MAN DESPERATELY NEEDS A REAL SPIRITUAL CONNECTION TO GOD
Biblical Holy Days are beneficial for believers and society as a whole. The first of the Holy Days help us focus on celebrating the sacrifice of Jesus and our commitment to him. The Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread remind us of the personal sacrifice Jesus made for us. It reminds us of our need to struggle for unleavened or sinlessness. Why, because Jesus died for us and covers our sins. This is the core spiritual lesson for all mankind to learn.
1 Corinthians 5:6-8 NKJV 6 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
It is obvious that Paul is telling these primarily gentile believers that they should keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Paul is also saying to purge out (get rid of) the old leaven (sin), that ye may be a new (unleavened) lump (spiritually) as ye are (actually) unleavened. He wrote this to them during the Days of Unleavened Bread. He knew that the church he founded would be keeping these days of unleavened bread. These verses were written to New Covenant Gentile Christians years after Jesus had died and been resurrected. Therefore these verses apply to us as they did to all New Testament Christians.
The second Biblical Holy Day season is Pentecost. It is often called the Birthday of the Church of God. This is the first large mass pouring out of the spirit of God. It is the inauguration or beginning of the work of God. The gospel message started with power on this Biblical Holy Day. It reminds us to use whatever gifts we have to spread the love of God, the message of hope and salvation. This is the first large number of converts in church history.
Matthew 28:18-20 KJV 18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: ...20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
This season reminds us to share the gospel with the entire world. The third biblical season reminds us of the world's future. Jesus the Messiah is coming again to make the world a paradise. The Fall Holy Days are especially a shadow of events to come. This is beneficial to true believers instead of fairy tales.
Colossians 2:16-17 KJV 16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: {in meat...: or, for eating and drinking} 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
This verse says let no one judge you for keeping these days except the body of Christ which is the church. These believers were surrounded by pagans who thought their Annual Sabbaths and weekly ones were strange. Also the pagan neighbors thought their diet was strange. It was too Jewish as they saw it. These days are not the Jews days or even Israels days they are God's days. Paul said ignore pagan friends judgments on such things. The word 'is' in the KJ version was added by the translators thinking it made the sentence clearer. Not being Sabbath keepers they misunderstood. We know the church kept them and Paul told the gentile Corinthians to KEEP the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Exodus 31:13 NKJV 13 "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
The plural Sabbath means weekly and annual Sabbaths or Holy Days. These Days belong to the creator God as a sign between him and his believers but they are his days. They do not belong to just one tribe.
Exodus 31:17 NKJV 17 'It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.'"
The bible also list seven annual Sabbaths or Holy Days as well. Never forget that Pentecost, also called the Feast of First Fruits is the day the Church of God started with a burst of spiritual power.
Acts 2:1-4 NKJV 1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come... 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Pentecost is tied to the Days of Unleavened Bread and the Passover. They had to count 50 days or seven weeks plus one day from the Sabbath inside the days of UB for Pentecost to fully come. Christ sent the Holy Spirit in power to believers after his resurrection as the first of the first fruits. All this is a wonderful message for all believers.
John 16:7 NKJV 7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
Jesus's death and resurrection are tied to our receiving the gift of God's Spirit.
John 15:26-27 NKJV 26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. 27 "And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
God's days are rich spiritually. The Fall Biblical Holy Days are tied to the second coming of Jesus and his salvation for all mankind. It starts with a Trumpet blast and ends with the final judgments of all mankind. The Feast of Trumpets pictures the last trump blast of God and the return of the Messiah. Note that in I Cor 15:52-54, Paul mentions the Trump call of God prior to our being changed from mortal to immortal.
1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 NKJV 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and withthe trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
We remember that message every year as we keep the Feast of Trumpets. Very soon, all nations will also keep the Feast Tabernacles in the Millennium or, face the wrath of God. See Each Zach 14:16.
THE PAGAN BASED MATERIALISTIC MERRY GO ROUND FABLES ARE NOT SPIRITUAL
Human pagan traditions do not help believers get closer to God or understand the plan of God better. This world is on a materialistic wheel of big commercial days, SUCH AS NEW YEARS AND VALENTINE'S Day. People feel forced to spend and spend on a cycle of days. They are spiritually hollow FULL OF FAIRY TALES and have an even darker components. Unlike pagan traditions, the holidays of God that are in the Bible will edify and build up the body of Christ. We are commanded to emphasize and worship God on those days. The ancient Romans came up with celebrating New Years Day on January First for fertility and growth. It is also part of Sun worship as well. In pre-Christian Rome under the Julian calendar, the day was dedicated to Janus, god of gateways and beginnings, for whom January is also named. The earliest recorded festivities in honor of a new year's arrival date back some 4,000 years to ancient Babylon.
1Co 10:20 Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.
The withces religion Wickam also claims Halloween as a major holiday. National Public Radio, (NPR) in a piece called, 'Of Candy and Cupids', says Valentine's Day is a time to romance and love and kissy-face fealty. But the origins of this festival are actually dark, bloody and are a muddled mixture of paganism (Roman to be exact) and Catholic doctrine. The pagan Roman Emperor Claudius executed two men by the name of Valentine on Feb. 14 on different years in the 3rd century A.D. They later were made saints. Though no one has pinpointed the exact origin of the holiday, one good place to start is ancient Rome, where men hit on women by, well, hitting them. Thus the origin of the term 'hitting on women' was born. They struck women hard.
Those Wild, Paganized and Crazy Romans set our holidays. From Feb. 13 to 15, the Romans celebrated the Feast of Lupercalia. The men sacrificed a goat and a dog, then whipped women with the hides of the animals they had just slain. The Roman romantics "were drunk and naked “. Young women would actually line up for the men to hit them. They believed this would make them fertile. The brutal celebration included a matchmaking lottery, in which young men drew the names of women from a jar. The couple would then be coupled up for the duration of the festival or longer, if the match was right. The ancient Romans may also be responsible for the name of our modern day of love. Later, Pope Gelasius I muddied the waters, in the 5th century, by combining St. Valentine's Day with the Festival of Lupercalia (wolves), to cover up the paganism. The Christians tried to clean it up. That didn't stop it from being a day of fertility and love."God said that it is a snare to copy the paganism of the world around us.
Deuteronomy 12:30-31 NKJV 30 "take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, ...' 31 "You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.
As the years went on, Valentine Day grew sweeter. Chaucer and Shakespeare romanticized it in their work, and it gained popularity throughout Britain and the rest of Europe. Handmade paper cards became the tokens-du-jour in the Middle Ages. Eventually, the tradition made its way to the New World. The Industrial Revolution ushered in factory-made cards in the 19th century. And in 1913, Hallmark Cards of Kansas City, Mo., began mass producing valentines. February has not been the same since. Today, the holiday is big business: According to the market research firm IBIS World, Valentine's Day sales reached $18.6 billion a few years ago. And so the celebration of Valentine's Day goes on, in varied ways. Many will feel forced to break the bank buying jewelry and flowers for their beloved ones. Halloween sales are even larger.
