Gerry Buck asked us to discuss the following:

quote:

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Perhaps we could discuss the different feasts that Isreal kept, their relationship to the work of Christ and what has taken their place for the Christian today.

I think if we understood the special feasts designated by God, we will get a better understanding of the sacrifice of Christ.
My $0.02

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I guess it is well past the time to do what Gerry requested so long ago.

First of all, what were the different feasts that Israel kept?

There were seven annual feasts/holy days (aka holidays) that Israel was commanded to observe:

Spring:
Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread
Feast of Firstfruits
Feast of Unleavened Bread
Pentecost

Autumn:
Feast of Trumpets
Day of Atonement
Feast of Tabernacles


These special times of the year were to serve as object lessons of the whole plan of salvation, step by step. The spring feasts represent God's side of the covenant that He makes with us that He has promised to keep, and the Autumn feasts represent man's side of the covenant that God desires us to keep, in the power of Christ, of course.

Passover=the crucifixion, death to self
Feast of Firstfruits=the resurrection of Christ
Feast of Unleavened Bread=Christ the Bread of Eternal Life who sustains us in our new life in Him
Pentecost=the giving of the Holy Spirit to empower us to live the new life in Christ

Summary: Justification, Us in Christ

The meaning and fulfillment of these feasts is rarely ever argued over. It's the autumn feasts that, spiritually and prophetically, cause endless debates and arguments among well-meaning Christians. I personally believe it's because these autumn feasts painfully remind the proud hearts of people that they must give up their sin or perish. They proudly cry, "Legalism!"
"Justification by works!" Obedience to God is not legalism. It's what God empowered us to do, as seen in the springtime feasts.

Prophetic meaning:
Feast of Trumpets=Three Angels' Messages
Day of Atonement=Time of Trouble/Second Coming
Feast of Tabernacles=Millenium/White Throne Judgment, New Heaven/Earth

Spiritual meaning:
Feast of Trumpets: examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith
Day of Atonement: a complete "fast" from sin, be totally "at-one" with Christ
Feast of Tabernacles: Christ fully dwelling in us and through us

In summary, Sanctification, Christ in Us

I'm not one to bash it over people's heads that we are to keep these annual sabbaths as well as the weekly sabbath. I know it's an ultrasensitive issue, especially to SDA's, but for practical purposes, especially for children and families, they are a wonderful blessing in addition to the weekly sabbath.

For me personally, the manmade so-called "Christian" holidays and their annual rituals don't hold any meaning for me, but I just praise and thank God for His beyond-incredible, creative genius. How He laid out the plan of salvation in such a beautiful, annual tapestry of holidays just makes me want to praise Him more as my Creator and Redeemer!

If Christians would only give these days a chance. If they don't keep these days, they won't be lost, if they do keep them, they won't be lost either. They will only miss out on an extra blessing from God if they don't keep these days.

I don't know if this post will pass Daryl's approval, but it's worth a shot.

God's blessings,
Kim V

Kim,

What makes you think I wouldn't approve of your post?

I think we should look at each one individually from the Bible, therefore, I would like Bible references for each one.

Hi Daryl,

I thought you wouldn't approve of this post because 1) the interpretation of the fall feasts that was posted is not the traditional SDA interpretation of them, and 2) I encouraged people to look into actually keeping the feasts instead of manmade holy days/holidays. These are two things for which I have been "stoned" many a time by professed SDA's, so I didn't know what your reaction would be.

As for the rest of this post, I will use it to cite Scripture verses and passages which deal with the Passover in the OT and its fulfillment in the NT.

Exodus 12 is the first command of God to keep the Passover and the first account of Israel keeping it. Notice in v. 14 that God says that this feast was to be for a memorial, and that it was to be kept forever throughout their generations. A memorial looks back, not ahead.

Leviticus 23:3-5 is the next time the command to keep Passover is mentioned

Numbers 9 is an account of Israel keeping the Passover in the wilderness

Deuteronomy 16:1-8 is the repeated command to keep the Passover and includes all the details of keeping it

Joshua 5:9-12 is an account of Israel celebrating the Passover after all the men had been circumcised, and they had eaten of the fruit of the land of Canaan, which ended the giving of the manna

Then there is no account of the Passover being kept until the days of Kings Hezekiah and Josiah,
in 2 Chronicles 30 and 35

Then there is no account of the Passover being kept until after the Babylonian exile, in Ezra's day, in the month that the temple of Zerubbabel was finished. (Ezra 6:19-22)

In what is strangely called "intertestamental" history (how there could be a pause between the Old and New Covenants, I cannot understand) the Greeks, like the Babylonians, wanted to obliterate the nation of Israel and eliminate the worship of the true God and force their polytheistic worship of the gods of Mt. Olympus on the Israelites or have them face death. It is known that Judah Maccabee and his brothers and a band of Israelites joined in forces to fight the Greeks and maintain the worship of the true God. God had given them victory, and the ransacked temple was again rebuilt. I'm unaware of any document that was written between the time of Malachi and Matthew that gives an account of Israel oberving the Passover, but it's for sure that Israel finally, after centuries of apostasy, had begun to remain faithful to God through the temple services and annual holy days, including Passover, before Christ was born.

Then in the synoptic gospels, the only account of Passover that is given is the Passover upon which the Last Supper and the crucifixion of Christ took place. One exception is in Luke chapter 2, which tells of the Passover visit to Jerusalem when Jesus was 12. In the gospel of John, however, John gives an account of many miracles and works of Christ during the Passover time. There is cleansing of the temple and other miracles in John 2:12-25 and the feeding of the 5,000 in 6:1-14, and from chapter 11 on is the season of the Passover when Christ was crucified.

Then after the gospels, there are only three more occurrences of the word "Passover", in Acts 12:4, 1 Corinthians 5:7, and Hebrews 11:28.

In Acts 4 is the account of Herod wanting to put Peter on trial after the Passover.

1 Corinthians 5:7, Paul expounds on the spiritual meaning behind the Passover and feast of unleavened bread in v.6-8. This is spoken of in the context of Paul's rebuke of the man who was having sexual relations with his father's wife. Paul was still working with the Corinthian church that was still in the process of coming out of their sexually immoral culture, and was still not understanding that "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new." (2 Cor 5:17)

Just like the weekly Sabbath, it was not an issue in the early church as to whether the Passover should be kept by people of other nations. The whole church continued to keep it annually. Yes, annually, I believe. Paul's account of the Last Supper says that Christ said, "This cup is the new testament in my blood. As often as you drink it, drink it in remembrance of me." (1 Cor 11:25) What were the disciples doing at that point? Drinking the cup of salvation which was customarily done in the Passover Seder meal. How often was it their God-commanded custom to eat the Passover and keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread? Once a year.

1 Corinthians 11:20-34 is devoted to telling the Corinthians how to properly keep the Passover. It had turned into the customary Corinthian drunken orgies and gluttonous feasts which the Corinthians were used to. Paul exhorted them in saying that this was to be a serious time of reflection, and that if people are hungry, they should eat before coming together to observe the Passover. Unfortunately, the later church has taken this to the opposite extreme, and now observes the "Lord's Snack" instead of the Lord's Supper.

I don't mean to insult the many well meaning, devoted Christians who are spiritually fulfilled during the times of observation of the Lord's Supper, but again, if we can just look into keeping the Passover Seder in light of Christ our Passover, so many beautifaul object lessons about salvation can be seen, especially through the eyes of children. I myself have kept the Passover seder for the past two years, and it has been a wonderful blessing for me and my children and has taught me that there is more to salvation than just the crucifixion of Christ, just as there is more to a house than just the foundation.

Again, I encourage people to research and study out the Seder service, and see what a wonderful time of spiritual refreshment it can be for their church next spring.

God's blessings to all.

Kim Varner

Greetings Kim!

What a lovely understanding of the feast days that you have. I do not want to expand in this area, but would like to share that the feast days were a time to typically do things to remind us of the sacrifice to come.

Today we are in antitypical times where we are no longer required to look forward to the sacrifice, but back to it.

Today in our time we are to do the antitypical work. Our work is that of a holy priesthood where we are to daily live the sanctified life that you described.

I believe that looking into the sanctuary and it's services are a great benefit to having a greater understanding in the blessed sacrifice of Christ.

May the Lord lead and teach us,
with love
Cheri

Ellen White wrote that the Feast of Tabernacles was typical of the Second Coming itself:

"The Feast of Tabernacles was not only commemorative but typical. It not only pointed back to the wilderness sojourn, but, as the feast of harvest, it celebrated the ingathering of the fruits of the earth, and pointed forward to the great day of final ingathering, when the Lord of the harvest shall send forth His reapers to gather the tares together in bundles for the fire, and to gather the wheat into His garner. At that time the wicked will all be destroyed. They will become 'as though they had not been.' Obadiah 16. And every voice in the whole universe will unite in joyful praise to God. Says the revelator, 'Every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.' Revelation 5:13."
{PP 541.02}

There is currently a big push in both our church and others to go back to keeping old testament rituals, etc... so I thought it good to add this to the board.

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."
Truth is, we no longer need to sacrifice a Passover lamb according to this passage. This is actually common knowledge among most Christians of today. The exact same principle therefore applies to all the Jewish feasts as they are indeed fulfilled already, just as the sacrifice of the Passover lamb was fulfilled.

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

By the way.. the "sabbath days" mentioned here are ceremonial feast days, and not the weekly Sabbath. See Leviticus 23:23-38 on this. Specifically verse 38 where it declares these "sabbath days" are BESIDES the Sabbath of the Lord. Another easy to see reality in this passage is. MANY like to claim that this passage is speaking of the "Ten Commandments" because the "sabbath days" is mentioned. But when looking at the ENTIRE verse, one realizes that it is impossible for these "sabbath days" to be the same as the weekly Sabbath day. Why? This passage is lumping both the "sabbath days" together along with the "meat, drink, holy days, and new moons." Where in the Ten Commandments does it speak of meat, drink, holy days, and new moons?

The Jewish feast days were a shadow of things to come. They pointed forward in a prophetic manner as to what Christ would do when He came to this Earth for us. I ask, why should we embrace or seek to keep feast days that speak of things already done? My faith alone in the "Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world" [John 1:29] already proclaims that which the feast days looked forward to as fulfilled at Calvary.

In fact, some of the feast days required the believer to offer sacrifice in the Jerusalem Temple did they not? How is that possible today? How was that possible in fact since 70ad when the Jerusalem Temple was completely destroyed by Rome?

Scriptures openly declare these feast days "nailed to the cross" in the following passage...

Colossians 2:14, "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;"

These feast days / laws of Moses were ORDINANCES penned on paper by Moses himself. Unlike the Law of God written in STONE by His very finger. The ripping of the temple veil in Matthew 27:51 declares in mountainous tones that these feast days were indeed no longer needed. The Temple itself was no longer the residence of the Shekinah glory of the Lord's presence when that Temple veil ripped. Before the rip, no man could enter into the Most Holy Place but the High priest. Anyone else walking in there would most assuredly DIE. Now however, any man can come before the Lord, for the Temple is now YOU, the Christian!

1 Corinthians 3:16, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" Want it prophetically BLUNT? Daniel the Prophet declares the Feast Days as something that was to STOP the moment Christ died on the cross...

Daniel 9:27, "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." Prophecy itself confirms the feast days CEASED at the time of the cross. In the "midst of the week" (3.5 yrs after Jesus was baptised) the Temple veil RIPPED completely in two. At the exact moment the "Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world" spoke from His very lips, "IT IS FINISHED"-John 19:30

Picture this... You are looking for your friend who is said to be behind your house working on your car. You look outside and all you see is your friends shadow protruding from behind the house. You can see your friend working on the car by watching the shadow. So you wait patiently for him to finish. Suddenly your friend cry's out that, it is finished. You then walk to the back of the house, and follow the shadow to your friend that eventually leads directly to him. The feast days are no different. They illustrated to the believers a glimpse of that which Christ was to do in the future, and when He cried out, "it is finished" on Calvary, IT WAS!

Think about this as well...

There we NO Jewish feast days BEFORE the Exodus from Egyptian bondage. And according to prophecy as well as Scripture speaking of the time of fulfillment, they ended perfectly when Jesus "finished" what He came to do for you and me, as well as all those that kept those feast days in faith BEFORE Calvary.

Could there be prophetic reasoning for such an end time movement?

Is it not being "prophesied" all over the world by false prophets that a "third temple" must be rebuilt? Has it not already been reported that the Roman Catholic church is performing "animal sacrifices" on their altars in Africa?Are we to start offering sacrifices again regardless of the fact that prophecy as well as the reality of Calvary declares it is finished? Does not the "keeping of the feast days" denote a "possibility" that Christ has NOT yet arrived, therefore we need to look for another? Will this be used by Antichrist to gather some of the flock into his camp? That I believe is the main issue here. All I can see coming from keeping the feast days is a faith that may eventually learn to embrace the "old leaven" of the Pharisee's. All the world knows, they do indeed proclaim with boldness that Messiah has not yet come. And all of Christendom can read for themselves...

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."

In order to understand why Christians don't keep these feast days we need to know what they represent and the reasons God had His people keep them.

I'll present below the five major festivals of the Jewish calendar year. Then I'll discuss their meanings and the reasons why Christians don't keep each one.

There were three festivals to which all Israelite men were required to go up to the tabernacle (later to the temple at Jerusalem). These are marked with a . The months are given according to the Hebrew calendar. I deal with each in the order that they came during the yearly calendar.

(1) Unleavened Bread, a week-long event (which immediately followed the Passover supper held the preceding night) in the middle of the 1st month, at the beginning of the barley harvest (Lev 23:5,14) (about the time of our Easter)

(2) The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), fifty days after the first sabbath of Unleavened Bread, celebrating the season of the wheat harvest (Lev 23:15,21; Ex 34:22)

(3) The Feast of Trumpets on the 1st day of the 7th month, the civil New Year's day.

(4) The Day of Atonement on the 10th day of the 7th month, the cleansing of the Temple.

(5) The Feast of Ingathering, or the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles, in the middle of the 7th month, at the close of the olive and fruit harvest (Lev 23:34,44; Deut 16:13) (This occured only a few days after the Day of Atonement which was celebrated on the 10th day)

What did these festivals mean and why do Christians feel that we should not keep them.?

(1) The Feast of Unleavened bread:

The night before this feast every family celebrated the Passover in their homes.

The Passover ceremony was celebrated in this way:

Each family (or if the family was a small one, several families) slew the Passover lamb and ate it along with bread that was made with no yeast (leaven). Yeast, in Bible times, represented sin because sin, like yeast when put in dough, fills the entire person.

John the Baptist spoke of Jesus as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) and Paul points out that "Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed." (1 Cor. 5:7). Since Christ is the Lamb who was sacrificed and His sacrifice has already taken place, then there is no need to celebrate the Passover feast that pointed forward to the coming of God's Lamb who would take "away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29)

In fact, the exact hour that Jesus died was the time for the slaying of the Passover lamb in the Temple. Matthew 27:51 describes how the "curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split." Tradition has it that the Passover lamb escaped from the grasp of the priest and ran away.

Jesus gave us the communion service of bread and wine to commemorate His death (Matt. 26:26-35). For Christians, the Lord's supper has taken the place of the Passover.

The day after the Passover–the very next day–was the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The prohibition of the use of yeast, as practiced the night before at the Passover celebration, continued for seven days after the Passover. The first day was a ceremonial sabbath. (When this sabbath fell on the weekly Sabbath, the Pharisees of the time of Christ called it a "high day.") Just as with the weekly Sabbath, no one was allowed to work on this day.

This sabbath (first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread) was a sabbath of rest, pointing forward to the rest that the Lamb of God experienced in the grave on the day following His crucifixion.

On the day after this ceremonial sabbath the priest waved a sheaf of barley–the first fruits–before the Lord. This symbolized the beginning of the harvest season. This action pointed forward to the resurrection of Christ after the Sabbath, and His brief ascension to His Father to receive His approval of the sacrifice of His Son.

1 Cor 15:3, 4 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

1 Cor 15:20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

There is no need for Christians to participate in this festival because the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ to which it points have already taken place. The feast has become obsolete.

(2) The Feast of Weeks, later called Pentecost, took place 50 days after the waving of the sheaf. This festival celebrated the beginning of wheat harvest.

The day of Pentecost, 50 days after Christ's resurrection, marked the beginning of the harvest of Christ's work. It was preceded by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:17, 18). There's no need for Christians to celebrate this feast because the reason for the feast came to pass when the disciples began the harvest of souls in earnest.

(3) The Feast of Trumpets

A feast celebrated on the 1st day of the 7th month (Ethanim, or Tishri), the beginning of the civil year. This 1st day fell on the "new moon" of September or October. This month was always numbered the 7th (see Lev 23:24), according to God’s instructions to Moses to begin the year with the Passover month of Abib (Nisan), as the 1st month (see Ex 12:2); yet the year was still reckoned as beginning with Tishri for civil matters. Tishri 1 was marked by extra sacrifices in addition to the new-moon sacrifices of the other months (Num 29:1–6). It was a ceremonial sabbath, and was celebrated by the blowing of trumpets (Lev 23:24, 25). The tradition of the Jews is that on New Year’s Day (celebrated to this day as Rosh Hashana) everyone is judged for his deeds of the past year, but that one’s doom is not settled until the 10th, on the Day of Atonement, apparently after 9 days of grace (Talmud Rosh Hashanah, 16a).1

Christians don't celebrate the Feast of Trumpets for two reasons: 1) The first day of Tishri is not our New Year's day. 2) This day's intimate attachment to the Day of Atonement.

(4) The Day of Atonement.

This day occured on the tenth day of the seventh month, the most solemn day of the year. On it all were not only to refrain from work but also to afflict their souls (make sure that all their sins were confessed) (Lev 23:27–32). This probably included fasting, since in NT times it is evidently this day that is referred to as "the fast" (Acts 27:9). On the Day of Atonement all the sins of the preceding year were finally disposed of in the ceremony of cleansing the sanctuary (Lev. 16). All who did not afflict their souls on that day were cut off from Israel (Lev 23:29). The Day of Atonement was to the Jews a day of judgment.1

On this day two goats were brought before the High Priest. He cast lots over them to chose which one would be the Lord's goat. The other goat was called the scape goat and was put aside. The Lord's Goat was killed and sacrificed on the altar. Some of it's blood was taken into the innermost room, called the Most Holy Place. The High Priest sprinkled some of the blood on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant and some on the ground in front it.

As the High Priest left the Most Holy Place he wiped some of the blood on the horns of the altar of Incense which stood before the curtain which separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. In effect, he was taking upon himself all the sins that the Israelites had confessed throughout the year by bringing their animals for sacrifice in the Temple.

Coming out of the Temple, the High Priest placed his hands upon the head of the scape goat and confessed all the sins of Israel upon him. Then the scape goat was led by a strong man out into the wilderness, where he was let goa fitting symbol of the removal of all sin from the nation.

The Lord's goat represented Christ who died upon the cross as a sacrifice for the sins of everyone who has ever lived. The High Priest represents Christ in His role of our great Intercessor in Heaven. He brings our names before the Father and proclaims that we have accepted Him as our Savior. In effect, just like the Day of Atonement was a day of judgment, so the great Day of Atonement in Heaven is a day of judgment for the people of God (read the judgment scene as depicted in Dan. 7: 13, 14 ff). Christ will decide whom, of all who have professed to be His disciples, has really accepted Him and let Him reign in their hearts.

When the judgment is finished, then Christ will come and reward His servants for their faithfulness.

Rev 22:12 "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.

This annual "day of judgment" prefigured the cosmic judgment of all of God's people. Whoever refrains from, neglects, or refuses to repent of his/her sins at that time will be cut off from God's people.

The first part of the Day of Atonement has already taken placethe Lord's Goat (Christ) has already been sacrificed for the sins of His people. The second partChrist, as our High Priest, entering the Most Holy Place of the Temple in heaven, presenting His blood before the Fatheris taking place right now in Heaven. Christ is investigating the lives of all who have professed to be His followers. Those who have been true to Him will be marked as His people. Those who have not been faithful will be rejected.

Soon Christ will finish this work and return to reward those who were faithful to Him, by taking them to His eternal Kingom.

So Christians don't celebrate the Mosaic Day of Atonement because we are actually passing through the Great Day of Atonement right now.

(5) ‡The Feast of Ingathering (the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles) celebrated the ingathering at the end of the harvest, particularly of the grain, olive, and grape harvests. It also reminded the Jews of the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.

This was the last feast of the religious year and usually came during our month of October, after the autumn harvest was over and the fruit had been gathered in. It was a joyous occasion for all. The Day of Atonement was past; all misunderstandings had been cleared up, all sins confessed and put aside. The Israelites were happy, and their happiness found expression in the Feast of Ingathering (Booths, or Tabernacles)

Since the antitypical* Day of Atonement takes place before the coming of Jesus, then this joyous feast, which comes at the end of the harvest, would most likely represent the joy of God's people as they take their places in the New Jerusalem. Their wandering in the wilderness of sin is past. Eternal life in the heavenly Canaan will be the reward of God's people.

*An object casts a shadow when standing in sunlight. The shadow is the type, the object itself is the antitype. The Day of Atonement in the ceremonial year is the type; the "investigative judgment" that takes place before Jesus comes is the antitype. Another way to say the same thing is: the Day of Atonement prefigured the judgment in the last days.

1Horn, Siegfried H., Seventh-day Adventist Bible Dictionary, (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association) 1979.

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Christ was the foundation and antitype of the whole Jewish economy of sacrifices, ceremonies, feasts, etc. All these symbols or types pointed, as a shadow, to Christ. When He was crucified in 31 AD or "cut off" in the midst of the last week--3 1/2 years after He had begun His gospel ministry--type met antitype. Thus Christ caused the sacrifice, oblation, feasts, and all the other types in the Jewish economy to cease to be literally kept and performed.

These ceremonies and types were given to point forward to Christ as being the Messiah. But since Christ has already come, and type has met antitype, these types would only possess spiritual significance, and not the command to be literally kept; they would continue pointing to Christ, but would not bear the penalty of sin if not literally kept. And any today who advocate that God's people must literally resume keeping any of the Jewish economy's types, are actually denying that Christ is the Messiah, the antitype of all in the Jewish economy!

Christ realized He was the antitype of the Jewish feasts, etc., and hence, during His ministry, He did not keep many of the feasts; yet Christ was not a commandment breaker--He was "without sin" (Hebrews 4:15).

"As the sons of Joseph made preparation to attend the Feast of Tabernacles, they saw that Christ made no movement signifying His intention of attending. They watched Him with anxiety. Since the healing at Bethesda He had not attended the national gatherings." Desire of Ages, p 450.

"Christ was the foundation of the whole Jewish economy, which was a symbol prescribed in type for the religious faith and obedience of all people" Manuscript 130, November 27, 1901 (Manuscript Release #499, p 1).

"We have yet to learn that the whole Jewish economy is a compacted prophecy of the gospel. It is the gospel in figures..." Manuscript 130, November 23, 1897 (Manuscript Release #313, p 1).

"They (Jews) did not realize that type met antitype in the death of Jesus Christ....they could not see the perfect fulfillment of the Jewish economy, instituted and established by Christ and pointing to Him as the substance." Fundamentals of Christian Education, p 398.

"Judaizing teachers were opposing the work of the Apostle (Paul), and seeking to destroy the fruit of his labors....

"Thus the emissaries of Judaism succeeded in alienating many of the Christian converts from their teacher in the gospel. Having gained this point, they induced them to return to the observance of the ceremonial law as essential to salvation....Christ, the true foundation, was virtually renounced for the obsolete ceremonies of Judaism." Life of Paul, p 188-90.

There were also differences between the feast sabbaths and the seventh day Sabbath. On the feasts sabbaths booths of tree branches (during the feasts of tabernacles) could be built (Leviticus 23:39-42). Or you could prepare or cook your food (Exodus 12:14-20). But on the seventh day Sabbath not even sticks were to be gathered (Numbers 15:32-36). Also on the seventh day Sabbath all of you food was to be prepared and cooked on the sixth day, or the preparation day, before the seventh day Sabbath (Exodus 16:33). Also the feast sabbaths were written by the finger of Moses and placed in the side of the ark of the testimony (Deuteronomy 31:26) showing that these were temporary. While the seventh day Sabbath was written by the finger of God and placed in the middle of the ark of the testimony underneath the mercy seat (Exodus 30:5 and Exodus 40:20) showing that these were eternal. So clearly the feast sabbaths and the seventh day Sabbath are not the same. The feast sabbaths were a shadow or type to be done away with at Christ's death, while the seventh day Sabbath was not a shadow but was to continue on after Christ's death.

And yes Paul did state, "Let us keep the feast" (1 Corinthians 5:8). But keep it, how? Literally or spiritually? It was not literally but spiritually because he continues, "Neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

And yes Sister White writes that well would it be for the people of God at the present time to have a feast of tabernacles (Patriarchs and Prophets, p 540). But was she stating that we should keep this feast today literally or spiritually? The whole context here is the great benefit that the children of Israel received because they associated together. So she said, "We sustain loss when we neglect the privilege of associating together to strengthen and encourage one another in the service of God and we decline in spirituality." Patriarchs and Prophets, p 540-541.

Ellen White did not advocate keeping the feast days literally today, but advocated not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together on other days than just the Sabbath day. She referred to the blessings received when God's people associated together anciently as an example. That is why she states in Testimonies, vol 6, p 39-40 that the holy convocations today for God's people are not the literal convocations or feast days of ancient Israel but are the camp-meetings. So camp-meetings for God's people today are the equivalent of the feast days, or the holy convocations, of ancient Israel.

Now some will then state that it was only the animal sacrifices or offerings that were done away with and that is why we still keep the feast days today. But circumcision was not an animal sacrifice, nor was it an offering. It was a law or type to be performed just like the feast or other non-sacrificial types until the anti-type came. And after Christ's death circumcision then took on a spiritual meaning, meaning to circumcise your hearts. And the same with the feasts. They are very important spiritually today, pointing to Christ as the Messiah and His ministry, but are not literally to be kept under the penalty of sin.

So just like with the law of circumcision being advocated anciently, if any come unto you today telling you that, Ye must keep the feasts and, they are only troubling God's people with words, and are trying to subvert and Judaize souls. And you can quote to them the same words in Galatians 5:1, 2 that you are to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made you free and that you are not to be entangled again in the yoke of bondage. "And behold I say unto you that if ye keep the feasts Christ shall profit you nothing." There is no harm in transposing the word feasts for circumcision because it's the very same principle found in Galatians 5:1, 2.

If any one today keeps the feasts Christ shall profit you nothing, and your spiritual exercises are an affront and insult to God!

"...Christ discharged His disciples from the cares and burdens of the ancient Jewish obligations in rites and ceremonies. These no longer possessed any virtue; for type was meeting antitype in Himself, the authority and foundation of all Jewish ordinances...

"It was Christ's desire to leave to His disciples an ordinance that would do for them the very thing they needed--that would serve to disentangle them from the rites and ceremonies which they had hitherto engaged in as essential, and which the reception of the gospel made no longer of any force. To continue these rites would be an insult to Jehovah." Bible Commentary, vol 5, p 1139-1140.

Anciently, each feast day occurred at a specific time each year, and corresponded to the work of the high priest in either the first or the second apartment of the sanctuary. There was to be no feast day which overlapped onto another feast day (i.e. the feast of Tabernacles being celebrated during Passover), but each had their specific set period corresponding to the sanctuary service. Since Christ, our High Priest, has entered into the second apartment, or the most holy place, in the heavenly sanctuary, signalling that we are now in the antitypical day of Atonement, then for anyone to advocate that we should keep any other feast day during this antitypical day of Atonement, are seeking to overlap feast days. Thus they are actually denying that we are in the antitypical day of Atonement, and are declaring that Christ is no longer interceeding in the most holy place! So today, there are to be no feast days celebrated while Christ is interceeding in the most holy place during this antitypical day of Atonement! But after Christ's ministerial work is ended, and the antitypical day of Atonement is ended, and we are living on the new earth, there is recorded that we will resume keeping certain feast days--such as the feast of the New Moon (see Isaiah 66:23).

Besides, we are in captivity and strangers in this world until Christ comes to free us and take us to heaven, and then give us the new earth after the wicked are forever destroyed by the cleansing fire of God. Anciently, the Jews could not keep the feasts while under captivity, but resumed after they were freed and in their promised land. The same today!

"During the captivity of the Jews, they could not be observed; but when the people were restored to their own land, the observance of these memorials was once more begun." Desire of Ages, p 447.

Do you want to be held in bondage to the types in the Jews religion and continue hindering the gospel of Christ, or do you want to be free in Jesus Christ--the Antitype--and work to spread the true gospel and hasten the coming of our Saviour?

"Some in the church were still striving to mold Christianity after the old customs and ceremonies that were to pass away at the death of Christ....They saw that they had been held in bondage by the Jewish customs and traditions, and that the work of the gospel had been greatly hindered..."

Life of Paul, p 211

[ May 14, 2004, 10:41 AM: Message edited by: Claudia Thompson ]