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THE BIBLICAL FEAST DAYS WERE ORDAINED AT THE CREATION OF THE WORLD AND INTENDED FOR BOTH JEW AND NON-JEW TO OBSERVE

The very first reference in the Scriptures to the solemn Festivals of Yahweh was made on the fourth day of creation (Gen. 1:14). Here is that verse in several translations.

We can see plainly from these translations that Yahweh's sacred seasons, His solemn festivals were an integral part of His plan at the creation of the world. The Plan of Salvation and the Sabbath Laws which form a part of it was, therefore, not a divine after-thought hurriedly formulated by the Almighty when Adam sinned, but a carefully arranged program in which each major event was scheduled to occur at a divinely appointed time; a rescue program held in readiness in the event of mankind sinning.

Yahweh's solemn festivals, in other words, are part of the Plan of Salvation; for they not only prefigure the seven major events in His plan, but they specifically identify the appointed times when those mighty events are scheduled to take place.

THE FEAST DAY COMMANDMENTS AND THEIR ETERNAL NATURE

Many sincere believers suppose that the Feast Days mentioned in the Bible were a temporary feature instituted by the Eternal only till the time of the Jesus' and since then they were 'done away with,' 'nailed to the cross' and are therefore of little importance to Christians under their "supposed" new covenant. Nothing is further from the truth; and to prove this we will examine Yahweh's commandments concerning His Feasts to see if they were in fact temporary or eternal.

The commandments concerning the Feasts of Yahweh are found in the following passages: Exodus 12:14-24, Exodus 13:5-16, Leviticus 23 - the whole chapter but note carefully verses 14, 21, 31 and 41. Space does not allow us to quote all these verses, but let us look at one festival verse in six Bible translations in order to appreciate the kind of language Yahweh used when giving His Feast Day commandments. The verse we have selected is Exodus 12:14 but all the others are just as meaningful and use identical terms.

Can you see what we mean? Yahweh's festivals were appointed by Him to be celebrated from generation to generation, age after age, for all time. They were never to be abrogated. The word "abrogate" means to cancel, to nullify, to repeal, to do away with, to abolish.

According to this Scripture, the Almighty's feasts are "never to be abrogated".

Answer for yourself: Does that sound as if He would a few years later do away with them? Certainly not. The very suggestion is insulting the intelligence of the Almighty and casting doubt on His ability to say what He means and mean what He says. Also remember that there are other Bible verses - every bit as powerful as the one given above - which in exactly the same way define the eternal nature of Yahweh's festivals. Turn to them in Leviticus 23 verses 14, 21, 31 and 41. There, over and over again, you will see how the Holy One of Israel commands His people in everlasting tones to celebrate His festivals for all time.

So do not let anyone confuse you by saying that the Feast Days of the Almighty God of Israel have been done away with: because they haven't. All who make such wild and totally irresponsible claims - and you will hear them - are insulting Yahweh's ability to even formulate His own laws; and it is unthinkable that He who knows the end from the beginning would have used such language if all along His plan was to do away with the Feasts at Calvary. The very idea borders on blasphemy and is only being given this coverage because of the untold damage that false doctrine is causing in the ranks of the Christian church.

The plain truth is this: That as the supreme Judge and Advocate in the law court of Heaven, Yahweh knew perfectly well what He was saying when He commanded that His solemn festivals were to be celebrated for ever, from age to age, for ALL TIME.

Further confirmation of this fact will be given later where you will see that in the coming millennial age, and in the age after that (on the new earth) the redeemed host of mankind will celebrate the Feast Days of the Almighty with great gladness and respect.

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH HAS FOLLOWED IN THE SIN OF JEROBOAM

After the death of King Solomon the nation of Israel split into two kingdoms. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin (and some Levites) stayed loyal to Solomon's son Rehoboam and formed the "Kingdom of Judah." The other tribes broke away under a man called Jeroboam the son of Nebat. They retained the title "the Kingdom of Israel." The city of Jerusalem was in Judah and its crowning glory was the Temple which Solemn had built. Three times a year all Israelite males were commanded by God to go up to Jerusalem: at the Passover, at Pentecost and at the Feast of Tabernacles. (Exodus 23:17, Deut. 16:16). Israel's new king Jeroboam feared that his rebellion against Rehoboam would collapse if his people went up year by year to Judah for the festivals where they would hear the truth as opposed to Jeroboam's "gospel." He was extremely worried. At all costs he must prevent the men of Israel from going to Jerusalem for the Festivals of Yahweh. And this is the record of what he said.

Believe it or not that seemingly insignificant act of worshipping two metal idols on unsanctified festivals was the most catastrophic blunder ancient Israel made. It is a sin so grievous that over and over again the wickedness of succeeding kings was measured against it. Repeatedly these words appear:

Answer for yourself: Why was Jeroboam's sin so grievous?

Because by it with one master-stoke he severed the nation's main spiritual link with Yahweh's appointed Sabbaths as well as with YHWH'S "pattern" and form of worship. The sacred festivals were times for spiritual instruction and revival, when the men - and families - of Israel gathered in Jerusalem to learn of the Almighty and His requirements. (Exodus 34:23) Jeroboam's bogus festival and substitute form of worship at Bethel broke that spiritual link and like a rudderless ship the nation of Israel began to drift away from the Creator.

The results were appalling, for very soon millions of Israelites completely lost their spiritual bearings and adopted the basest forms of paganism as well as the pagan's holy days. Many were the calls to repentance, but the sin of Jeroboam son of Nebat (the sin of using substitute forms of worship on unsanctified festivals) was not given up. As a result the Almighty carried out His predicted threats given through the His servants the prophets and handed Israel over to their enemies. After a serious of devastating defeats they were deported from the Promised Land and sold like cattle in the markets of the Middle East.

The action of Jeroboam, apparently trivial as it may seem, was obviously a most grievous sin. It was spiritual adultery at its worst; the act of mixing and diluting truth with error. In fact it was idolatry! In essence it consisted of merging the laws of the Almighty with human tradition and trying to worship Him on bogus festivals which were unauthorized imitations of Yahweh's appointed feasts.

Hundreds of years earlier the prophet Moses had foretold Israel's scattering or deportation if they forsook the commandments of God and here it was happening exactly as foretold.

Strange as it may seem, that selfsame sin of adulterating truth with error, of introducing bogus religious festivals into true worship has been repeated on a world scale by the Christian Church.

Yes it is true, the mighty congregations of Christendom have done - and are still doing - what ancient Israel did under King Jeroboam. Over the centuries truth has been diluted with error and the introduction and acceptance of unsanctified festivals as days of worship is now so widespread that comparatively few believers are even aware of the deception. This may sound like a shocking statement, but it is true; and if the reader is not afraid of truth he/she must read on, for proof of this fact will follow shortly.

At this very moment the whole of Christendom is steadily - yet almost imperceptibly - splitting into two distinct camps:

1. Those who respect the laws of Yahweh and add to their faith OBEDIENCE, especially that form of obedience which manifests in keeping Yahweh's Sabbath commandment.
2. And those who look upon obedience almost as though it were a competitor of faith. This persuasion, surprisingly, sees little amiss in clinging to the popular but unsanctified festivals of Christendom and the bogus Sabbath of Sunday. And like Israel of old these believers are in the mass refusing to keep the Almighty's festivals.

Sooner or later all those who classify themselves as believers in the Creator will move into one or other of these two camps.