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Chain Reference Guide

THE FEAST DAYS

Proving The Feast Days Should Still Be Observed

1. Exodus 5:1	God called Israel to keep a Feast in the wilderness while still in and exiting Egypt.
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2. Exodus 10:9	Israel commanded to hold a Feast UNTO THE LORD before the Exodus.
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3. Exodus Chapter 12	The Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread were instituted to be kept FOREVER even BEFORE God tested Israel in the keeping of the Sabbath in Exodus 16. It was BEFORE the Sabbath was codified as the fourth of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20.
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4. Exodus 13:1-10	The Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread were a SIGN between God and His people. They were to be kept as an ORDINANCE from year to year.
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5. Ex. 31:13	The Sabbaths (plural- includes the annual Sabbaths or Holy days as well as the weekly Sabbath) are a SIGN of sanctification between God and His people. Notice the plurality of "Sabbaths" again in Ezekiel 20:12, 20 as a sign of sanctification. We who are "In Christ" or Christians are spiritual Jews and Israelites. Read Romans 2:29 and Galatians 3:29.
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6. Leviticus 23:1-4	Notice three important points in this passage. 1. The were Feasts of the LORD not man. 2. They were HOLY CONVOCATIONS. The Hebrew word for "convocations" here comes from "miqra". It means "something called out", a "public meeting" or "assembly". Thus we are commanded to assemble and worship before God. But it also means a "rehearsal". We REHEARSE the plan of God and what God will be doing through His Plan in the future for mankind. Why would God want to do away with a perfect rehearsal of His plan for mankind? 3. The Feasts were to be proclaimed in their SEASONS. It is imporatant to note that the Feast Days were built around the Harvest Seasons of Israel. As such they are a perfect picture of God harvesting mankind into His Kingdom. (See additional note at bottom of this chain reference guide).
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7. Leviticus 23:30-32	Notice these particular words in regards to the Day of Atonement-" And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute FOR EVER throughout your generations in ALL YOUR DWELLINGS.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." (Comment: This is an extremely important verse to disprove those who insist the Feast could ONLY be kept if it was observed in it's entirety , including sacrifices, in Jerusalem). The Feast Days were all built around Sabbaths. All of the Sabbaths were days of rest and had to be kept wherever you might dwell! So the fact that sacrifices are no longer offered does not mean the Feasts have been abolished! THE ANNUAL SABBATHS ARE TO PERMANENTLY BE OBSERVED AS IS ALSO THE WEEKLY SABBATH!
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8. Isaiah 25:6-9	The joy which takes place on the Feast days is a type of the joy we experience in our salvation and God harvesting His people into Christ's Kingdom.
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9. Matthew 9:36-38	Christ uses the harvesting of crops as a type of the harvesting of mankind into His Kingdom.
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10. Matthew 13: 24-43	Parable of the sower. This is a picture of man being harvested into or rejected from His Kingdom. This is portrayed by the Feast Days, built around the harvest seasons
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11. Ephesians 1:9-10	This passage reads in the KJV- " Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him". The underlined words are translated in different ways by various translators. It could be paraphrased as "appointed seasons" or more accurately translated "appointed fullness of seasons." That is exactly what the Feast Days, built around the harvest seasons, are portraying. They picture the APPOINTED SEASONS when God is harvesting man into His Kingdom, when He will gather us FULLY as ONE into Christ. There are different dispensations of times or seasons through which this spiritual harvest is FULLY completed. For example, the great harvest of mankind into God's Kingdom during the Millennium is pictured by the great fall Feast of Tabernacles! God clearly, in part, makes known unto us the "mystery of His Will" through the Holy Days!
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12. Jeremiah 7:21-23	God did not institute the Feast Days at the same time He instituted the sacrificial system, governed by the Levitical Priesthood and ordinances. He first commanded Israel, after they left Egypt, that they OBEY Him by observing the Passover and Feast Days, even before He reminded them at Mount Sinai that they were commanded to keep the weekly Sabbath!
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13. Exodus 40:17	The Tabernacle, with it's Levitical Priesthood and ritualistic sacrificial system, was not constructed until the second year in the wilderness. Because the sacrificial system is no longer required, does not invalidate the observance of the Feast days! The Feast Days were commanded to be kept BEFORE the Levitical Priesthood and system! Remember, there were twice as many lambs to be offered on the weekly Sabbath as there were on the regular days (Numbers 28:9,11). Likewise, because these sacrifices are no longer offered does not invalidate the weekly Sabbath!
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14. Leviticus 1:1-3	The sacrifices were to be offered at the Tabernacle, according to Levitical laws and ordinances ordained by God. As mentioned previously, the Levitical system of sacrifice did not function until the second year in the wilderness. Again, the Feast Days were commanded to be kept BEFORE the Levitical Priesthood and system!
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15. 1 Samuel 15:22	Obedience to God is better than sacrifice. Because we do not offer animal sacrifices, does not mean that we are to disobey God by not observing His commanded Feasts!
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16. John 4:20-24	This passage disproves the contention that the Feasts must be observed at Jerusalem. Today we are to "worship the Father in spirit and in truth".
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17. Luke 2:40-43	Christ kept the Passover with His parents as a child. Clearly this included the Days of Unleavened Bread. Because of their poverty, they could only come up to Jerusalem once a year at the Passover season. They certainly also kept the Annual Sabbaths and the SPIRIT of the other Feasts at home in Nazareth. Jesus Christ was was without sin (Hebrews 4:15), so certainly He kept all of the Holy Sabbaths.
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18. John 7:1-10, 37	Christ kept the Feast of Tabernacles and Last Great Day. We are to "follow His steps" (1 Peter 2:21).
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19. Acts 2 Ch.	The New Testament Church was established on the Feast of Pentecost 31 A.D. by the coming of the Holy Spirit.
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20. Acts 12:1-3	Luke mentions the Days of Unleavened Bread approximately ten years after Christ's resurrection.
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21. Acts 18:21	Paul determined to keep the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.
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22. Acts 20:6	Luke strongly infers they had observed the Days of Unleavened Bread almost thirty years after Christ's resurrection. Paul and his companions obviously waited until they had observed these Holy Days to sail to Troas where his companions were waiting. The would have kept the New Testament Passover or Lord's Supper. They would have rested on the High Days, assembled together for Worship just as we do on the weekly Sabbath, refrained from eating leavened bread and ate unleavened bread each day of the Feast. They would have meditated and celebrated the meaning of the Feast; the leavened bread symbolic of the sin we are to remove through Christ's strength, the unleavened bread symbolic of the partaking of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. They would have done all of this without being at Jerusalem to sacrifice!
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23. Acts 20:16	Paul hasted to be in Jerusalem, if it were possible, at Pentecost.
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24. Acts 27:9	The Holy Spirit inspires Luke to mention "THE FAST" more than thirty years after Christ's crucifixion. Obviously, it had not been done away ("The Great Day of Atonement was called 'THE FAST' by way of eminence" [Robertson]).
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25. 1 Cor. 5:6-8	The original Greek should be translated "Let us continue keeping the Feast". Christ as the Passover Lamb was slain for us, removing the need for the sacrificial system(Hebrews 10:10). That doesn't cancel out the Feast Days. Rather it increases their meaning for us today; because they reveal the Master Plan He is using to bring all mankind into Him! There are seven Feasts (including the weekly Sabbath) and seven annual Holy Days. Seven in scripture is a number of perfection. They foreshadow God's perfect MASTER PLAN for mankind! They indeed do, as we shall read next in Colossians 2:17, find their reality or substance in Christ and His Will!
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26. Colossians 2:16-17	This text, which is the one most often used to argue against the Sabbath and Feast Days, is actually one of the STRONGEST PROOFS in the New Testament that they were still being observed. The original Greek, in verse 16, more accurately translates as "Let no man judge you in eating or drinking or in part of an Holyday or of the new moon or of the Sabbath day." Obviously the context shows that the Christians in Colossae were being judged by ascetics(those who practiced rigid self denial), for PART of their Holy Day observance which included Feasting with food and drink. This verse no more condemns Sabbath and Feast Days than it does eating and drinking!
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27. James 4:12	This scripture reads" There is ONE LAWGIVER, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?" Man, religious organizations and deceived theologians have tried to change God's Laws and Holy Days. Clever reasoning, human tradition and rationalization cannot usurp God's Laws.
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27. Daniel 7:25	This is the rendering from the Amplified Bible, " And he shall speak words against the Most High [God] and shall wear out the saints of the Most High and think to change the time [of sacred feasts and holy days] and the law; and the saints shall be given into his hand for a time, two times, and half a time [three and one-half years]. It is noteworthy here that the word translated "times" in the King James version come from the root of a Hebrew word, "Zeman", (#2165 in Strong's Concordance). It means "APPOINTED occasion, season or time". This has been going on for 2,000 years. Man and religious systems have THOUGHT they could change God's APPOINTED Laws and Holy Day times!
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28. Zechariah 14:16-19	The true King of this earth will require this entire world to keep the Feast Days. After Christ's return all the nations which fought against Him will be COMMANDED to come to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles! This is PROOF POSITIVE that God's Feasts should still be observed today! It would make ABSOLUTELY no sense for Israel to have been commanded to keep the Feast Days, for Christ to have kept the Feast Days, for the Apostles to have kept the Feast Days; then God to do away them and then command even GENTILE nations to observe them after His return! The answer is clearly THEY WERE NEVER DONE AWAY WITH!
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CONCLUSION	God has given to mankind Seven Annual Holy Day Feasts and Seven Annual Sabbaths. They are enumerated in Leviticus 23. Seven is a number of perfection. They provide perfect insight and light into the plan of God. Satan has blinded and deceived this world(2 Corinthians 4:4. Revelation 12:9). Most of mainstream Christianity has rejected not only the weekly Holy Sabbath, but also the Annual Festivals and Holy Days. Instead they have substituted religious days such as Christmas, Easter and New Years, which is clearly Christianity incorporated with paganism and idolatry of the past. Such worship is condemned by God's Word (Deuteronomy 12:29-32). It obscures understanding; it is not enlightening as are the Feasts of the Lord. The Feast Days have been appointed by Almighty God. The religious system of most of this world has rejected these sacred Holy Days and decided instead to replace them with their own laws and traditions. WHICH LAW'S WILL YOU FOLLOW — MAN'S OR GOD'S? The choice is up to you.

For an insightful OUTLINE of all of the Holy Days and Feasts, this booklet is highly recommended :GOD'S HOLY DAY PLAN

We also provide a wealth of information on the Feast Days at this link: FEAST AND HOLY DAY RESOURCE CENTER

Our good friends with the Church of God International provide this article on the Feast Days: DID THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH OBERVE THE SABBATH AND THE HOLY DAYS?

THE HARVEST SEASONS OF ISRAEL

It is important to understand that the Feast Days were built around the Harvest seasons of Israel. As such,they are a perfect picture of how God will harvest mankind into His Kingdom. Israel has a weather season totally unlike ours. The "promised land" has a five month rainless season from May to October. The Bible speaks of the "former" and "latter" rains The "former" or early rains were the first autumn showers. falling around the late part of October or early part of November. They prepared the ground for the seed, because the soil was almost too hard to plow without it. Three months without rain in the Autumn would ruin the hopes for most crops.

Two Main Crops

The two main crops the Israelites planted were wheat and barley, referred to in the KJV Bible as "corn". The heaviest rains fall the late part of December, extending into January and February. This is followed by the spring or "latter" rains. These late rains bring the crops to full maturity. The barley was just fit for the sickle at Passover. The wave sheaf offering was waved on the day after the Sabbath during the Days of Unleavened Bread. Fifty days later at Pentecost the wheat was ripe for of harvesting and the first fruit wheat loaves were waved before God.

The Late Summer and Fall Harvest

The harvest in late summer could more accurately be called the fruit harvest. Dates and figs were picked at this time as the main crop ripened about August. Olive trees ripened slowly and were picked as time permitted. Grapes were the most important crops. The actual harvesting began in August and the wine was squeezed out in September. Thus, when Israel kept the Feast of Tabernacles at the end of their Harvest seasons, they could look back and be thankful for their crops. It was the fruit of their labor and all the blessings of the Eternal from the prior year. It is interesting that the Hebrew word for "Feast" comes form a root word "chag" or "hag" , meaning to " move or dance in a circle". It was a time of dancing, rejoicing and great festivity. I hope you will take the to study the Feast Days that were built around the Harvest Seasons of Israel.

It was during these seasons that God ordained the Feasts; His appointed Holy Days. The Feasts throw a flood of light and revelation on the Master Plan of God to harvest mankind into His Kingdom!