Christian Holy Days – Discover Jesus Christ in the Feasts of the LORD

What are Christian Holy Days? Aren’t they Christmas and Easter? Whether you’re Christian or not, there is a good chance that you’ve at least heard of and/or participated in Christmas and Easter, yet few Christians are familiar with the Feasts of the LORD (sometimes called appointed times, Feast Days, or Holy Days). What are these Feasts of the LORD (Leviticus 23) and why are they largely ignored and/or unknown to most Christians?

In addition to offering several resources on the Christian Holy Days, we also provide a helpful page dealing with common objections to the Christian observance of the Feast Days. You may also want to contact us and share your thoughts and/or questions related to the Feasts of the LORD.

What are the Feasts of the LORD?

Holy Days of Leviticus 23: The Divine Appointments

Richard (Aharon) Chaimberlin - June 12, 2015

We have encountered books with such titles as “The Feasts of Israel.” Such books can be enjoyed by Christians because they are designed to teach lessons of the Holy Days, but without actually expecting anyone to observe or celebrate these days. However, Scripturally these days are not called ”the Feasts of Israel.” In the King James Bible, in Leviticus 23:2, they are called “the feasts of the LORD,” not the “feasts of Israel.” In the original Hebrew, they are called “Mo’edei YHWH.” A “mo’ed” is an appointed time.

From Passover to Easter – Ronald L. Dart

Ronald Dart - June 2, 2015

Occasionally, when I have said that “Easter” is nowhere mentioned in Bible, someone reminds me of the incident where Herod has arrested Peter and put him in prison, “intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people” (Acts 12:4). The problem is that the Greek word translated “Easter” is the Greek Pascha which, everywhere else it is used in the New Testament, is translated “Passover.” So why, 1600 years later, did the King James translators use Easter instead of Passover here?

The Feast of Passover in the Early Church

Samuele Bacchiocchi - June 11, 2015

The New Testament does not offer us a clear picture of how Passover was observed by the apostolic church. The picture becomes clearer when we come to the second century. Several documents inform us regarding the meaning, manner and time of the observance of the Christian Passover. According to these documents, Christians celebrated Passover at the same time as Jewish Passover, beginning at sundown of Nisan 14 and continuing their vigil until the next morning. For this reason, they are called “Quartodecimans,” the Latin for “fourteeners.”

THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD

Feast of Unleavened Bread in Old and New Testament

Samuele Bacchiocchi - June 11, 2015

The seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread is connected to Passover, since its observance began the day after Passover, Nisan 15th. During the seven days of the feast only unleavened bread could be eaten. While Passover commemorated the night of the deliverance from Egypt, the Feast of Unleavened Bread served to remind devout Jews of the circumstances of the Exodus and symbolized for them God’s call to holy living (Ex 12:39; Deut 16:3; Lev 23:6-8).

The Festival of Unleavened Bread/Chag HaMatzah

John McKee - June 10, 2015

Concurrent with the remembrance of Passover— and in Jewish tradition witnessed in the New Testament and today often just called by the general season “Passover”—is the Festival of Unleavened Bread: “Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work. But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work” (Leviticus 23:6-8).

THE FEAST OF FIRST FRUITS

Feast of First Fruits and the Wave Sheaf

John McKee - June 11, 2015

An important ceremony, known as the waving of the sheaf of first fruits, was to be observed in conjunction with the Festival of Unleavened Bread: “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, “When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it”’” (Leviticus 23:9-11).

Feast of First Fruits in Old and New Testament

The Feast of First Fruits in the Old and New Testament

Samuele Bacchiocchi - June 11, 2015

On the day after Passover the first barley sheaf (known as omer) was waved by the priest before the Lord (Lev 23:11). The ceremony marked the countdown of the fifty days to Pentecost. The purpose of the wave-sheaf offering was to consecrate and inaugurate the Spring grain harvest which lasted about seven weeks until Pentecost (Lev 23:9-14). The first sheaf of the barley harvest was waved before the Lord as a pledge of the full harvest that was to follow. Before the wave-sheaf offering, no reaping of the harvest for personal use could be done (Lev 23:14). A portion of the wave-sheaf was placed on the altar and the rest was eaten by the priest. A male lamb was sacrificed as a burnt offering (Lev 23:12).

THE FEAST OF PENTECOST

Pentecost/Shavuot and the Feast of Weeks

John McKee - June 11, 2015

Beginning during the season of Passover and Unleavened Bread is a counting of weeks to the Festival of Weeks: “You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete Sabbaths [seven full weeks, RSV, NIV, CJB, ESV, et. al.]. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the LORD…On this same day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work. It is to be a perpetual statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations” (Leviticus 23:15-16, 21).

50 Days to Pentecost

Ronald Dart - June 1, 2015

Now when you understand what Pentecost is, it is a wonder it isn't a much bigger thing among Christians. Pentecost was the day, when the Holy Spirit was poured out in power on the early Church. It was the day they baptized 3,000 people in one day (Acts 2:41), I don't think the Church has done that since. It has been called the birthday of the Church and you would think it would be celebrated in fine style. But for most of liberal Protestant Christianity it passes unnoticed.

THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS

The Feast of Trumpets and Judgement Day

Ronald Dart - June 7, 2015

The first three festivals of the year, Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Pentecost, can be seen clearly enough in both Jewish and Christian history. But now the scene begins to change. Of all these appointed festivals of God, the one with the least obvious connection to Christianity is the day the Jews call Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year: "Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD” (Leviticus 23:23-25).

Feast of Trumpets: Yeshua as Messiah and Redeemer

John McKee - June 11, 2015

The first of the Fall moedim is known as Yom Teruah or the Day of Blowing, also commonly called the Feast of Trumpets. Teruah means “shout or blast of war, alarm, or joy” (BDB). All of these definitions play out on Yom Teruah, as God’s people are commanded to have a holy convocation and enjoin themselves to one another. It is to be a day of rest so that we might be properly called into a time of extreme holiness. In Judaism today, Yom Teruah is called Rosh HaShanah and is celebrated as the Civil New Year. In Jewish tradition it was during this time of year that God created the world, and so it will be this time that He will judge the world (b.Rosh HaShanah 27a).

THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

The Day of Atonement and Yeshua our High Priest

John McKee - June 11, 2015

Just as many Christians are familiar with the Festival of Trumpets, many of the same are familiar with Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement, if for any other reason that they know that this is the one day of the year when Jews fast. Yom Kippur is to be a day when God’s people are commanded to “afflict” themselves, usually by fasting, and by spending the day before Him. They should be individually confessing their sins of the previous year, making peace with anyone who has been wronged, and meditating on the future.

Day of Atonement: A Christian Holy Day

Ronald Dart - June 7, 2015

In the Autumn of every year, the Jews celebrate their most solemn festival, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Would it surprise you to learn that Yom Kippur is a Christian holiday as well, that the New Testament church observed the day, only with a different sense of its meaning? Very few Christians take any note of the day at all, and that is surprising, since the day is all about the ministry of Christ. They cheerfully observe Easter which is not in the Bible at all, and ignore the Day of Atonement which is not only biblical, it lies right at the heart of the meaning of the Christian Faith. Maybe it is because observing the Day of Atonement requires a fast, but it is probably because no one ever thinks of it.

THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES

Sukkot: The Feast of Tabernacles

Richard (Aharon) Chaimberlin - June 12, 2015

One of the more interesting of the Holy Days that we are commanded to observe as "a statute forever in all your generations" is the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles). It is observed as a memorial of the times when the Israelites basically "camped out" in the wilderness for forty years. Therefore, booths (sukkas) are constructed with roofs of green, leafy branches that allows the light to go through. Therefore, the instructions, "You shall dwell (teshvu) in booths for seven days..." The shoresh (root word) for "teshvu" is "shev," meaning "sit" or "dwell."

Feast of Tabernacles: The Last Great Festival

John McKee - June 11, 2015

Following Yom Kippur is Sukkot or the Feast of Booths, also called the Feast of Tabernacles. Leviticus 23:42-43 instructed how during Sukkot, “You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths, so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.” This was to be in remembrance of the time when the Lord led the Ancient Israelites out of Egypt and when they would build sukkahs (pl. sukkot) or temporary dwelling places, described by Hertz as being “a hastily-constructed and unsubstantial edifice.”