Holy Days

                                                           by Bruce Timpany

{{ Dear Friends and Fellow Servants }}}We are living in extraordinary times. Today, just as in the days of Isaiah, truth is fallen in the street; and judgment is turned away backward. On every front the truths of scripture are arrogantly disparaged while the wisdom and pagan customs of man is exalted and received as authoritative, and without question. We have a choice. We can choose the feast days instituted by YHWH or the holidays substituted by men. The choices we make affect our destiny and impact our relationship with our Creator.
'These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.
The first four of the Seven Feasts of the Lord have already been fulfilled. They were fulfilled in spectacular fashion. They were fulfilled right on the auspicious Hebrew calendar dates on which they have been celebrated in times past, the same dates that will be celebrated forever more. The three spring feasts were fulfilled by Jesus our Saviour. And the summer Feast of Pentecost was fulfilled as well. It was fulfilled by the Holy Spirit 2,000 years ago. Here is the situation so far.

SPRING FEASTS

1. Passover Fulfilled! (By Jesus/Yeshua at His crucifixion on Nisan 14 in the spring of 32 A.D.)
2. Feast of Unleavened Bread Fulfilled! (By Jesus/Yeshua at His burial in the tomb on Nisan 15 in the spring of 32 A.D.)
3. Feast of Firstfruits Fulfilled! (By Jesus/Yeshua at His Resurrection on Nisan 17 in the spring of 32 A.D.)
4. Feast of Pentecost Fulfilled! (By the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost on Sivan 7 in the summer of 32 A.D.)- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (A gap of 2000 years or so has allowed the Light of Israel to . go forth into the nations for the Gentiles to be evangelized- - - - - - - - WE ARE HERE - - - - - - - - - Now here come the Fall Feasts. They are just up ahead.
FALL FEASTS
5. The Feast of Trumpets Unfulfilled ....(as of yet).
6. The Day of Atonement Unfulfilled ....(as of yet).
7. The Feast of TabernaclesUnfulfilled ....(as of yet). Tishrei 15 will come five days after that final epic Day of Atonement. This will mark the coming of Messiah to tabernacle with His covenant people. Thus begins the long awaited 1000 year Millennium of Messiah.
Deuteronomy/12:30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.12:31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods.
Over the last two millennia, traditional Christianity has systematically laid aside the "feast days of the Lord" and established its own holidays. Christmas was established to enable pagan converts to come into church fellowship without forsaking their heathen customs and practices. Easter is a replacement for the biblical Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread.
Even the weekly Sabbath was abandoned in favor of Sunday, the pagan day of the sun, supposedly to commemorate Jesus' resurrection , it took place not on Sunday morning but at the end of the weekly Sabbath at sunset Saturday).
Although we should immediately recognize that overruling God's instructions is dangerous behavior, let's consider, from the biblical record, whether such inventions and alterations are acceptable worship to our Creator God.
Changing God's instructions
When God began working with the ancient Israelites, He intended they set an example of obedience to Him for the nations around them (Deuteronomy 4:1, 6-8). They were to be a model nation, showing other peoples that God's way of life produces abundant blessings. Their experiences serve as continuing examples for us (1 Corinthians 10:1-11).
During their years in Egypt, the Israelites were exposed to Egyptian culture and worship. Notice whatUnger's Bible Dictionary says about this culture: "The Egyptian religion was an utterly bewildering polytheistic conglomeration in which many deities of the earliest periods, when each town had its own deity, were retained …
"Every object beheld, every phenomenon of nature, was thought to be indwelt by a spirit which could choose its own form, occupying the body of a crocodile, a fish, a cow, a cat, etc. Hence the Egyptians had numerous holy animals, principally the bull, the cow, the cat, the baboon, the jackal, and the crocodile" (1966, p. 291, "Egypt").
Shortly after miraculously delivering the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt, God instructed them how He wanted to be worshipped. He gave them His commandments (Exodus 20), along with statutes and judgments detailing how to apply them (Exodus 21-22). God revealed His feast days (Exodus 23:14-17; Leviticus 23) and gave directions regarding a priesthood, tabernacle and offerings (Exodus 25-31). God told Moses to climb Mount Sinai and gave him two tablets of stone engraved with the Ten Commandments (Exodus 24:12; 31:18).
When Moses didn't come down from Mount Sinai for some time (Exodus 32:1), the people prodded his brother Aaron into fashioning an idol for them to worship. They essentially mixed the Egyptian form of worship with the instructions they had just received from God. The practice of blending religious beliefs and practices is known as syncretism.
After creating a golden image of a calf, Aaron proclaimed the next day a holiday—"a feast to the Lord" (verses 4-5). They then "rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry" (verse 6, NIV). This celebration combined God's instruction with Egyptian religious practice and tradition.
We are not told why the Israelites chose this mix of worship. Perhaps they thought it was not a good idea to abandon all the familiar forms of worship at once and they simply practiced what they were accustomed to from their years immersed in Egyptian culture. Whatever their thinking, God was not pleased. He told Moses: "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them" (verses 7-8, NIV).
God shows from His Word that He expects more from those who claim to follow Him. He wants people to worship Him "in spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24)—not with corrupted, vile practices rooted in the worship of other gods.
Consequences of futile worship
The Israelites were in no way justified in departing from the God-ordained instructions introduced in the wilderness. God was so angered by their actions that He was ready to destroy the nation (Exodus 32:10). Only on Moses' pleadings did God relent and spare them (verses 11-14).
Ancient Israel's experiment with combining parts of God's instruction with pagan customs and elements was a disaster. In punishment for this sin, 3,000 men lost their lives (verses 27-28). Those who weren't killed had to drink water polluted with the ground-up idol, pulverized into powder (verse 20).
Being presumptuous—taking unauthorized liberty to do things such as altering God's instructions for worship—is sinful. The Bible describes the Israelites' actions as "a great sin" (verses 21, 30, 31). God's law is clear concerning presumptuous behavior (Numbers 15:30-31).
The principle holds true today among God's people. Once we come to understand His truth, we have an obligation to take steps to obey Him. We recognize that the instruction and examples in His Word were recorded for our spiritual instruction and benefit (1 Corinthians 10:6, 11; Romans 15:4)
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