The True Gospel

and the

Ezekiel Warning

CHAPTER 3 - Is Observance of the Weekly Sabbath and Annual Feast Days Required?

Introduction

The majority of mainstream churches do not observe the seventh-day Sabbath or the annual holy days and festivals that God gave Israel in the Old Testament.  Yet there is evidence in the Bible that these days have not been abolished and should still be kept by God's Church today.  I have covered some of that evidence in the sections on the Sabbath and the annual holy days in chapter two.

Many people today think that the seventh-day Sabbath, from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, was either abolished or changed to Sunday.  Even among the few churches that observe the seventh-day Sabbath, most believe that the annual holy days and festivals were only in effect under the Old Covenant and were abolished when Jesus Christ died.

In chapter two I focused on the meaning of the Sabbath and the holy days more than on proving that they are still in force today.  Many people who do not keep these days will acknowledge their meaning.  They can see that the weekly Sabbath pictures the millennial reign of Christ.  They can see that Passover represents the sacrifice of Christ, that the Days of Unleavened Bread represent repentance, that Pentecost represents the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church, that the Day of Trumpets represents the second coming of Christ, etc.  But they do not actually observe these days. 

In this chapter, I want to focus in depth on the Bible evidence that proves that these days should still kept by Christians today.

Paul's Epistles Are Not Always Clear

In looking to the Bible for evidence for or against observance of the weekly Sabbath and annual holy days, I will not start with the epistles of Paul.  Peter warns that there are things in Paul's writings that are hard to understand, and a principle I follow is letting clear scriptures interpret unclear and difficult scriptures (2 Peter 3:15-16).  I have found no scriptures in Paul's writings that definitely and specifically mention the weekly Sabbath, or annual holy days by name, either individually ("Pentecost", "Day of Trumpets", etc.) or as a group ("the feasts of the Lord"), saying that we do not need to observe them.  Every passage from Paul used by those who oppose Sabbath and holy day observance is a general reference to "law" or to "days" without being specific as to whether we should or should not observe God's ordained sabbaths.  I will cover some of those passages later.

But I will start with the teaching of Jesus Christ in the gospel according to Matthew, which IS clear and easy to understand.  With the clear teachings of Christ and other clear scriptures in the Bible, we will have a background that will allow those clear scriptures to interpret any unclear scriptures in Paul's writings that God inspired Peter to warn are hard to understand.

Jesus said that till heaven and earth pass away and all things are fulfilled in the law and the prophets (the "law" in this case is a common reference to the books of Moses, Genesis through Deuteronomy, and the "prophets" includes the books that make up the major and minor prophets, Isaiah through Malachi), nothing would pass from the law (Matthew 5:17-18).  When will this be?  All things will be fulfilled when the prophecy in Isaiah 65:17 is fulfilled and the old heavens and earth have passed away and there is a new heaven and earth - see also Revelation 21:1.  This has not yet been fulfilled.

This shows that we need to be very cautious about assuming that anything in the law has been abolished without strong scriptural evidence that it has been abolished.  The law commands observance of God's annual feasts and holy days (sabbaths) in Leviticus 23.  The seventh-day Sabbath is included in the Ten Commandments.  The weekly Sabbath and annual holy days and feasts continue unless we can clearly prove from the New Testament that God has ended them for the Church.

It is not a matter of assuming all Old Testament law is ended, and then looking to the New Testament to see what has been continued.  Jesus said the law continues.  We can look to the New Testament to see what God has changed or what has been abolished for the Church, but if the New Testament is silent on a matter, it continues.  So if the New Testament said NOTHING about God's weekly and annual sabbaths, they would continue.  In fact, the New Testament is not silent on this matter, but reaffirms observance of these days.

The Weekly Sabbath

Many people think the weekly seventh-day Sabbath is only an Old Covenant ritual.  It is not.  It is part of the Ten Commandments and existed from the time of Adam and still exists today.

The Sabbath was not made for Israel, nor for the Jew.  It was made for mankind.  "And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath" (Mark 2:27, KJV).  The phrase "for man" is not there by accident.  It does not mean, "for Israel" or "for the Jew."  "For man" is the phrase Jesus Christ chose to use in teaching about the Sabbath, and He always taught as the Father commanded Him (John 12:48-50).  "For man" is what Jesus said and what the Holy Spirit inspired Mark to write in recording this incident.

In understanding scripture, we should consider the local context of the passage and what is being taught at that time.  But we should also consider the greater context of what God is teaching us today through the scriptures.  From the perspective of the local context of Jesus teaching the Pharisees, it might not make much difference in the lesson Jesus was teaching whether He used the term "man" or "Jew."  The Pharisees were probably not much interested in mankind anyway and would be content to think the Sabbath was just for them and their nation only.  But it makes a difference to us today.  The greater context is that God, who knows the future and knew at that time that there would be sincere believers today who would look to the Bible to know about the Sabbath, inspired the recording of this incident in which Jesus is telling us today and throughout the church age that the Sabbath was made for all mankind, not just Israel under the Old Covenant.  In fact, since mankind as a whole was never under the Old Covenant, this proves that the Sabbath is not an Old Covenant ritual.  The Sabbath was not made as an Old Covenant ritual for Israel.  It was made for the entire human race.  Something made for all mankind cannot be just an Old Covenant ritual.

The Sabbath is also commanded in the Ten Commandments.

Are the Ten Commandments in force today for the Church?

Many mainstream Christians think that the law is done away under the New Covenant.  Nothing could be more wrong.

The first mention of the New Covenant is in the Old Testament, believe it or not!  "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.  And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more (Jeremiah 31:31-34, KJV).  Notice that there is not a new law involved, nor is the old law abolished.  This passage shows that one of the differences between the old and new covenants is that the Holy Spirit is given in the New Covenant which enables God's law to be written, not on stone, but in our hearts and minds.  This results in a new attitude in the minds of the people under the covenant.  Not a new law.  But a new willingness to obey the law, a willingness and a submissive heart that Old Testament Israel never had.  But it is the same law, God's law, as God said, "My law."

Jesus illustrated the difference in our approach to God's law in the sermon on the mount.  Notice:  "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matthew 5:27, KJV).  Under the Old Covenant, a person could simply refrain from physically acting out his lust and he would not be guilty of breaking the letter of the law that said, "You shall not commit adultery."  But under the New Covenant, we are to obey God's commandments in the spirit as well as the letter.  This means that not only are we to avoid committing the physical act of adultery, we are to avoid entertaining lust in our minds.  Thus, under the New Covenant, the principles in the Ten Commandments are actually expanded and magnified.  This is why it was said of Christ, "The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable" (Isaiah 42:21, KJV).  Rather than abolish the law, Christ expanded and magnified it.

The authority of the Ten Commandments under the New Covenant is directly affirmed by Jesus Christ.  A young man asked Jesus a question about the New Covenant.  "And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" (Matthew 19:16, KJV).  This is a New Covenant question.  It has nothing to do with the Old Covenant.  Why?  Because the man was asking about ETERNAL LIFE, not about national blessings that were the reward of obeying the terms of the Old Covenant.  The Old Covenant never offered eternal life.  You can read the promises of the Old Covenant in Exodus and Deuteronomy and you will find that God promised health, national prosperity, and protection from enemies for the nation as a whole, but NOT eternal life for the individual.  So the young man's question was 100% about New Covenant doctrine.  Jesus' answer?  "And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.  He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Matthew 19:17-19, KJV).  Jesus told the young man to keep the commandments if he wanted to receive eternal life under the New Covenant, and mentioned several of the Ten Commandments as examples.  Why did Jesus use as examples the commandments that teach us love towards neighbor and not the first four of the Ten Commandments?  Probably it was because it was with loving his neighbor that the young man had trouble.  Later, he went away sorrowful because he did not want to give away his possessions to help the poor (Matthew 19:21-22).  But the New Covenant answer that Jesus gave to the New Covenant question was, "keep the commandments."  Here is a parallel account in Luke:  "And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?  And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.  Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.  And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up." (Luke 18:18-21, KJV).  Notice, before the young man asked "which," Jesus gave the answer, "you know the commandments."  Which commandments did the man know?  The Ten Commandments, all ten of them.  That includes the fourth commandment to observe the Sabbath.  We are to observe God's weekly Sabbath if we want to enter into eternal life under the terms of the New Covenant.

James wrote, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.  For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill.  Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law" (James 2:10-11, KJV).  Notice the REASON James said that if you violate one point, you violate all.  The reason is that the same God who commanded one point of the law commanded the other points of the law as well.  The authority of the law comes from the One who gave the law, God.  What are these "points" of the law that James speaks of?  The Ten Commandments.  This is obvious because each point he uses as an example is one of the Ten Commandments.  So according to the logic James is using, if you violate any point, or commandment, in the Ten Commandments, you violate all.  He could just as well have used the example, if you break the Sabbath, but do not commit adultery, you are guilty of all, because He who commanded you to not commit adultery also commanded you to keep the Sabbath.  It is the same logic exactly.  This passage proves that the authority of the Ten Commandments continues in the church age because this was written after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  If the Ten Commandments ended when Christ died, God would not have inspired James to write as he did.

If you want to know the importance of the seventh-day Sabbath, look at the context in which it is defined.  It is given as one of the commandments along with "you shall have no other God's before me," "you shall not murder," "you shall not commit adultery," etc.  God shows its importance and its permanence by putting it in the context of commandments that are obviously important and permanent.

Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for mankind.  Since it was made, when did this event occur?  It did not occur when God gave the Ten Commandments, nor when God gave Israel manna in the wilderness.  It was made when man was made.

In Genesis is the account of the creation of man.  God renewed the face of the earth in six days of creation and made man on the sixth day.  Then on the seventh day God made the Sabbath by resting on it, setting man an example to follow.  There was no other reason for God to rest on that day, since God does not get tired.  God created the Sabbath by His example.  This seventh day was the first Sabbath.  You can read the account of the creation of the Sabbath in Genesis alongside the fourth of the Ten Commandments in Exodus and you will see the close parallel language, showing they are talking about the same thing:  "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:  But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it" (Exodus 20:8-11, KJV).  "And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.  And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." (Genesis 2:2-3, KJV).  When you compare "wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it" (Exodus) with "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it" (Genesis), you can see that both accounts are talking about God's seventh-day Sabbath.

So the seventh day after the sixth day of creation in Genesis was the first Sabbath.  God created the weekly Sabbath day for mankind the very next day after He created mankind.  This proves that it is not an Old Covenant ritual that became obsolete after Christ died.  The Sabbath is as permanent as mankind and as permanent as the commandments against murder, adultery, and stealing.

Some people think that the Sabbath was changed to Sunday because they believe Christ was crucified Friday afternoon and resurrected Sunday morning.  But the Friday crucifixion-Sunday morning resurrection tradition is false.  Jesus said He would be three days and three nights in the grave (Matthew 12:40) just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the fish (Jonah 1:17).  Jesus died late afternoon and was buried just before or around sunset (Matthew 27:45-50, 57-60, Mark 15:33-37, 42-46, Luke 23:44-46, 50-54, John 19:30-33, 38-42).  If this was a Friday and He was resurrected early Sunday morning, He would have been in the grave one day and two nights.  This would also mean that Jonah was in the belly of the fish one day and two nights, but that is not the case.  Jonah 1:17 is clear that Jonah was in the fish for three days and three nights, and Jesus is clear in His statement that as sign of His Messiahship He would be in the grave for three days and nights (Matthew 12:39-40).

Jesus IS the Messiah.  The sign He gave came to pass.  He was buried just around sunset and He left the grave just around sunset 72 hours later.

Since the grave was empty when the women and the disciples visited the grave early Sunday morning, Jesus must have been resurrected around sunset late Saturday at the latest.  Three days and nights before this would put His burial late Wednesday before sunset.

Why do people think Jesus was buried late Friday?  There are numerous scriptures that say that the Sabbath was drawing near (Mark 15:42-43, Luke 23:52-54, John 19:31, 42).  Traditional Christians falsely assume that these scriptures are referring to the weekly Sabbath.  Why?  Because TRADITIONAL CHRISTIANITY DOES NOT OBSERVE GOD'S ANNUAL SABBATHS.  This is a perfect example of why we need to keep the annual sabbaths of God to really know them.  As I mentioned in the introduction to this chapter, there are some who understand that the annual holy days represent things and can teach us lessons about God's plan of salvation for mankind, but they think they can learn the lessons of the holy days by reading about them but not observing them.  But that is not true.  Traditional Christianity has lost knowledge of these days precisely because it does not observe them.  No Christian who observes God's annual holy days year by year would make the mistake of thinking that the sabbath that was drawing when Christ died was the weekly Sabbath.

That sabbath was not an ordinary weekly Sabbath.  It is called in the New Testament a "high day" (John 19:31).  It was an annual sabbath.  It was ordained by God to fall on the fifteenth day of the first month every year (Leviticus 23:4-7, Numbers 28:16-18).  It can fall on ANY day of the week, just like the fourth of July, Independence Day in the United States, can fall on any day of the week.  The Sabbath that was drawing near was the annual Sabbath that falls on the fifteen day of the first month known as the First Day of Unleavened Bread.  This day directly follows Passover day, which is the fourteenth day of the first month.  So since the 15th day of the first month follows the 14th day of the first month, the First Day of Unleavened Bread, an ANNUAL Sabbath, follows Passover day.  Christ, our Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7), died on the very day of Passover, the day that represents His sacrifice, and the Sabbath that was drawing near after He died was the annual Sabbath known as the First Day of Unleavened Bread.  Christ did not die on Friday and was not resurrected Sunday morning.  Yet that is the ONLY reason traditional Christians give for observing Sunday as a day of rest and worshipping God instead of God's Sabbath.

Paul himself affirms the validity of the law, calling it holy, just, and good, and stating that the law is spiritual.  "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good" (Romans 7:12, KJV).  "Do we then make void the law through faith?  God forbid: yea, we establish the law" (Romans 3:31, KJV).  "For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin" (Romans 7:14, KJV).  Paul said that it was by the law that he understood what sin is, and he used one of the Ten Commandments, the tenth commandment against coveting, as an example.  "What shall we say then?  Is the law sin?  God forbid.  Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet" (Romans 7:7, KJV ).  This exactly fits with what John wrote: "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4, KJV).  Likewise, it is by the law of God, the fourth commandment in the Ten Commandments, that we can know it is a sin to work on God's seventh-day Sabbath, the weekly Sabbath, from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset as God counts days (Genesis 1:5, Leviticus 23:32).  I said we CAN know.  We can know IF we are willing to believe the Bible more than our opinions, ministers, or traditions (Matthew 15:3-9).

Later I will discuss the scriptures in Paul's letters that some try to use to refute the Sabbath.  Many of those scriptures are used also to try to refute the annual holy days, and I will cover all these together after I show what the rest of the Bible says about the annual holy days.  But there is not a single scripture in any of Paul's writings or any other part of the Bible that clearly overturns the law of the Sabbath or changes it to Sunday.  Every scripture that people use is vague enough that it can refer to other days or other things.  Those scriptures CANNOT be saying that God's Sabbath is done away, because if they did they would be contradicting the rest of the Bible, and God does not contradict himself.  To know what Paul may be referring to or not referring to, we have to let the clear scriptures we have covered interpret difficult scriptures in Paul's writings. 

In fact, Paul's writings actually support observance the annual festivals and holy days of God.    

A Misconception about Shadows

Before going into the specific proofs for annual holy days and festivals, I want to try to clear up a misconception about "shadows."

Some people think that the weekly Sabbath and annual holy days are shadows of the reality of Jesus Christ and should therefore not be observed today.  They will say something like, "These days are only shadows that have been fulfilled by Christ, and since we have the reality, we do not need the shadow."  They will also say that these days do not need to be kept because the sacrifice of Christ is "sufficient."  In their minds, to observe a shadow is to deny the reality, that is, to deny Christ.  These people often quote Colossians 2:16-17 in this regard.  But Paul is not saying that all shadows are obsolete.  He is simply pointing out that the reality of what a shadow represents is always more important than the shadow.  This passage used the Greek word skia, Strong’s Concordance number 4639, translated "shadow."  It literally means shadow, the image of something made on a background from a source of light.  What does Paul mean by a shadow?  A shadow can be a ritual, ceremony, or symbol that represents and pictures something.  It is a physical act whose value lies in what it represents.

Animal sacrifices are a shadow of the sacrifice of Christ, and they have ended for the Church.  But not all shadows have ended.  The New Testament itself ordains rituals, ceremonies, and symbols that are shadows of something else.

A ritual, ceremony, symbol, or "shadow" can point backwards to remind us of what has been fulfilled or can point forward to teach us about something that is yet to be fulfilled.

The New Testament ordains ceremonies, rituals, and symbols, which are shadows.  The New Testament symbols of bread and wine representing the body and blood of Christ, baptism, the laying on of hands for the receiving of the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 6:2, Acts 8:16-17), foot washing (John 13:3-17), and the anointing of the sick with oil (James 5:14-15) are all examples of New Testament rituals, ceremonies, and symbols which are shadows of things.

Why does God use shadows? 

God uses shadows or symbols as teaching tools, to help us understand the meaning of what they represent and to keep us in remembrance of things past.  They help us understand and remember what has happened in the past and what will happen in the future in God's plan.

A shadow is not wrong, nor do all shadows end when they are fulfilled.  If you want to know if a shadow ends, you have to look to the scriptures to see if that particular shadow or ritual has ended.  For example, there are clear scriptures that show that physical circumcision is no longer required for the Church.  There is no such scripture saying that the Sabbath and holy days have ended.

God's seven annual feasts and holy days are indeed shadows, because each one of these seven represents or is an image of a greater reality.  Each one represents something different.  Some have been fulfilled and some have not yet been fulfilled, but all of the holy days continue.  Those which have been fulfilled remind us of what has been fulfilled and those which have not been fulfilled teach us about what is to come.

Yet the annual sabbath days are more than shadows.  They are commanded days of rest and assembly that provide opportunities for drawing closer to God in prayer, Bible study, and assembling for instruction and fellowship.  God wants us to spend time with Him on these days just as on the weekly Sabbath.

Likewise the weekly seventh-day Sabbath is also a shadow of something to come.  It is a symbol of the coming 1,000 year millennial reign of Christ after 6,000 years of mankind ruling himself.  It is also a symbol or shadow of the spiritual rest we have in Christ.  But it is more than a shadow because we use that time to draw closer to God.  It has a very practical effect on our relationship with God.

If it were wrong to observe something that is a shadow or symbol, just because it is a shadow, then it would be wrong to take the symbols of bread and wine, which are shadows of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, which Jesus commanded that we do in remembrance of His sacrifice (Luke 22:19, 1 Corinthians 11:24-26).  It would be wrong to practice baptism, which is a shadow of the burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and also pictures our repentance and coming up out of the water in newness of life (Colossians 2:12).

So to determine if a ritual or shadow is to be observed, we have to look to see what the Bible says about the particular shadow or ritual.  If the Bible teaches that it is no longer to be observed, they we do not observe it, but if the Bible teaches that it continues, then we should continue to observe it.  Calling something a "shadow," by itself, proves nothing.

Likewise, to say that observance of the seventh day Sabbath or the annual holy days is not "necessary" because the sacrifice of Christ is "sufficient" misses the point entirely.  Christ was sacrificed to pay for our past sins so we can be forgiven when we repent, but His sacrifice is not permission to deliberately continue to sin.  Before Christ's sacrifice can be applied to us and our sins be forgiven, we must repent.  Part of repentance is to surrender one hundred percent to God to do His will in everything, and we know His will by what He says in the Bible.  The question thus becomes, does the Bible show that it is God's will that we observe these days today?  If it is God's will, we must keep them.  A person who refuses to submit to God's will in this matter is showing God that he has not yet fully repented, and if that is the case, he cannot rely on the sacrifice of Christ being applied to him because he has not fulfilled one of the requirements for conversion - repentance.  So we must look to scripture to determine if it is God's will that we keep these days.

Animal Sacrifices

If a shadow does not necessarily end when it is fulfilled, why do we not offer animal sacrifices?

We do not offer animal sacrifices because only the priesthood of Aaron is authorized to offer the sacrifices at the alter and do priestly duties (1 Samuel 13:7-14, 2 Chronicles 26:16-21).  It would be a sin for anyone else to do it.  The Church is not represented by the priesthood of Aaron, but by the priesthood of Jesus Christ.

The priesthood of Aaron was a national priesthood and was strictly limited to the Old Covenant.  It required a national system of the twelve tribes, each with its own farmland, supporting the tribe of Levi with their tithes, and the tribe of Levi supporting the priesthood of Aaron.  When the priests offered animal sacrifices for the annual feasts and holy days, they did it on behalf of the nation.  The Church is not a nation.  We are an assembly of Christians living among the nations of this world.  The rules of the Levitical priesthood do not apply to the Church.  Likewise, we do not stone people for murder, return to our inherited land every 50 years, etc.  Those were national laws for the nation of Israel.  Those things associated with the priesthood of Aaron and associated with national laws for the government and nation of Israel do not continue today for the Church.

But the annual holy days are not limited to the priesthood of Aaron.  The common people from all the tribes did not offer holy day sacrifices - only the priests did that - but the people rested and assembled for services just as they did on the weekly Sabbath, and just as God's Church does today.

Understand this concept, because it is a key to understanding which laws of the Old Testament continue for the Church today.

Animal sacrifices = priesthood of Aaron = national priesthood representing a nation = Old Covenant promises to the NATION of Israel.  ONLY the priesthood of Aaron was authorized to offer animal sacrifices at the alter.  The common people, the individual Israelites, were not allowed to do this.  They could contribute and kill animals in some cases (not for the holy days), they could observe, but they could not offer the sacrifices to God at the alter.  The offering of animal sacrifices for the holy days and festivals was not a part of the observance of those days for the ordinary citizens of Israel.  They rested, they assembled for services, they observed, that's it.  The priests offered the sacrifices on behalf of the nation so that the nation could have a relationship with God that enabled it to receive the promises of the Old Covenant:  prosperity and protection.

Spiritual sacrifices = priesthood of Jesus Christ = priesthood representing individual members of the Church = New Covenant promises to the Church and its members.  Jesus Christ is the sacrifice and our high priest, completely separate from the priesthood of Aaron.  His sacrifice is not for us a nation, but for the members of the Church individually.  That sacrifice has been made once for all, and it is applied to the members of God's Church so we can receive the New Covenant promises of the Holy Spirit and eternal life.

The Church cannot offer animals, even if we wanted to, because we do not have the priesthood of Aaron to offer them.  The priesthood of Aaron was supported by a national system of organized tribes, with the tribes supporting the tribe of Levi with its tithes and offerings and the tribe of Levi supporting the priesthood of Aaron.  The priesthood of Aaron, together with the judges and later kings, helped to rule and govern the nation (Deuteronomy 17:9-13, Matthew 23:1-3, Acts 23:1-5).  The priests had the authority to set rules concerning obedience to the law of Moses.  They could make binding judgments on details of observing the law of Moses.  By the time of Christ, they had abused that authority, building a system of traditions that made God's law a burden (Matthew 23:4-5, Matthew 23:13-33, Luke 11:37-54, Matthew 15:1-9, Mark 7:1-13).  They added a lot of do's and don'ts that God never intended, requiring ceremonial washing of hands before eating for example.

But that system does not now exist for the Church.  Why?  Because we are not a nation.  The Church is the body of all those who have God's Holy Spirit dwelling in them, and that includes people of all races and nationalities.  We live scattered among the nations of this world, living under the governments of those nations, subject to their civil laws, which are not based on the law and government of God.  We are to respect civil governments of this world and obey their laws when they do not conflict with God's law, but these governments are not God's governments as the government of ancient Israel was.

After Christ returns, the nation of Israel under God's government will be established again, and there will be animal sacrifices and a Levitical priesthood to offer them once again.  This may be surprising to some, but prophetic scripture is absolutely clear about this.  In the book of Ezekiel, chapters 40 through 48, is a long prophecy about temple worship in the millennium after Christ returns.  This has to be in the future after Christ returns because the healing waters described in Ezekiel 47:7-12 has never occurred in the past.  It is also not speaking of the church age at this time because it describes the settlement of Israel by tribes, something that has not happened since the captivity of Israel about 700 years before Christ (Ezekiel 47:13-23, 48:1-35).  Animal sacrifices will be offered at that time.  See Ezekiel 43:18-27.  Why would Jesus Christ, king of kings after He returns to this earth, re-establish animal sacrifices for Israel?  Isn't His own sacrifice sufficient?  Of course it is!  But animal sacrifices, like any ritual such as baptism, the taking of the symbols of bread and wine, etc. are TEACHING TOOLS.  They teach us lessons.  They help us to understand better the sacrifice of Christ.  It is the sacrifice of Christ that justifies us with God.  But rituals or "shadows" can help us understand that sacrifice better.

Even today, ministers and lay members of traditional churches often study the sacrificial system in the Old Testament for the lessons it can teach us about the sacrifice of Christ.  Those lessons will be more compelling in the millennium when animal sacrifices are restored and will actually be seen as they are offered.

So in reading the Old Testament, keep in mind that there is a body of law and a priesthood and a sacrificial system that is NATIONAL in character, and those laws that were national laws do not apply to the Church today.  It is for that reason that the Church does not stone people for murder or adultery.  We are not a government.  Stoning was a civil penalty of a nation, just as death in the electric chair or gas chamber or by lethal injection is a penalty for murder in many states in the United States.  Church members do not return to a land inheritance every fifty years - we can't.  Those kinds of laws relate to nations and we live under the laws of the nations of this world, laws that are very different than the laws God gave the nation of Israel under the Old Covenant.  Animal sacrifices on the holy days fall into the same category.  Animals were offered only by a national priesthood, an agency of the government of Israel if you want to think of it that way, and that system has ended for Israel during this church age.  To compare it with governments today, it would be as if the United States government offered animal sacrifices on behalf of the whole nation, with an agency of the federal government in charge of the process.  It is not a matter for the Church.

 The Law Has Been Changed

Although the law has not been abolished, it has been changed "For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.  For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.  For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood" (Hebrews 7:12-14, KJV).  This passage in Hebrews shows that the priesthood of Aaron has been replaced by the priesthood of Jesus Christ for the Church.  The fact that the law has been CHANGED shows that it has not been abolished, because you do not change something if you abolish it.

Also, this passage give a guiding principle as to what changes and why.  The law was changed out of NECESSITY.  It is those things that must change out of necessity that are changed.  There is no such necessity to change the law of the holy days, except that animal sacrifices are no longer offered by the priesthood of Aaron for the nation of Israel.

It is clear in the New Testament that physical circumcision is not required for the Church.  This is an example of how God makes it very clear that something is no longer required.  Paul mentions circumcision very clearly and specifically by name (Acts 15:1, 24, Romans 2:25-29, Romans 4:9-12, 1 Corinthians 7:17-19, Galatians 5:1-2, 11, Galatians 6:11-15, Colossians 3:11) and says clearly that it is not required.  There is nothing like that in the New Testament about the holy days and feasts saying we should not keep them, referring either to the general term "feasts of the Lord" or specific feasts such as "the Feast of Trumpets" or "the Feast of Pentecost."

Why is circumcision no longer required?  Circumcision was given to Abraham, but in the time of Moses it came to represent being a citizen of the nation of Israel.  When a Gentile wanted to become a citizen of Israel, he was circumcised (Exodus 12:48-49).  Likewise, in the time of Paul, a Gentile could become a Jew and thus a citizen of the nation of Israel by being circumcised.  By so doing, he could be represented by the priesthood of Aaron, which was a national priesthood, and come into all the rules and regulations taught by that priesthood (Matthew 23:1-4, Matthew 15:1-3) as well as the promises made to the nation of Israel under the terms of the Old Covenant.  But that is not necessary for the Church because we are under the terms of the New Covenant and are represented by the priesthood of Jesus Christ.

Circumcision is an example of a law that is changed, not abolished.  For the Church, circumcision is of the heart, not of the flesh "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God" (Romans 2:28-29, KJV). 

Supporting Evidence for the Holy Days

God sometimes shows the importance of something by the context in which He commands or teaches it.  Thus, the importance of the weekly Sabbath is shown by the fact that God included it in the Ten Commandments along with commands to have no other gods besides God, to avoid using images in worship, to honor our father and mother, to avoid adultery, murder, stealing, etc.  But God also shows the importance of the annual feasts and holy days by listing them with the weekly Sabbath in Leviticus 23.  This puts the annual holy days in the same category as the weekly Sabbath.

Jesus Christ and the saints will teach the nations to keep God's annual feasts and holy days after He returns.  Zechariah 14:16-19 shows that the Feast of Tabernacles will be kept in the millennium.  "And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.  And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.  And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.  This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles" (Zechariah 14:16-19, KJV).  Notice that the keeping of the Feast of Tabernacles is so important to God, that He will punish any nation of earth with drought and potential starvation if that nation refuses to observe the Feast of Tabernacles.

There is evidence in the New Testament that Paul kept the holy days and instructed his Gentile congregations to keep them.  Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Corinthians 5:8, KJV).  This is in the context of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for it is here that God inspired Paul to teach what the Days of Unleavened Bread represent.  Some object saying that "keeping the feast" here is figurative and it means living in Christ.  But Christ is nowhere referred to in the Bible as "keeping a feast," and the contrast Paul paints is not between keeping the feast physically or spiritually as he would if this were a controversy.  He is talking about literally keeping a feast, a feast his congregation already knew about and was keeping.  He is showing them that they needed to fulfill the spiritual meaning of the feast even as they kept it physically (see verses 6 and 7).

Acts 18:21 shows Paul telling those in Ephesus that he intended to keep a coming feast in Jerusalem.  "When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not; But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will.  And he sailed from Ephesus" (Acts 18:20-21, KJV).  Some object saying that the words "I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem" is missing from some manuscripts.  But the following word "but" is not missing, and it seems to me that it would make no sense for that word to be there except as a connecting word between two clauses.  And if this clause is in some manuscripts but not others, then it was either added or removed.  The Jews had no custody of the Christian scriptures.  The Church would not change the Bible.  The only groups that might try to change the original writings and had the power to do it are the large groups such as those that became the Greek Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, and neither of these would have the motive to add this in support of Old Testament holy days.  But they might have the motive to remove it.  And if it was an honest mistake in copying, it could have been accidentally omitted, but not added.

These seven annual feasts and holy days have important symbolic meaning, meaning that ancient Israel never understood.  They did not understand, for example, that Passover represented the future sacrifice of Christ.  They did not understand that Pentecost represents the giving of the Holy Spirit to the Church so that we are a kind of firstfruits of God's salvation.  God gives rituals and shadows as a tool to teach.  Common sense indicates that God would want us, who understand the meaning of these days, to keep them, even more than ancient Israel who did not understand what they meant.

Some Arguments against the Holy Days

Some say that only the law written on tables of stone continues (the Ten Commandments) and not other Old Testament law not written on stone.  But Jesus said that the two great commandments are to love God and love your neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40), and these commandments are greater than the Ten Commandments because all the law and the prophets hang on them, including the Ten Commandments.  Yet those two great commandments are not written on stone (Deuteronomy 6:5, Leviticus 19:18). 

Some object to the holy days because there is no record of them in Genesis.  But there is no record of any of the Ten Commandments being given as instructions from God in Genesis, yet the Ten Commandments continue.  Silence in Genesis proves nothing.

Some say that because sacrifices were offered on the holy days that this means the holy days do not continue.  But sacrifices were also offered on the weekly Sabbath, so the offering of sacrifices on a day does not mean the day is abolished when the sacrifices end.

Some point out Old Testament scriptures and prophecies where God seems to speak against feasts that Israel was keeping.  These can refer to pagan feasts that Israel was keeping instead of God's feasts, or it could refer to Israel keeping the feasts with a wrong attitude or mixing God's feasts with sinful practices.  Here are some scriptures some use: 

Hosea 2:11 and 5:5-7 - This is referring to a prophesied punishment for sins.  Israel and/or Judah would suffer the punishment of no longer being able to keep the annual days they were keeping.  This is not necessarily God's rejection of the holy days, but His rejection of Israel who was sinning and was about to go into punishment and captivity.  But also, these days are not even necessarily God's holy days.  Jeroboam rejected God's ordained feasts days and set up different days, and the northern kingdom of Israel probably never returned to God's true feast days (1 Kings 12:25-33).

Isaiah 1:13-14 - God is rejecting Israel because of their sins.  Verse 13 and verse 15 explain.  They may have been keeping God's holy days, but their lives were full of sin and God could not endure their hypocrisy of appearing before Him in their sacred meetings while their hands were full of blood. 

Amos 5:21 - This is a message to the northern kingdom of Israel (Amos 1:1).  Jeroboam rejected God's ordained days and practices and started his own, in some cases on different days, and with different priests and with idols (1 Kings 12:25-33).  If you read the history of the different kings of the northern kingdom of Israel, not one was righteous in God's sight, so it is unlikely that Israel ever returned to keeping God's true feasts and holy days as God ordained.  They were no longer God's feasts but the feasts of men.

Some may feel that the holy days are not required because they are not commanded in the New Testament.  But the weekly Sabbath is also not commanded in the New Testament, yet it continues.  Silence in the New Testament does not change what God has commanded in the Old Testament. 

Likewise Acts 15 does not mention the holy days, but it also does not mention the weekly Sabbath, clean and unclean meats, etc.  Acts 15 was an administrative decision on Church policy concerning what would be taught and commanded the Gentile members of the Church at that time, and is not intended to be an all-inclusive description of God's law. 

Galatians 4:21-31, 5:1-4 - The Galatians had an attitude problem, some of them.  Verse 4 of chapter 5 is the key.  They wanted to be circumcised because they thought it was necessary and they thought they could be justified by law keeping rather than through faith in the sacrifice of Christ.

Ephesians 2:14-17 - Paul is not specific about what He is calling the "enmity," the "law of commandments contained in ordinances" as it is translated.  There is absolutely no mention of the feasts of the Lord or annual sabbaths.  In fact, by calling the "law of commandments contained in ordinances" the "enmity," this rules out the possibility that he could be talking about God's holy days, because there is nothing about those days that constitutes enmity of any kind.

Colossians 2:13-14 - "handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us" cannot refer to the holy days and feasts of God.  I have kept them for about 25 years and I know from experience what a blessing they are and that they are not against me any more than the weekly Sabbath is against me.  Probably Paul is referring the requirement of the death penalty for our sins, which was nailed to the cross.

Colossians 2:16-23 - Verse 16 seems to be saying, do not let any man judge you in how you keep the feasts and sabbaths.  In the phrase "the body is of Christ" (KJV), the word "is" is not in the original Greek.  The phrase is, "the body of Christ."  So this could mean, it is the body of Christ, the Church, which is to judge these matters, not any man.  There is also in verses 20-23 a rebuke of those who practice the commandments and doctrines of men.  This cannot refer to the holy days, which were given by God.

How Are the Holy Days Kept by the Church?

Why are there not more explicit instruction in the New Testament showing us that we should keep the annual feasts and holy days of God, and how to keep them?

There are some things God wants us to seek and dig out of His Word and prove our zeal in doing this.  He does not always cram His truth down our throats.  

How does the Church know where to keep the feasts and holy days and how to keep them?

Just as God gave the priesthood of Aaron authority, so God has given the ministry of the Church binding authority to make certain decisions (Matthew 16:18-19).  The ministry of the Church has the authority to make decisions, guided by God, in matters of where these days should be observed and format of services and how they are to be observed for the members of the church that they pastor.

In some cases, a Christian may not be able to attend with a group that observes these days.  In that case, I would recommend that a Christian rest on the holy days and keep the days on his own with the wisdom and guidance God gives through the Bible and the Holy Spirit until such time as God provides the opportunity to attend with a church that observes these days.  But it is better to keep these days with a church that keeps them whenever possible.

Some Christians have been wrongly taught for years that to keep God's holy days means to deny Christ, and these Christians may have a conscience problem with keeping these days.  We should certainly pay attention to our conscience in matters that are optional as far as God's word is concerned (Romans 14:22-23), so for example, if I feel guilty eating meat, I should not eat meat.  But there is no commandment of God that I eat meat.  In matters where God's will is clear in the Bible, God's word must override our conscience (Matthew 4:4).

Summary

God ordained the weekly seventh-day Sabbath and the annual holy days and festivals to give us time to rest from our labor, to seek Him in prayer and Bible study, and to assemble for instruction and worship services.  These days are also teaching tools to help us understand God's plan for mankind.  They have symbolic meaning, just as Passover bread and wine, baptism, and other New Testament ceremonies and rituals have symbolic meaning, and observance of these days with their meaning in mind helps us understand what God has done, is doing, and will do for mankind.

God ordained the Sabbath and the annual holy days and festivals for mankind, not just Israel, and it is God's will that they be observed today.  They were not abolished for the Church when Jesus Christ died and was resurrected.  Paul and the early Church of God kept these days, and Jesus Christ and the saints will teach all mankind to observe them when He returns to rule the earth.