| THE HOLY DAYS | WHY THE BIBLICAL HOLY DAYS ARE A GUIDE TO GOD'S PLAN OF SALVATION |
| PASSOVER AND FIRST UNLEAVENED BREAD MEAL ** | GOD PASSES OVER OUR SINS BECAUSE WE ARE UNDER THE PROTECTIVE BLOOD OF THE LAMB OF GOD, JESUS. NOTE JOHN 1:29&36 AND JOHN 3:16 and LUKE 22:1&7. ** (THE N.T. PASSOVER – OR LORD'S SUPPER – IS CELEBRATED ON THE NIGHT PORTION OF THE 14TH OF NISAN, COMMEMORATING CHRIST'S LOVING COMRADESHIP BEFORE HIS SUFFERING & DEATH LATER THAT DAY. IT COVERS THE TOTAL EXPERIENCE OF JESUS. SEE JOHN CHAPTERS 13-17. ) |
| DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD | IT REPRESENTS SEVEN DAYS, THE NUMBER OF COMPLETION, OF BEING FREE FROM SIN. JESUS EMPOWERS US TO PURITY. NOTE I COR. 5:6-8 AND JOHN 6:48-54, and ACTS 12:3 & 20:6. |
| PENTECOST | BELIEVERS ARE THE FIRST FRUITS! THE FEAST OF FIRST FRUITS TO GOD PROVES THAT A SECOND, LARGER HARVEST IS COMING. NOW IS NOT THE ONLY DAY OF SALVATION. SEE ACTS 2:1-3, AND 20:16. |
| TRUMPETS | TRUMPETS ANNOUNCE THE CONQUEST OF THE WORLD BY THE MESSIAH. JESUS IN HIS SECOND COMING WILL RULE THE EARTH AND BRING IN PARADISE FOR A THOUSAND YEARS. SEE I COR. 15:51-53, 16:8 AND I THESS. 4:15-17. |
| ATONEMENT | A REPENTANT MANKIND NOW IS AT-ONE-MENT WITH GOD AND IT WILL BE WONDERFUL. GOD WILL FORGIVE ALL NATIONS. SEE ROMANS 3:25, HEB. 2:17 , HEB. 3:17-18. AND HEB. CHAPTERS 7-10. |
| THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES | IT REPRESENTS THE TABERNACLING WITH CHRIST FOR THE PROSPEROUS & LARGER HARVEST, MILLENNIAL REIGN OF THE MESSIAH. SEE ZACH. 14:16-19 AND JOHN 7:1-2, 10, AND ACTS 16:21. |
| THE LAST GREAT DAY OF THE FEAST | THIS DAY REPRESENTS THE LAST CHANCE FOR SALVATION FOR THOSE NOT CALLED. THE MANY WHO NEVER REALLY HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO KNOW CHRIST WILL BE GIVEN A CHANCE FOR SALVATION. SEE JOHN 7:33-37 AND REV. 20:11-14 AND HEB. 9:27. |
WHAT HOLY DAYS DID THE APOSTLES KEEP IN THE SPRING AND SUMMER?
If the church had celebrated Biblical days, we should see it sprinkled into the letters of New Testament.
Acts 12:3, "And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread." (NKJV)
If the church was keeping Easter, it would be more likely they would say during or right before our Easter celebration. One might say Easter is mentioned once in the King James translation. However, all margin notes will reveal that the word translated "Easter" was actually "Passover." See Acts 12:4.
Acts 20:6, "But we sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days joined them at Troas, where we stayed seven days."
1 Corinthians 5:6-8, "Your boasting is not good. Do ye not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, according as ye are unleavened. For also our Passover, Christ, has been sacrificed; 8 so let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with leaven of malice and wickedness, but with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." (DBY)
How did the Apostle Paul know with certainty that when his letter arrived during the Days of Unleavened Bread that they would actually "be unleavened"? Because he taught them to celebrate the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread. No other analysis is truly logical.
Acts 2:1, "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place."
Acts 20:16, "For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost."
1 Cor. 16:8, "But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost."
WHAT HOLY DAYS DID THE CHURCH KEEP IN THE FALL?
Under conditions of forced travel, the Apostles still kept the Fast or Day of Atonement because it was AN IMPORTANT part of their life, and also the feast of TABERNACLES.
Acts 27:9, "Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over, Paul advised them..." (NKJV)
Acts 18:20-21, "'I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, God willing.' And he sailed from Ephesus."
Some will argue, "Well, why didn't he just keep the feast locally?" Paul understood that it is most approved by God to keep it centrally. Further, one wonders how did all those believers in Rome before Paul arrived toward the end of his evangelism get converted. They came to the central location of Jerusalem and learned from Christians about the meaning of Jesus' death and resurrection. Biblical Holy days built around the harvest seasons are so important to God that He will force all nations to celebrate them joyously in the future.
Zechariah 14:16-18, "The LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles."
