People in the Hebrew Roots Movement (HRM) like to celebrate the Jewish feast days as described in the Torah. This seems fine to me unless someone is teaching that they are required or that not celebrating them somehow diminishes one’s spiritual stature. Unfortunately, many popular teachers do just that. The feasts of Israel are those described in Leviticus 23. The three pilgrimage feasts—the Passover, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles—demanded that every male Israelite travel to Jerusalem to worship at the temple. The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are closely related and ran consecutively (Lev 23:4–8). The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) followed seven weeks later, and connected the Passover of the exodus with the conquest. Both Passover and Pentecost were practiced by early Christians because Christ was crucified at the Passover, and the Holy Spirit personally descended upon the disciples on Pentecost (Acts 2). The Bible ends with the anticipation of one final feast: the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev 19:9).
Because Jesus fulfilled the Spring feasts: Passover-Pentecost with his death burial, resurrection, ascension and subsequent outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This leads many to suspect the Fall feasts: (Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Tabernacles) are connected to his second coming. This is somewhat compelling but not necessary. It is speculative. God nowhere promised that Jesus would return on a certain feast day and certainly never implied that observing them is required to be found in good stead when he returns. Yet Rob Skiba instructs his Virtual House Church that this is the case and those who do not celebrate them have diminished status.
While the feasts of the Lord are interesting for prophetic study, some have wandered away from biblical theology by implying new covenant believers are required to observe the Mosaic laws regarding feast observance. Russ Houck writes that Constantine, “single-handedly stopped the New Church from observing the feasts of the Lord ordained by the Bible. Robbed of its Hebrew roots, the disconnected church became paganistic in spirit and anti-biblical in its customs.”[1] But is this really so? The teaching of the New Testament is that old covenant feast observance is no longer required. This error was dealt with by Paul when false teachers in Colasse:
“I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”(Col 2:4–8)
This is exactly what is re-occuring in our own context with teachers putting folks back under the obsolete ceremonial law by implying that feast observance is needed for spiritual advancement and sanctification. There are 3 types of OT law 1) ceremonial; 2) civil; 3) moral. While God’s moral character does not change, the old covenant stipulations were only for Israelites under that conditional covenant. The conditions were violated and the old covenant was replaced by the new covenant. Rob Skiba implies that Christians should be feast observant to be “at the right place at the right time when Jesus shows up” at the 1:07:49 mark in the video below:
He misapplies Matthew 5:16-19 (as explained by Douglas Moo below) and then at the 1:10:05 mark uses verse 19 to argue that those who disagree with him are going to be “janitors in heaven.” While I am sure that hard-working custodians take exception with Rob’s degradation of their work, Skiba implies that non-observance diminishes one’s status with God. I say balderdash. The idea that there is a spiritual reward for keeping dietary or ceremonial laws is a false teaching, it is a misapplication of scripture. Paul addressed the feasts specifically:
“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.” (Col 2:16)
Paul was addressing the false teachers in Colasse who were advocating a number of Jewish observances, arguing that they were essential for spiritual advancement.
“These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”(Col 2:17)
The old covenant observances pointed to a future reality that was fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Heb. 10:1). Hence, Christians are no longer under the Mosaic covenant (cf. Rom. 6:14–15; 7:1–6; 2 Cor. 3:4–18; Gal. 3:15–4:7). Christians are no longer obligated to observe OT dietary laws (“food and drink”) or festivals, holidays, and special days (“a festival … new moon … Sabbath,” Col. 2:16), for what these things foreshadowed has been fulfilled or will be fulfilled in Christ. You will not be demoted for not celebrating as a Torah observant Jew.
Hebrews 8-10 explains very clearly that Christ’s atoning death on the cross was the end of the law and it is now obsolete for everyone.
“In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”(Heb 8:13)
As to Rob’s eisegesis of Matthew 5:17-19, atheists and homosexuals also like to use this passage to ask why Christians no longer stone people or why we eat shellfish and pork or wear clothes made of different fabrics. The answer we give them is the same one we give to the HRM, those laws are now obsolete. I guess we should ask our feast-requirers why they don’t also stone people? It’s part of the same covenant stipulations. So what did Jesus mean by saying this:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”(Mt 5:17–18)
Jesus “fulfills” all of the OT in that it all points to him, not only in its specific predictions of a Messiah but also in its sacrificial system, which looked forward to his great sacrifice of himself, this made the old obsolete (Hebrews 8:13). We are now concerned with “the law of Christ” as seen in Galatians 6:2. According to NT scholar Douglas Moo:
Christ has brought the OT law’s fulfillment. But the Christian is bound to “God’s law” (1 Cor 9:20–21; cf. “God’s commands” in 1 Cor 7:19 and 1 John 2:3-4 etc.). “God’s law” is not, however, the Mosaic Law, but “Christ’s law” (1 Cor 9:20–21; Gal 6:2), because it is to Christ, the fulfiller, the τέλος of the law (Rom 10:4), that the Christian is bound. In that “fulfillment” of the law, however, some of the Mosaic commandments are taken up and reapplied to the New Covenant people of God. Thus, while the Mosaic Law does not stand as an undifferentiated authority for the Christian, some of its individual commandments remain authoritative as integrated into the law of Christ. [2]
Christ’s death and resurrection changed everything — by emphasizing the Torah over the cross they are promoting error. The cross made a new paradigm, a new covenant! The New Covenant is celebrated by the Lord’s Supper which has supplanted the feast days.
“And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” (Lk 22:20)
“In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.””(1 Co 11:25)“Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.” (Heb 9:15) “and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” (Heb 12:24)
While the feasts make an interesting study and might have prophetic significance, Christians should first and foremost celebrate the new covenant with their a local church body rather than celebrating the Jewish feast days from an obsolete covenant.
[1] Russ Houck, Epidemic Examining the Infected Roots of Judaism and Christianity: How Do We Find God with All This Mess? (volume 1) (Corsicana, TX: Negev Publishing, 2012), 220.
[2]Douglas Moo, “The Law of Moses or the Law of Christ” in Continuity and Discontinuity: Perspectives on the Relationship Between the Old and New Testaments : Essays in Honor of S. Lewis Johnson, Jr. editors S. Lewis Johnson and John S. Feinberg,(Westchester, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1988), 208.
About Cris Putnam
Meanwhile Wise’s $70 million Ponzi scheme, in which
he was accused of conning more than 120 ‘investors’ in at least 13 states out of substantial amounts of money, some,
their life savings, began to collapse. yet with an Internet-age spin that he describes is like “putting lipstick on a pig. But if the church or religious institution is providing accommodation, then the Parsonage is calculated as the market value of the home, yard, furnishings and other utilities.
Keep the mixture cooled and pat it on your lips as often as necessary.
The US National Library of Medicine warns against ingesting this petroleum product.
It must be protected well if the body is to be kept safe and healthy without
any serious problems.
Okay, so you have a decent starting portfolio of ‘glamour photography’
shots you’ve taken and assembled to show the possibilities of
your range and depth of photographic artistry.
Instead try a nice pair of wool or cotton chino dress trousers with
a button down shirt, sweater vest, tie, and sport jacket.
Fortunately, in this day and age of the Internet and the increasingly diverse global fashion market, you
certainly don’t need to go all the way to Japan to get the very
latest in Japanese fashion.
Shock hair loss is generally caused by physician error when doing the treatment,
so picking a physician who understands exactly what they are doing is essential.
It is important to always make sure that your hair is well maintained by ensuring that the hair is
kept clean. Hair loss is of concern to most people at one point in their lives.
I think the admin of this website is genuinely woeking hard for his web page, because
here every stuff is quality based stuff.
These days Apple’s i – Phone is gaining much popularity and i –
Phone 4 which is recently released is the most advanced device.
If you have trouble at first and although the VPN is installed correctly, has
connected properly, but you’re still unable to watch Hulu in Europe on i –
Phone, you may need to clear your browser cache and cookies.
This trick also works on most other phones including Androids and Blackberry.
whoah this blog is wonderful i love studying your articles.
Stay up the great work! You recognize, many people are searching around for this information, you can aid them greatly.
What’s up, I wish for to subscribe for this website
to get most up-to-date updates, so where can i do it please assist.
In the right column there is a place to enter your email address.
There’s certɑinly a great deal to find ouut about this tߋpic.
I really likе all off the points yyou made.
I went over this site and I think you’ve got plenty of fantastic information, saved as a favorite.
It’s fantastic that you are getting ideas from this piece of writing as well as from our dialogue made here.
Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you penning this post plus the rest of the site is also
very good.
Cazare Medias
certainly like your web-site but you need to take a look at the
spelling on quite a few of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very troublesome to tell
the truth nevertheless I will certainly come again again.
Before marriage, search carefully for compatibility.
Adjust it one link at a time, flushing after each adjustment.
Your time is valuable, so it doesn’t make much sense to spend all
of it dealing with a plumbing problem.
I have been browsing online more than 3 hours ass of late, buut I never
disfovered any attention-grabbing article luke yours. It’s pretty price enough for me.
In mmy opinion, if all web owners and bloggers made just right content as you did, the net
can be a lot more helpful than ever before.
Will Believers Who Do Not Keep the Feasts Be Janitors in Heaven? —
Logos Apologia Cazare Maramures
I am genuinely grateful to the owner of this web page who
has shared this wonderful article at at this time.
Pretty great post. I simply stumbled upon your blog and wished to mention that
I have really loved browsing your blog posts.
After all I will be subscribing in your feed and I hope you write once more soon!
Estimating the price of a kitchen improvement project will also involve
negotiations using the skilled workers. With these facts, it became apparent that no matter how great these cabinets looked — I was not going to buy
something made of particle board. Here are the step-by-step instructions for refinishing old appliances in stainless steel paint, a
home improvement project for women with old appliances but a modern sense of style.
The album of World tanki crystal generator of Tanks. I remember being taken over for use in creating a considerable amount of
respawns. This allows the 7s to quickly dispose tanki crystal generator of two tanks.
A second hard ram finally brings the Chinaman another kill tanki crystal generator in the
sub-continental environment is also listed as the
Board of Finance. The impact angle of perspective on the western allies had to do was to last through the hills.
Hey! Do you know if they make any plugins to
help with SEO? I’m trying too get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very
good success. If yoou know oof any please share. Thanks!