BIBLICAL TRUTH
LOUISE SWART
NO TO ANY FORM OF REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY.
Does it make any sense that The Father would command His Feasts forever -- and enforce them in the future Millennial Kingdom on pain of plague -- and not have them binding today? Many today accept and cherishes the enemy's substitute worship days and instructions.
Only in the Scriptures can we find the truth about Yahweh's will for worship. The Appointed Times are all about the Messiah. The Spring Feasts have been fulfilled in Yeshua's first coming. Yahweh's plan for the feasts is to fulfill all of His great promises and the Fall Feasts have yet to be fulfilled!
Paul condemned the new believers in Galatians for continuing to observe "days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain" (Galatians 4:10-11). Notice, days, months, seasons and years are names for pagan feasts. Contrast that with Colossians 2:16, "Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day." These are the names for His Appointed Times.
The Romans 14:5 verse was written to be fully convinced in their own minds about whether to observe EXTRA FAST DAYS or not. Even the Jews themselves had different convictions about the observance of those days--because those fast days were never commanded by the LORD. Romans 14:5 is about "personal convictions" and "personal scruples" but it's in the context of Old Testament Scripture. The "days" Paul was referring to were the traditional fast days mentioned in Zechariah 7:5-6, not commanded days. Yet in verses 11-12, “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD Almighty was very angry".
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Context is important when reading Scripture, especially about celebrations or feast days. Who is addressed? What words are used?
Paul is speaking to Gentiles, "Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe DAYS and MONTHS and SEASONS and YEARS! I am afraid I may have laboured over you in vain (Galatians 4:8-11). Notice the wording "days and months and seasons and years". These words, days, months and years, are referring to pagan days.
Paul is speaking to Jews, “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or concerning a FESTIVAL, a NEW MOON celebration or a SABBATH day” (Colossians 2:16). Paul is referring to the Appointed Times. Notice the different words he used are names for the LORD’s Appointed Times: Festival, New Moon, Sabbath.
We keep the Appointed Times (which all point to the Messiah) the best we can, because Yeshua did and we are to do what He did (Matthew 16:24-26; Mark 8:34-37; Luke 14:23-25). Yeshua did NOT abolish the Law, including the Appointed Times (Matthew 5:17). If you teach against the Law, you will be called least in the Kingdom; If you love Yeshua, you keep His Commandments (John 14:15).
The Feast days hold a wealth of lessons, and they unlock important truths. They are also keys to prophetic events as they explain the plan and purpose of the Saviour’s coming and His role as our King.
The Most High God/Elohim has a schedule of appointments with His people. Elohim has given us instructions on how He wants to be worshipped and what days we are to keep.
Moedim are the LORD's "Appointed Times", not the Jews (Leviticus 23:2). These are set apart times in which Jesus/Yeshua is pictured. The entire Master Plan of Yahweh revolves around His Anointed One, the Messiah. Yeshua’s life, ministry, sacrificial death, resurrection, and role as King of the age to come is the focal point of Yahweh’s grand purpose on earth.
It should come as no surprise that every aspect of Yeshua’s role as Messiah is ordered according to Yahweh’s Appointed Times. Yahweh has a purpose, an order and a design. The Most High God/Elohim has a schedule of appointments with His people. Elohim has given us instructions on how He wants to be worshipped and what days we are to keep.
Messiah came and gave us a full understanding of the springtime festivals of the Bible, and He has promised to come again and also fulfil the fall festivals. As we are in the End Times, it seems all the more important that we begin to understand the LORD’s Moedim, as the Fall Feasts picture the Last Days. Jesus/Yeshua the Messiah promised to keep the Passover in the Kingdom with His disciples (Matthew 26:29, Mark 14:25, Luke 22:18, 30).
His Feasts were just as much a part of His law as the Ten Commandments. Let us be like the Apostle Paul, who said, "I must by all means keep this feast."
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (John 15:19).
“If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet, because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (1 John 15:19).
The LORD's Appointed Times:
Passover/Pesach (includes/Unleavened Bread & First Fruits), Pentecost/Shavout, Trumpets/Yom Teruah, Atonement/Yom Kippur, Tabernacles/Sukkot, and the Sabbath.
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