How Many Shopping Days to the Biblical Festivals by Terri Gillespie
“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.” Matthew 5:17 (NIV)
Early in my walk I decided to take the “Red Letters” path to scripture reading. You know, only reading the words printed in red, those spoken by Jesus.
Although His words are significant and powerful, I missed a lot of contextual information that gave true meaning and life to what the Messiah was trying to communicate to His followers, detractors . . . and to me.
In many ways, not knowing the original Jewish context of the bible is like my lopsided efforts at discipleship.
The Feasts of the Lord—the biblical festivals—teach us much about the nature of God and His design for His people. They can supply us with the sinew and flesh of our faith.
An architect’s blueprint communicates to a builder the vision for a home or business. In the same way, the biblical feasts communicate God’s plan for us to build our lives, families and congregations as influential representations of who He is.
Biblical feasts are not flashy, and generally have not been commercialized like Christmas or Easter. There are no countdowns for shopping days or any trees and egg dyes to buy. However, there are days of preparation; most are reflective and some require simple, unadorned work.
There are a wealth of symbolisms that provide innumerable insights into God’s love, mercy, hope, salvation and purpose for our lives. They are also opportunities for outreach, and family and congregational bonding—mostly around food. In fact there is an old Jewish saying about the festivals: Enemies sought to kill us. God saved us. Let’s eat.
Can Christians celebrate these biblical/Jewish feasts? Of course. According to Ephesians 2:11ff, although Gentiles were estranged from the national life of Israel and foreigners to the covenants of God, through Jesus’ (Yeshua) death and resurrection, non-Jews have been brought near and Jew and Gentile are to be one in the Messiah.
Leviticus 23 highlights the original festivals:
- Shabbat—the Sabbath
- Pesach—the Passover
- Sfirat HaOmer—the First Fruits
- Shavuot—the Latter Fruits (also known as Pentacost)
- Rosh HaShanah—the New Year
- Yom Kippur—the Day of Atonement
- Sukkot—the Feast of Tabernacles (also known as the Feast of Booths)
There are two other holidays mentioned in later writings:
- Purim—the Feast of Lots (taken from the Book of Esther)
- Hanukkah—the Feast of Dedication, sometimes called the Festival of Lights (originally came about during Apocryphal time period, but specifically mentioned in John 10:22-23)
Are you ready to deepen your understanding of the word?
Are you ready to learn new and fun ways to teach your children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews (Deuteronomy 6:6-7) how to love the Lord our God?
And did I mention food? There will be some great recipes passed down from generations of Jewish celebrants of these festivals.
Are you excited, yet?
Stay tuned for upcoming articles about the biblical festivals and how you can inject wonderful insights of God’s love and power into your life!
NEXT TIME: The Forgotten Festival