Leviticus 23 - New King James Version
For you were once darkness (ignorant), but now you are light (have correct knowledge) in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) ~Ephesians 5:8-9
Thus says the LORD (Yahweh): Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. ~ Isaiah 1:14
The most reliable calendar in the universe is the sun because it never varies from its appointed course, and cannot be manipulated by man. It is so accurate that the U.S. Naval Observatory sets their atomic clock by the sun.
The Spring equinox is the beginning of months, the true Biblical New Year, just as the Autumn equinox is the first day of the seventh Biblical month. With these two immutable witnesses, we can be certain that we are following the correct seasons for the Lord’s appointed Feasts. The moon has absolutely nothing to do with keeping time, and is one of the erroneous assumptions that many people make because they believe in the traditions of the Jews. The words "new moon" means new month, not the planet or phases of the moon.
Day of Atonement is always October 2nd
The Sabbath
Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation (a "dress rehearsal" for the real thing ~Hebrews 4:1-10). You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.
“The Sabbath (a day of rest) was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath (not for man to rest or to be lazy) ~Mark 2:27
Noon to noon is also confirmed by the Passover. God commanded the lamb to be slain on the 14th day of the month of Abib and consumed that self-same evening. A sunset to sunset day causes the lamb to be slain on the 14th and consumed on the 15th which is totally contrary to Scripture. ~ Leviticus 23:4-8
There are certain jobs that require people to work on Saturday and/or Sunday, i.e., doctors, nurses, EMS, firemen, the military, etc. So when is their day of rest? The whole world cannot stop working all at the same time. Even strict Saturday Sabbath keepers want the fire department on duty 24/7.
As it is written: Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. ~Romans 14:4-6
It is my considered opinion that the weekly Sabbath is from noon Saturday to noon Sunday. So if you assemble on Saturday it's to the Lord or if you assemble on Sunday, it's to the Lord.
List of The Holy Days as Recorded in the Bible
Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread
These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread.
On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.
Passover is such an important event that it’s the only Feast that God allows a “make up”… on the 14th day of the second month of Ziv… May 3rd. Numbers 9:1-14
The Feast of First Fruits
New Testament requires a living sacrifice
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. ~ Romans 12:1-2
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.
And
you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of
the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. (ask your pastor how long forever is)
The Feast of Weeks
(Pentecost in the New Testament)
And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven.They are the first fruits to the Lord. And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord. Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering.
The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. (for how long?)
When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.
The Feast of Trumpets
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.The Day of Atonement
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be
the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God.
For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. (has forever past?)
It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict* your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath. (evening begins at one second past High Noon)
*The Hebrew word affict (to grieve) has a spiritual meaning and does not mean to fast (that's a Jewish tradition). Here is the root meaning: to answer, respond, speak, shout, to testify as a witness. Rather than fast, God is telling us to be witnesses and to remember the suffering of Yahshua/Jesus in our stead.
The Feast of Tabernacles
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying: The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord.On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.
These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day— besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the Lord.
Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.
You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths (a temporary dwelling) for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. (has God changed His mind about forever?)
So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.
After reading Leviticus 23, can anyone tell me when the LORD said to observe the New Year in the dead of winter? Celebrate Easter? Christmas? Or ANY of the holiday traditions of men?
Forget the argument about "priest" and "burnt offerings". Any sincere Bible student knows the Old Testament Feast Days were a pattern and shadow to come of the New Testament Feast Days when Christ became our Passover Lamb and our High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Read verses 14, 21, 31 and 41 again. Has forever passed?
"For the time will come when they (nominal Christians) will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables". ~2 Timothy 4:3-5
For those who claim the Old Testament is obsolete, let's review.
Paul told Timothy...
All Scripture (Old and New Testaments) is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof (an expression of blame or disapproval), for correction, for instruction in righteousness. ~
2 Timothy 3:16 Remember, there was no "new testament" when Paul wrote this to Timothy.
My Church does not keep the Feasts of the LORD, so what do I do now? Find a group near you to fellowship with at Feast time... http://www.feastgoer.org/index.html
God has always preserved a remnant of people who are sincerely trying to do as God instructs. ~1 Corinthians 5:8
Won't it be a wonderful day when all of God's children can meet together and not care what Church they went to.