The True Importance of Biblical Holy Days
It is not the Jewishness of the Holy Days that is meaningful to God. It is the Christ-centered symbolism of the Biblical Holy Days that is important to God. First of all, let us not forget that it was the one who became flesh and blood, Jesus of Nazareth, who was the God that dealt with Moses and the Israelites. The Holy Days symbolize God’s plan for all mankind.
1 Corinthians 10:1-4 (NKJV), “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.”
Never forget that Jesus Christ was the God of the Old Testament who dictated the laws and Holy Days to Moses. The Lamb whose blood saved the people of God on the Passover looked forward to the sacrifice of Jesus (Exodus 12). The Holy Days are clearly Christ centered.
John 5:38-40 (RSV), “And you do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He has sent. You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to Me; yet you refuse to come to Me that you may have life.”
Jesus told the religious leaders of His nation that they could not see the forest for the trees. They studied the scriptures vigorously, but their minds and hearts were blinded. They could not see the real theme of the Old Testament which was Christ Jesus. He was right before them with the pathway to salvation and they could not, or would not, see the truth. The theme of the Old Testament and the New Testament is Jesus! All the Bible is about the Messiah (Christ). Therefore the biblical Holy Days also are about Jesus Christ. Never forget the words of Jesus, that all Sabbaths –– annual as well as weekly –– are for mankind’s benefit.
Mark 2:27, “And he said to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath;”
How Holy Days are Christ-Centered
First, the New Testament Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread are obviously about Jesus, the true and ultimate Lamb of God. Counting Pentecost starts with the wave-sheaf offering (Lev. 23:15-17) which Jesus performed during the Days of Unleavened Bread (John 20:17). This led to His followers receiving the power of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost (Acts 2). Pentecost is tied to the resurrection of Jesus and the empowering of the Church.
John 15:26-27, “But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to Me; and you also are witnesses, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”
The death and resurrection of Jesus empowered His church in helping lead many to salvation. Pentecost is all about receiving power to fulfill the Church’s mission.
John 16:7, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”
Therefore when believers keep the New Testament memorial of Jesus’ death and later His resurrection we are focused on Christ. The Feast of Unleavened Bread focuses us on trying to be completely unleavened, or repentant, in appreciation of Jesus. Pentecost is also about the Church of God, the smaller, early harvest in this first era of time.
The Fall Holy Days are about the yet future work of the Messiah or Christ. The Feast of Trumpets foreshadows the momentous second coming of Jesus to take this evil world by storm. A trumpet will blast and Jesus –– on a figurative white horse –– will come again, this time in power to usher in His kingdom.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord.”
This coming in power will usher in the millennial reign of Christ and His saints, represented by the Feast of Tabernacles. This thousand years of plenty and perfect governance is pictured in the Fall Holy Days. It is a period when mankind will be “At One” with God. This leads to the Day of Atonement.
Revelation 5:8-10 (NKJV), “Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.’”
Why Does The World Dismiss God’s Holy Days?
Why do nominal Christians keep worldly holidays like Easter, Christmas and Halloween? What parts of the Bible do they misunderstand? Remember that when Protestant churches left Catholicism they were still wrong on many issues. They believe that God’s law was “nailed to the cross.” However, if there is no law, then none of us could be sinners. If in 31 AD Jesus annulled the laws of God, then we do not need grace today! What was actually nailed to the stake, according to Paul’s letter to the Colossians in 64 AD?
Colossians 2:14-15 (RSV), “Having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this He set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in Him.”
Jesus canceled the indictment or bond against us for having broken God’s laws. You were guilty, but now someone has paid the price and erased the guilt which was against us.
Romans 3:31, “Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.”
Romans 6:1-2, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”
Remember that sin is the breaking of God’s law: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4).
Therefore, based on these verses, the only thing that could have been nailed to the stake was our indictment for breaking the law –– for being a lawless sinner.
Colossians 2:14 (KJV), “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;”
A person who was indicted by the city attorney for violating a felony law and had the indictment erased or “blotted out” would consider it a victory. Jesus has, through his sacrifice, erased or blotted out our guilt along with the penalty for breaking God’s spiritual laws. It is a victory for the defense!
Colossians 2:15 (NKJV), “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”
If someone was believed to be guilty of a crime and through a process be found innocent, the indictment would be blotted out. Paul is saying Jesus has done this for His believers. Our guilt was nailed to the stake, not the law.
Numbers 5:23 (KJV), “And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water:”
The next scripture is commonly misunderstood and taken as an end to God’s Holy Day observances. Paul is saying to all church members, “Do not let the ascetic, worldly pressures from outside the Church cause you to stop enjoying feasting on Holy Days and the Sabbaths.” Some false teachers may have applied pressure from inside the Church as well. Why would anyone care what believers ate and drank? Worldly philosophies is why! Ascetics believe that self-imposed suffering and denial of good things for the body makes them righteous.
Colossians 2:16-23 (NKJV), “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head…
“Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations –– ‘Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,’ which all concern things which perish with the using –– according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.”
If for nearly an entire generation they had been divorced from these biblical Holy Days, there would be no reason to tell them now not to observe them. It would have been a nonissue. But worldly churches think that is exactly what Paul is saying. Instead, Paul is saying not to let criticism or pressure stop you from keeping God’s Holy Days because they are a guide to the plan of God, both past and future. They are based on the shadow of Christ. This is a wonderful thing! Note also that the New Testament church was actually keeping these Holy Days. For examples of Paul observing the various Feasts, see I Corinthians 5:6-9; 16:8 and Acts 12:3; 18:21; 20:6; 27:9.
Jesus and His Apostles kept these Holy Days so why shouldn’t believers do so now? If we fail to keep them, we will miss a great amount of spiritual inspiration and guidance.
