Promises and Secrets

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A website for those not afraid to examine their beliefs, compare them to the real world, and make sure they fit.



Real Holidays

VIEWPOINT



We know the regular "holidays" like Independence Day, Thanksgiving, President's Day. Many think they know God's Holidays, but can you name the most important ones? Christmas and Easter? Nope. You find no reference to these in the Bible. So if they are not in the Bible, where did they come from? What Holidays did God tell us to celebrate?

FACT



Christmas and Easter are the two holidays most celebrated by Christians today. Niether of these was instituted by God or Jesus.


BLUE VIEWPOINT



God has set aside special times.

Why do you celebrate Christmas? No, not what are you celebrating when you celebrate Christmas. Why do you celebrate it and why on December 25? Do you even know? It's most likely that you grew up around people who celebrated it who grew up around people who celebrated it. Many say that they celebrate it because it is Biblical. Do you know that Christmas is not in the Bible? Did you know that at the time of Christ, celebrating birthdays was a pagan ceremony and that even Messianic Jews did not do it? Did you know that except for a very poorly translated word in the King James Version of the Bible, Easter is not in the Bible either? So, if God did not institute the two most important "Christian" holidays in America, who did and when? Are there any real Christian Holidays?

A long time ago...

When Moses went to Pharoah, he didn't just say "Let my people go." He said to let the people go so they could venture into the desert to celebrate a feast for God. (Exodus 5:1
1Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.'"

) This feast was already scheduled and God wanted them to get back on schedule, since they had been slaves for the last 400 years. Since Pharoah did not comply, this time set aside by God became known as the Passover feast. This name came about because the angel of death passed over those who complied with God's instructions and killed only the firstborn of the unbelievers.

Before you get all indignant about God killing innocents, remember what Pharoah did when the Egyptians realized the Israelites began to outnumber them. They ordered the Israelite midwives to kill all the Israelite male newborns. The point is, the feast was already planned by God before it happened in Egypt. God has several times set for rememberance of certain conditions that exist for those who believe in him. We should find out what they are and recognize them, not make up new ones that make us feel good.

Certainly not Christian

Some say that Easter is in the Bible as the day that Jesus rose from the dead. However, Easter is a name given from the time of the tower of Babel to a sunrise celebration of a fertility goddess, thus the common references to rabbits and eggs. This means that someone has chosen a day with pagan symbolism and has combined it with the celebration of the resurrection. If you look at the days chosen for Easter, you will notice that they do not always fall on the first Sunday after Passover - the real day of the Resurrection. Resurrection Day is the day that modern Christians claim to celebrate on Easter day, but is supposed to be the day that Christ rose - sometime between sundown on the Sabbath after Passover and the dawn of the first day of the weeks of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the period leading up to Pentecost. That is Resurrection Day and it has no connection with Easter - or eggs, bunnies, or baby chicks.

Real Holidays

There are seven basic holidays of the Jewish people, set up by God, that pertain to everyone - not just Jews. That is, they pertain to those who want to know what God wants His people to do. And, by the way, Resurrection Day is not one of them. We Christians never follow them, but they pertain to the very Salvation we claim from the Jews (John 4:22
You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.

). Now if "salvation is from the Jews", why do we fight so hard to keep from doing anything "Jeewwwwishh"? Let's take a look at each of them and see what they represent. You will find them all in Leviticus chapter 23.

The Sabbath

The Sabbath (Leviticus 23:3
There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the LORD.

- This is a "holiday" in the true sense of the word (it means "holy day", set apart as holy to the Lord). It is the seventh day of the week, the day we call Saturday so that we don't have to recognize the Biblical name or where it came from.

It pertains to Gentiles and Jews alike. Don't think so? Then you should look at Isaiah 56:3
3Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say,
        "The Lord will surely exclude me from his people."
And let no eunuch complain,
        "I am only a dry tree."

and Isaiah 56:6-7
6And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord
        to minister to him,
to love the name of the Lord,
        and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
        and who hold fast to my covenant-

7these I will bring to my holy mountain
        and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
        will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
        a house of prayer for all nations.

. Not as just another verse to remember - look at what it says and to whom it is said.

Passover, Unleavened Bread

Next is Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:4-8
4These are the Lord's appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: 5The Lord's Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. 6On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord's Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. 7On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. 8For seven days present a food offering to the Lord. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.

).

Think about this one. Passover is a remembrance of the exemption of the firstborn of the faithful Israelites from the curse of death. The ones who followed the instructions to put the blood of the lamb on their doorposts were spared the loss of their firstborn sons. This is exactly what will happen for us if we do the same. We don't have to paint the doorposts, and it won't be just our sons who are saved, but we must accept the sacrifice of Christ and remember it at Passover. Not as the pagans do at Easter, a worthless pagan celebration of the Spring Equinox, but at PASSOVER! We have potluck dinners at church all the time, why not one really special one?

Jewish? Who cares? We solemnly take Jewish communion at Easter, blaspheming the practice by doing it in the way (wrong day, juice not wine, piece of cracker, 30 seconds of silence) of the pagans. What would be so hard about doing the same thing in the right way (a meal on Passover, wine, unleavened bread, set aside all day) on the day that God set aside for remembering?

Then, right after that, there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread. God said to get rid of the yeast (a symbol of sin) from our homes for the seven days after Passover. But, nooo! That's too Jewish! We would rather change it and give up something of our own choosing for 40 days (Lent), a period leading up to Easter, a pagan celebration. Then we are so proud of ourselves after "worshiping" God by doing something God said not to do.

Firstfruits

The Feast of Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:9-14
9The Lord said to Moses, 10"Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. 11He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. 12On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect, 13together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil - a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma - and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. 14You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

), is one of those that seems to be the subject of Paul's statement in Romans 14:5-6
5One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.

. If you are a farmer, even a Christian one, this one would apply to you. However, to modern Christians, it seems that this would apply to our monetary offerings or tithes since we have no crops to reap. Whether or not you set the day aside as special is up to you, but the giving of an offering or tithes is not optional based on the command of the Lord.

Feast of Weeks

The Christian avoidance of this one confuses me.

The Feast of Weeks (Leviticus 23:15-22
15" 'From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. 16Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. 17From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the Lord. 18Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings - a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. 19Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering. 20The priest is to wave the two lambs before the Lord as a wave offering, together with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the Lord for the priest. 21On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

22" 'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.' "

) leads to the birth of Christianity. Because the Temple was destroyed, we don't even currently have to worry about the animal sacrifices of this one. As for verse 22, I have driven by fields here in America that have rows of wheat left on the outer edges so we know that some took this to heart. The part that surprises me is that this period of 50 days leads to the day (Pentecost) that was the gift to the church of Christ - the Holy Spirit. He set this up for us! But, we Christians don't recognize it because it's Jewish. ???

Feast of Trumpets

OK, here's another one for Paul's statement in Romans 14:5-6
5One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.

.

The Feast of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23-25
23The Lord said to Moses, 24"Say to the Israelites: 'On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. 25Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the Lord.' "

) is what we would call New Year's Day. We take the day off from work, like it says to do, we just don't offer sacrifices. Well, some barbecue on that day, but I hardly think pork ribs are appropriate. If we would just do this on January 1 while worshiping the Lord, though the described festival is in September-October, it seems that we would be more in His will.

The Day of Atonement

The Day of Atonement is something we all need. We are to stop and contemplate how we live our lives and make some corrections to get back into the will of God. However, when people read the description of the day, they say that Jesus has already done that for them. Well, if you have been able to eliminate all sinful actions from your life, then I guess you don't have to repent. For the rest of us:

My NIV gives the following description and purpose of this holiday
26The Lord said to Moses, 27"The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the Lord. 28Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God. 29Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people. 30I will destroy from among their people anyone who does any work on that day. 31You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. 32It is a day of sabbath rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath." (Leviticus 23:26-32)

:

DESCRIPTION: A day of rest, fasting, and sacrifices of atonement for priests and people and atonement for the tabernacle and altar.
PURPOSE: Cleanse priests and people from their sins and purify the Holy Place.

For me, this means to confess, repent, and change. The tabernacle and altar are gone with the Temple, so no sacrifices are possible, we can only speak to Jesus. This is the day that God set aside for addressing these issues in our lives.


The Feast of Tabernacles

OK. Here's the big one. For those of you who will not do anything Jewish, good luck. You can read about this one in Zechariah 14:16-19
16Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. 17If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, they will have no rain. 18If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The Lord will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. 19This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.

. This will be mandatory for the nations surviving the battle of Armageddon. Now, if you want to see what involved in this Feast, read Numbers 29:12-38
12" 'On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. Celebrate a festival to the Lord for seven days. 13Present as an aroma pleasing to the Lord a food offering consisting of a burnt offering of thirteen young bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect. 14With each of the thirteen bulls offer a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil; with each of the two rams, two-tenths; 15and with each of the fourteen lambs, one-tenth. 16Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

17" 'On the second day offer twelve young bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect. 18With the bulls, rams and lambs, offer their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified. 19Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

20" 'On the third day offer eleven bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect. 21With the bulls, rams and lambs, offer their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified. 22Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

23" 'On the fourth day offer ten bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect. 24With the bulls, rams and lambs, offer their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified. 25Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

26" 'On the fifth day offer nine bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect. 27With the bulls, rams and lambs, offer their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified. 28Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

29" 'On the sixth day offer eight bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect. 30With the bulls, rams and lambs, offer their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified. 31Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

32" 'On the seventh day offer seven bulls, two rams and fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect. 33With the bulls, rams and lambs, offer their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified. 34Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.

35" 'On the eighth day hold a closing special assembly and do no regular work. 36Present as an aroma pleasing to the Lord a food offering consisting of a burnt offering of one bull, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect. 37With the bull, the ram and the lambs, offer their grain offerings and drink offerings according to the number specified. 38Include one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its grain offering and drink offering.' "

. In case you are wondering, this is what will happen after Jesus returns to earth. Again, for now, we can't do the sacrifice part because the Ezekiel temple has not yet been built. The Bible says:

33The Lord said to Moses, 34"Say to the Israelites: 'On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord's Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. 35The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. 36For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the Lord. It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work.' " (Leviticus 23:33-36 NIV)

"But that's..."

Yeah, yeah. I hear you. "Say to the Israelites..." You're right, He specified the Israelites. Now, you can just ignore Zechariah's prophecy, right? Oh, wait. He said something about the "survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem". Oops. Well, if your nation was not one who attacked Jerusalem, you won't have to worry, right? I hope no one from America is on the side of the Palestinians when this happens, although it seems that more and more people are siding against the Jews about the controversy over the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Guess we will just have to wait and see.

It's no secret that America is fast becoming a Godless country. A lot of people will think that they will be in the group of living caught up and the dead in Christ resurrected at His coming. However, from what I see in the churches today, most people who call themselves "Christians" do not follow the will of God and will be in the category of "surviving nations". They will have to brush up on their knowledge of the Feast of Tabernacles.

"But, that's Jeeewwwishh..."

There are other Holidays specified by God for those who want to follow Him, but if we ignore those that have an obvious connection to Jesus Christ, we would not expect people to follow the others, especially the ones claiming that these feasts are for the Jews only. The Feast of Tabernacles was originally given to the Jews as a time to remember their wanderings in the wilderness and living in temporary shelters, but soon it will be required of everyone living on the earth.

How does that pertain to Christians? If, as we should, we view this world as a temporary home, we should remind ourselves that we have a more permanent home to anticipate and should not become too comfortable or complacent in this world. Reminding ourselves of this fact once a year makes more sense than making up a birthday that was designed to fall on a pagan day of celebration that is even in the wrong season for the birth of Christ. If you are sure that worshiping God in the way of the pagans with their symbols is OK with Him now, then you should be all right...unless what God told us in His word is true.

By the way, that's an order...

Oh, just in case you don't make it when Jesus catches the saints up when He comes, there is one more reason to be familiar with the Feast of Tabernacles - you are going to get very thirsty if you don't know how, or just refuse, to keep it. When Jesus returns to become King of the Earth at His second coming, it will be a mandatory celebration for everyone left on the earth. (For those of you who thought everyone but those in Christ was going to be killed at His coming, see my pages for Tribulation, The Rapture, and the Second Coming under the menu listing for End Times) Remember Jeremiah 14:16-19
16Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. 17If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, they will have no rain. 18If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The Lord will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. 19This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.

?

Certainly, there are some reading this who will disagree strongly, and I hope that if you do, you will contact us and let us know what you think and why. We want to learn how people think and why they do things because, well, not everyone thinks like we do. And, no, we are not Jewish or even Seventh-Day Adventists. We just read the truth from God's word and try to apply it to our lives daily.


Disagree? Find an error? Contact us at glenjjr@gmail.com and give us your view.

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