GODS’ HOLY DAYS
2024
It is important to understand that every weekly Sabbath is one of God’s Feast days. We can find the evidence of this in Leviticus 23, shown below:
Passover**
April 22nd
Feast of Unleavened Bread*
April 23rd-29th
Feast of First fruits/ Pentecost*
June 16th
Feast of Trumpets*
October 3rd
Day of Atonement*
October 12th
Feast of Tabernacles*
October 17th – October 23rd
Last Great Day*
October 24th
**observed the evening before at sunset.
*begins at sundown the evening before.
The following verses prove that the feasts listed above are not the feasts of Israel, or the feasts of the Jews as they were being called in the New Testament. They are the feasts of God, created for all of God’s people to keep, even today. Many people also believe and teach that Jesus did away with these feasts, but it can be proven that He kept these feasts and there is no doubt that they were kept in the New Testament even after Jesus ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Heavenly Father.
These next verses show us God’s design for the Holy Days (feasts) as He gave them to the Israelites in the wilderness. Following these verses will be those that show the feasts being kept in the New Testament.
Leviticus 23:1-38 (KJV)
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 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.
3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
4 These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S passover.
6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
9 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD.
13 And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.
14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.
18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD.
19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.
21 And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
22 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.
23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
26 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
27 Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
28 And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God.
29 For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.
30 And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.
31 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
33 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
34 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.
35 On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.
37 These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day:
38 Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD.
As we said, these feasts are still being kept today by those who keep God’s commandments and statutes. The main differences being that we don’t have to make animal sacrifices, because Jesus gave Himself as the ultimate and complete sacrifice for our sins. He didn’t change or remove the feasts or God’s commandments. He elevated them to a spiritual level. We are still required to appear before God during His Holy Days, including the weekly Sabbath. This act of servitude by God’s people shows the Father our love and respect and gives Him the glory and worship that He desires and loves. If you’d like to know more about the Holy Days, the feasts of God, there are audio sermons available in the Archives section of this website, or if you have questions, please feel free to contact us, using the Contact page of this site.
Keep in mind, as you read, that no man has the authority to change God’s Word. This includes changing the Sabbath day from the seventh day of the week to Sunday. This warning is spoken of in Revelation 22:18-19 (KJV) “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
Below are some verses that show that the feasts of God were kept in the New Testament:
There are many, many verses about the seventh day Sabbath, so I will not share all of them here, but here are a few:
John 9:14-16 “And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes. Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see. Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.”
Jesus had performed this miracle on the seventh day Sabbath, not Sunday. If He had waited until Sunday, the Pharisees wouldn’t have been quite so upset with Him.
Acts 16:13 “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.”
Acts 17:2 “And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,…”
Acts 18:4 “And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.”
The term, “Sabbath,” used in these verses is referencing the seventh day Sabbath, (Saturday as it is known by most people) not Sunday as most are taught in many churches today. Ask your minister what day the Sabbath of the bible is. Most will tell you that it is on the seventh day, then they will tell you that it is alright to worship God on any day. The Sabbath was a very special day created and made Holy by the Lord in the very beginning of creation.
Passover
We can find, in the four gospels, plenty of evidence that the Lord Jesus kept the New Testament Passover, but is there any proof that anyone kept it after He ascended? Did the church observe it?
Many people today believe that only the Jews kept the Passover. Let’s see what it says in 1 Corinthians 11:20-30 “When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.” This letter was written to Jews and Gentiles alike in the church in Corinth. They were treating the Passover observance like a potluck dinner. Paul had to correct them. Read on in the next verses: “For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.”
The Passover was created by God to be observed by His church once a year and it was to be kept in the manner in which Christ showed it on the night He kept it with His disciples. It is still being kept that way by the Church of God today.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread follows the Passover and it is being spoken of in the next verses.
1 Corinthians 5:7-8 “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.”
It tells us very clearly that we are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Feast of first fruits/Feast of Weeks/Pentecost
Many organizations observe Pentecost because, for one, it is the one feast of God that is observed on the first day of the week (Sunday). Most people, if they read the first chapter of Acts, know about the pouring out of God’s Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, but did they stop observing it after that? We can prove that they didn’t by looking at 1 Corinthians 16:7-8 “For I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit. But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost.”
In this letter to the church in Corinth, Paul is telling them that he is planning on observing Pentecost right where he was at. If it had been done away with, then why would he observe it? If the Lord, didn’t want him or the church to observe it, wouldn’t He have informed Paul and the others?
Feast of Trumpets
Although Feast of Trumpets isn’t mentioned specifically in the N.T., all of the other feasts were observed, so it would stand to reason that the Feast of Trumpets would be included, especially since it was included as one of the feasts of God in the Old Testament.
Day of Atonement
Acts 27:9-10 (KJV)
9 Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them,
10 And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives.
When these verses spoke of the fast being past, it is well agreed upon by many biblical scholars that this was speaking of the Day of Atonement. The reason Paul said that the sailing would be dangerous because it was in late September or early October, a time when the seas were very rough.
Feast of Tabernacles
In the following verses, we see Jesus observing the Feast of Tabernacles. If He had done away with them, then why would He observe them? Wouldn’t that cause confusion with His disciples?
John 7:2-3 (KJV) “Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest.”
Jesus didn’t go to the feast when His brothers told Him to, He went later, as we will see in the following verse.
John 7:10 “But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.”
If keeping the Feast of Tabernacles wasn’t important, then why would that be the first thing Jesu does when He returns, is to command everyone to keep it?
Zechariah 14:16 “And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.”
This will occur after Christ returns and takes His throne in Jerusalem. Anyone who refuses to obey will suffer for it.
Last Great Day
John 7:37 (KJV)
37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
After the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles, there is the Last Great Day. This is what it is speaking of in the previous verse.
If you would like to learn more about the Feasts of God, there are audio sermons available on the Archives page.
To the best of my knowledge all Biblical verses are
taken from the King James Version,
translated into modern English.
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