As a man who grew up exposed to Christian churches in the US, I was totally unfamiliar with YHWH’s appointed times. They just are not taught. However, as I simply read through the Bible I find that YHWH spoke about them a lot in the Torah, the first 5 books of the Bible, and Yeshua and His disciples celebrated them as well. Generally when He speaks about something a lot, when He keeps coming back to it over and over, we should pay close attention. We should read the scriptures and pray He enlightens us. We should caution ourselves against any biases created by what we were taught by man and focus on what the Bible actually says. It was inspired by YHWH and written by those who were very close to Him.
The Feasts of Passover, of Weeks, and of Booths
1“Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2“You shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where the LORD chooses to establish His name. 3“You shall not eat leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), so that you may remember all the days of your life the day when you came out of the land of Egypt. 4“For seven days no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory, and none of the flesh which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day shall remain overnight until morning.5“You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your towns which the LORD your God is giving you; 6but at the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name, you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening at sunset, at the time that you came out of Egypt. 7“You shall cook and eat it in the place which the LORD your God chooses. In the morning you are to return to your tents. 8“Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God; you shall do no work on it.
9“You shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.10“Then you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give just as the LORD your God blesses you; 11and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite who is in your town, and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst, in the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name. 12“You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.
13“You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths seven days after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat; 14and you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your towns. 15“Seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.
16“Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed. 17“Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you.
18“You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your towns which the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19“You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial, and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. 20“Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, that you may live and possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
21“You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the LORD your God, which you shall make for yourself. 22“You shall not set up for yourself a sacred pillar which the LORD your God hates.
Pray for wisdom and discernment. Don’t ignore what scripture teaches because it is unfamiliar or uncomfortable at first. Explore it and seek to understand it. You can get more information to understand these holy days of YHWH fairly easily, but you need to test everything against scripture. Some aspects are not completely clear and people have varying opinions on them. I suggest starting with Leviticus 23, but I have also included some additional websites I have found helpful below.
Test everything against scripture, including whatever traditions our churches have adopted or chosen to omit in teaching us as followers of Christ. When it comes to YHWH’s appointed times, remember that the Bible does not refer to them as “Jewish holidays” but as the appointed times of YHWH. I have found that celebrating these is a wonderful way to reinforce YHWH’s relationship with His people and to teach our children about significant events in the past and events to come regarding our faith. Even for those who want to debate YHWH’s words that these are required for all generations, ask yourself the following… “Whether or not we are required to celebrate these appointed times, is it honoring to YHWH and an opportunity to further build relationship with Him by celebrating them or is it in any way detrimental?” Maybe the question changes from “Do I have to?” to “As a follower of Christ, why wouldn’t I want to?”
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