekly Sabbath. This is because, not only were they to prepare food for a day, but for a week, as they had to prepare unleavened bread, plus remove unleavened products (yeast) from their houses (13:7). Further, they had to have the Paschal or Pesach supper with a special lamb and with other special food items.

Further, John records in:

John 19:31 Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

Clearly, there were two Sabbaths after the crucifixion. Whether they intersected or not is the question. However, from John's records it is clear that Jesus did not die on any ordinary day. It was the same season as the type given to the children of Israel. G-d had never intended that Jesus would die on any ordinary Friday before the Sabbath. He gave Israel a special time to signify what the Messiah would go through, which is the Passover ceremony.

If you accept this premise then we can move into the final argument or issue to be raised.

The annual Sabbaths marked God's seasons of intervention in human affairs. In Genesis 1:14, God declares that he made the sun and the moon to mark seasons and signs. Hence sunset marks the start of a day, including the weekly Sabbath. However, the annual Sabbaths are marked by a lunar calendar. Hence, in Olivet prophecies, Jesus again mentions of the sun and moon being signs. Jesus also mentions that he came "not to destroy the law or prophets", but that "heaven and earth" would have to pass before the law is changed, until all is fulfilled (Matthew 5:17-18).

Yet, many in Christendom, including the Advent movement, ignore the new moons and lunar calendar, and keep only days that they deem holy. Yet, God said that these signs would be sign forever, which in Isaiah 66:23, all humanity will worship him in these seasons.

In fact, the annual Sabbaths signify steps that God takes to execute the plan of Salvation. God used the Passover as the appointed time for his son to die. Later he used the Feast of Pentecost to send the Holy Spirit and bring in the first fruit of his harvest for the kingdom.


Hence, based on how G-d works, these appointed times and seasons were not just given to symbolically represent the salvation work. They also marked literal times and days that G-d would use to effect his plan for humanity's redemption. Hence in Leviticus 23, God calls them not feasts of the Jews, but in Leviticus 23:2, God says "feasts of the LORD...even these are my feasts". Among them, the first is the weeklu Sabbath, but the rest of the annual feasts are outlined. Hence, the Seventh-day sabbath is not holier than the annual Sabbaths.

Based on these arguments, without considering the weakness of man made ideas such as inclusive reckoning (a phrase which is not even literally found in the Bible), it is quite likely that God chose a Passover Day for Jesus to be slain, and in the middle of the Feast of Unleavened bread, Jesus rose again. If this is accepted, it is highly likely that there were two sabbaths between crucifixion and resurrection.


Further, if God's pattern is to use Jewish holy days to do things for humanity, I don't believe that he will change this approach. Hence, the other annual feasts (the fall festivals) that have not yet been fulfilled will be literal days and times when Jesus will return and when God will do things to intervene in humanity's redemption.


Even Jesus made mention that the Feast of the Passover will be continued when he returns (Matthew 26:29). This indicates that these festivals are far from abolished, but will be reinstated to the entire earth, when the LORD returns. Hence Zechariah 14:16-19 records that there will be international celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. And much more could be said in support of the future observance and significance of these seemingly Jewish holy days.