Is Observing the Biblical Feasts a Sin?

One question one might ask would be "how could observing the Biblical feasts be a sin?"  The answer to that is rather simple:  If God gave specific instructions in his law concerning their observance, and we observe them outside of those instructions, then the observance itself is a sin.  Which would also mean that if it is currently impossible to meet those conditions, then observing the feast would always be a sin.  But surely this can't be the case, right?

Well, someone cited Deuteronomy 12 as the proof that this is exactly the case for all of the feasts in Torah.  And since we're supposed to test everything [1 Thessalonians 5:21], this naturally includes seemingly counter-intuitive claims like the one someone made somewhere around the time of the Feast of Tabernacles.  Oh, and also our own stances on the observance of these days.  And whenever we find that something we are doing is a sin, we should stop doing it.  The relevant passage starts in verse 5 of Deuteronomy 12:

[5] But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go. [6] There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. [7] And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you. [Deuteronomy 12:5-7; NKJV]

It's pretty clear from these verses that everyone shall bring their offerings up to a single place where Yahweh chooses to put his name.  From there to verse 28, we are warned not to make any tithes, offerings, or sacrifices in any place except that which Yahweh chooses to put his name.  But that we can freely eat meat anywhere we desire so long as we do not eat the blood.  Yahweh's appointed times certainly have requirements to bring sacrifices and offerings.  So at the very least, if one cannot make it to whatever place Yahweh chose to put his name, then it is sinful to offer said offerings.  Note that from Deuteronomy 12 alone, it would be the offerings that are sinful to offer, not the observance of the feasts.  To see if there are any commandments that would make observing the feasts themselves sinful, we must look to the commandments concerning those feasts.

Before we look into these commandments, one might be tempted to simply invoke Deuteronomy 12:32 and/or Deuteronomy 5:32 and be done with it.  But invoking these verses in this instance wouldn't do much good on their own.  For example, it may be viewed that the claim that we should only observe the feasts in Jerusalem (the place Yahweh chose to put his name) is adding to God's commandments.  Invoking Deuteronomy 12:32 in this instance would actually backfire for the person making such a claim as it would appear to others like he/she is themselves adding to Yahweh's law.  Likewise, invoking Deuteronomy 5:32 and leaving it at that would simply beg the question:  "How are we deviating from God's commandments?"

Anyone who invokes Deuteronomy 12:32 challenges their opponent to prove that their claims of what is or is not sinful is not an addition to or subtraction from Torah.  But anyone who invokes Deuteronomy 5:32 must be able to back up their claims with Torah or will themselves be on the receiving end of the Deuteronomy 12:32 challenge.  By the way, Deuteronomy 5:32 would definitely apply to observing Yahweh's feasts outside of the rules that he established in his Law.  So let's now take a look at what the Law says concerning these feasts.

The first relevant passage is in Leviticus 23, which opens by declaring that the feasts contained within that chapter are Yahweh's feasts.  In other words, those feasts and only those feasts are to be used to honor God.  And yes, that does mean even Hanukah and Purim should not be used to honor God.  In this chapter, there is no hint that there is only to be one place where the feasts are celebrated.  But that doesn't mean there aren't any.  It's just not here.  There are however, in Exodus 12:43-49, instructions concerning who may or may not eat the Passover.  But also no instructions on any one specific place.

Then we have Numbers 9:1-14, which concern how the Passover is to be kept if one is not able to do so at the appointed time.  This also does not specify a single place where the Passover is to be observed.  It does however, not give any requirements for keeping the Feast of Unleavened bread that comes immediately afterwards.  Numbers 28-29 have the most comprehensive set of instructions concerning Yahweh's appointed times, but again, there is no indication that they are to be celebrated only in one place.  But we haven't finished going through Torah to see if there are any instructions that would prohibit us from observing these times outside of that one place.  However, the commands in Deuteronomy 12 concerning the offerings would definitely make impossible to fully-observe the feasts outside of that one place.

Deuteronomy 16 is where we start seeing instructions explicitly restricting where we may observe Yahweh's appointed times.  So let's just quickly list-off the feast, the verses, and the type of restriction of location (if any).

1. Passover [Deuteronomy 16:1-8]:  Passover must be sacrificed at the location God chooses.
2. Feast of First Fruits:  No location restrictions.
3. New Moon Feasts:  No location restrictions.
4. Feast of Weeks [Deuteronomy 16:9-12]:  Must be observed at the location God chooses.
5. Feast of Trumpets:  No location restrictions.
6. Day of Atonement:  No location restrictions.
7. Feast of Tabernacles [Deuteronomy 16:13-17]:  Must be observed at the location God chooses.

Well, there we have it!  Three of the feasts are only to be observed at the location that Yahweh chooses.  The Passover, the Feast of Weeks (aka:  Pentecost), and the Feast of Tabernacles.  There is no indication that any of the special Sabbaths may be ignored if one cannot come to the location God chooses.  As for the rest of the observance, it is indeed a sin to observe those three feasts outside of the place God chooses.  And the place that Yahweh chose to put his name is Jerusalem.  Today, most people simply cannot go to Jerusalem three times a year.  But there is coming a time when all nations will go up for the Feast of Tabernacles [Zechariah 14:16-19].

By the way, I was not expecting these results in the slightest.

Easter Sunday vs the Feast First Fruits

Here's an interesting fact:  Easter and the Feast of First Fruits are on the same day this year.  But the former is pagan while the latter is what Yahweh commanded.  Even if Easter wasn't pagan, God is very specific in Deuteronomy 12 that we are to serve him only as he commanded us to serve him.  Deuteronomy 12 also forbids claiming pagan holidays for God.  And in fact, it forbids claiming any pagan practice or tradition for God.

Before we get into the pagan origins of Easter and the surrounding traditions, let's talk a bit about the Feast of First Fruits, and how our Lord Yeshua fits into this biblical holy day.  The Feast of First Fruits was instituted by Yahweh in Leviticus 23:9-14.  On that day, the first fruits of all of the crops are to be presented as an offering to Yahweh.  This is to happen the day after the Sabbath that comes after the Passover.  All the first fruits of the field are set apart to Yahweh.

Yeshua, having died to pay the penalty for our sins, and having risen from the dead, is the first fruits of those who will be raised at the resurrection of the righteous (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).  Yeshua is the first fruits of the redeemed.  This is why, as mentioned in my previous post, Yeshua rose at the very start of the Feast of First Fruits (that is, what we would call Saturday evening, which is the end of the Sabbath).  Yahweh does nothing by accident!  First Fruits points us directly to Yeshua.  So does Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Sabbath, etc.  Every one of Yahweh's appointed times points directly to our Lord and Savior, Yeshua the Messiah!

Even the very word "Easter" is pagan in origin, being derived from the name of the Proto-Germanic goddess of fertility, which also traces all the way back to the Babylonian fertility goddess, Ishtar.  It's just a chain of cultures pronouncing the name of the same false god slightly differently from the other cultures.  Same name, same false god, but different language and pronunciation.  Now if even the name is of pagan origin, then what about the rest of the celebration and its various traditions?  Also, in Exodus 23:13, Yahweh makes it clear that these names are never, ever to be spoken of!

Things get even worse for this "holiday".  Because historically, Easter and Passover have sometimes been portrayed as being the same thing.  Considering the fact that Passover is when Yeshua died while Easter is supposedly when he rose from the dead, it should be clear that they are definitely not the same thing.  The timing of the two days are also based on different calendars, with the exception that Easter is sometimes moved if it lands on the same day as Passover.  Passover is a feast of remembrance of Yahweh's judgement passing over the Israelites when they were in Egypt.  Yahweh later used this to symbolize his judgement passing over those who believe in Yeshua.  Easter, on the other hand, is all about satisfying the desires of the flesh under the pretense of remembering Yeshua's resurrection.

Also, there is also no link between the word "Easter" and language-specific variants for the Hebrew word "pasakh".  But the variants of "pasakh" do follow the same pattern:  Different pronunciations of the same thing:  Passover!

What about the eggs and rabbits?  Those are symbols of fertility.  The pagans worshiped fertility itself rather than the One who made mankind fertile.  These obviously have nothing to do with the resurrection of Yeshua.  And their pagan origins means we should not be using them in remembrance of Yeshua, as per Deuteronomy 12.  Yet for some reason, every year, Christians everywhere hold "egg hunts" for the children.

And if you think the connections couldn't get any worse, the red Easter egg represents the blood of the infants that were burned alive on the altars of the pagan gods!  They would then dip eggs into the blood of these infants.  The pagans were just that evil!  The Church has "Christianized" this to represent the blood of Yeshua instead.  This is obviously not acceptable in the eyes of Yahweh.

The timing of the holiday also has pagan roots.  The Sunday after the first Full Moon after the Spring Equinox.  Let's just say that the pagans love their full moon!  The pagans also love the Spring Equinox and Winter Solstice.  And let's not forget that Sunday got its name because the pagans honor their sun gods by naming the first day of the week after the sun.  Whoever observes Sunday as the Sabbath worships the sun, not God.

The only thing about Easter where the pagan connections are merely a coincidence (if you can call it that) is the pagan stories of their gods being resurrected by other gods at this time of year.  That tells us why the pagan "converts" to "Christianity" decided to celebrate Yeshua's resurrection on this day rather than the Feast of Frist Fruits.  However, the pagan stories are nothing like the historical resurrection of Yeshua.  I'll leave you with "Truth or Tradition" by Pastor Jim Staley (from before his fall), and the more accurate "The Christmas Question" by 119 Ministries.

Bad Friday, Good Passover

Today is one of the instances where Good Friday and Passover land on the same day, in spite of the fact that the Catholic Church tried so hard to make sure that this didn't happen.  Good Friday is allegedly the day that Yeshua (Jesus) died.  The alleged date of this death is Friday, March 25, A.D. 33.  There are a few problems with this date, however.

First problem:

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. [Matthew 12:40; NKJV]

You can't get 3 days and 3 nights from a Friday burial and Sunday resurrection.  Some will claim that something taking up a part of the day is counted as taking a full day.  But this nullifies what Yeshua said concerning his (then) upcoming death and resurrection.  When you see something like what we have in the above passage, it means a specific number of full days and full nights.  In this case, 3 full periods of daylight and 3 full periods of night.  But from what we would call Friday evening to Sunday morning only gives 1 day and 2 nights in the grave.

But let's be a little generous and say that part of a period of daylight counts as the full daylight period, and part of a period of night counts as the full period of night.  How many days and nights would he be in the grave for given a Friday burial (just before or at sundown) and a Sunday resurrection?  2 days and 2 nights!  Yeshua would have to have died on Thursday in order for this to count as 3 days and 3 nights when using this unbiblical counting method.

So, what would a Thursday burial give us when requiring the full length of the daylight and night periods?  2 days and 3 nights.  Just one daylight period short of the full 72-hour period that he said he would be in the grave for.  So what would it take to get 3 days and 3 nights?  A Wednesday death with burial at sundown, and a resurrection on what we would call Saturday evening.  They would call it the evening of the first day.

Second problem:

The biblical new year is in the month of Aviv, which is now called Nisan (yes, the Hebrew calendar has been paganized).  Passover is on the 14th of Aviv.  This year, it happens to be today.  Take a look at where the 14th of Aviv lands in the year of A.D. 33.  It lands on Friday, April 1.  Good Friday didn't even land on the correct Friday that year!  It's exactly one week off.

Now, let's address a common argument used to defend the tradition of Good Friday:  That the next day was the Sabbath.  The fact of the matter is that the day after Passover is always a Sabbath, regardless of which day Passover falls on.  Aviv 14 is Passover, and Aviv 15 is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  This day is what is known as a "special Sabbath".  Aviv 21 is the 7th and last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  It too is a special Sabbath.  So no matter which day of the week Passover falls on, the next day is still a special Sabbath.  The relevant passage is Leviticus 23:4-8.

Also, John 19:31 actually states that the next day was a special Sabbath.  While it's true that a special Sabbath can land on the weekly Sabbath, a special Sabbath can also land on any other day of the week.  There are a total of 7 special sabbaths in Torah.  Those that use the argument that it must be Friday because the next day is the Sabbath show that they do not understand Scripture.

The third problem is that Yeshua did not die in A.D. 33.  He died in A.D. 30.

Here is A.D. 30.  Notice the start of Aviv.  And notice where Aviv 14 lands.  It lands on Wednesday, April 3.  This is the exact day that it needs to land on in order to fulfill Yeshua's prophesy about him being in the ground 3 days and 3 nights.  Note that the Last Supper happened on what we would call Tuesday evening or Tuesday night.

Here is the sequence of events that happened:  On Tuesday night, Yeshua eats supper with his disciples for the last time.  He then goes out with his disciples to the Mount of Olives to pray.  It is there he is arrested.  The following morning, Yeshua is sentenced to death and sent to Golgotha where he is crucified.

At sunset, he is buried and the tomb is sealed.  The special Sabbath begins shortly thereafter.  On Thursday, nobody is working because of the special Sabbath.  After this, probably on Friday, a couple of women make plans to anoint Yeshua's body after the weekly Sabbath.  They don't do it today because it is preparation day for the weekly Sabbath, and they won't have enough time before the weekly Sabbath starts.

Finally, on what we call Saturday evening, Yeshua rises from the dead and is discovered the following morning.  This is the Feast of First Fruits, and Yeshua is the First Fruits of the dead.  It also fulfills his Matthew 12:40 prophesy.

Fourth problem:

Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it. [Deuteronomy 12:32; NKJV]

This is pretty straight-forward:  We are to serve Yahweh the way he commands us to serve him.  We are not to serve him our own way.

Good Friday seems to be an exception to the rule that the Catholic Church hijacks everything (don't count on that though).  A read through Scripture reveals that the disciples were not specific that Yeshua was in the ground 3 full days and 3 full nights.  They were also typically not specific on the time of day of his death and resurrection.  This lack of specificity, if continued, would naturally result in people believing that Yeshua was crucified on Friday and raised on Sunday.  And since I can't find anything on the exact origins of Good Friday, I'm going to conclude that this is what happened, and that the Catholic Church just ran with it.  And I also found that the name "Good Friday" is less than 800 years old.

If you want to remember Yeshua's death on the day that he died, then you should celebrate Passover according to all of the rules laid out in Exodus 12:43-49.  If you don't want to do that, that's fine.  Yeshua gave us something to remember his death by that nobody does.  It's called the "Lord's Supper".  This has been replaced with a cracker and one-ounce cup of grape juice called "Communion".  Also, Yeshua simply said "do this in remembrance of me."  So we can do this as often as we want.