| by Avram Yehoshua (Flagstaff, Arizona) |
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| The use of many of the Feasts of Israel in Acts and First Corinthians, and them as time markers, reveals that the Apostles continued to celebrate them all their lives. The Church teaches that the Feasts were ‘done away with’ at the crucifixion, and therefore, Christians don’t keep them, but NT Scripture clearly reveals otherwise: 1. Acts 2:1 30 AD—The Feast of Weeks (Hebrew: Shavu’ot—Pentecost; Ex. 34:22; Dt. 16:9-10) 2. Acts 12:3 44 AD—The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Ex. 12:8, 15f.; 23:15; 34:18; Lev. 23:6f) 3. Acts 12:4 44 AD—Passover (Ex. 12:11, 27; Lev. 23:5f.; Num. 9:5; 28:16; Dt. 16:1; Mt. 26:1f.) 4. Acts 18:21 49 AD—This coming Feast (obviously a Feast of Israel; found in the KJV/NKJV) 5. Acts 20:6 57 AD—The Feast of Unleavened Bread 6. Acts 20:16 57 AD—The Feast of Weeks (Shavu’ot—Pentecost) 7. Acts 27:9 60 AD—The Day of Atonement (“The Fast,” as Luke calls it; Lev. 16:1-34; 23:26-32) • Passover is mentioned once in Acts (Acts 12:4). • The Feast of Unleavened Bread is mentioned twice in Acts (Acts 12:3; 20:6). • The Feast of Weeks (Shavu’ot—Pentecost) is mentioned twice (Acts 2:1; 20:16). • The Day of Atonement (The Fast) is mentioned once (Acts 27:9). • An unspecified Feast of Israel is mentioned once (Acts 18:21; both KJV and NKJV). The Feasts of Israel in First Corinthians The Apostle Paul speaks of two Feasts of Israel in First Corinthians, and he uses the last one as a time marker: 8. 1st Cor. 5:8 53 AD—The Feast (Passover/the Feast of Unleavened Bread) 9. 1st Cor. 16:8 53 AD—The Feast of Weeks (Shavu’ot—Pentecost) The Feasts of Israel in Acts and First Corinthians Below are the Feasts of Israel in Acts and First Corinthians, in the Gregorian months they’re celebrated in, and the number of times these ‘feasts that were done away with’ are found in the Book of Acts and First Corinthians: 1. April Passover Twice Acts 12:4; 1st Cor. 5:6-8 2. April The Feast of Unleavened Bread Three times Acts 12:3; 20:6; 1st Cor. 5:6-8 3. June The Feast of Weeks—Pentecost Three times Acts 2:1; 20:16; 1st Cor. 16:8 4. Oct. The Day of Atonement—The Fast Once Acts 27:9 5. ??? An unspecified Feast of Israel Once Acts 18:21 The Feasts of Israel are mentioned 9 times in the Book of Acts and First Corinthians. The use of these 9 Feasts of Israel by Luke and Paul, specifically as time markers, meaning that they reveal when an event happened or would happen, should cause us to realize that these ‘Feasts of the Jews’ were obviously still being celebrated by all Christians in the days of the Apostles, as both Luke and Paul are writing to Gentiles. The Church teaches that the Feasts of Israel were done away with at the cross, but the Book of Acts and First Corinthians clearly refute that false teaching. Acts is the only divinely inspired history of the Church for its first 34 years after the resurrection. It reveals that the Feasts weren’t changed by the Jesus nor His Apostles. On the contrary, Acts reveals that all Christians were celebrating the ‘Jewish’ Feasts. If not, Luke a Gentile, wouldn’t have used them as time markers because no Gentile Christian would have known when the event that Luke spoke of happened. The same holds true for the Apostle Paul who wrote First Corinthians in 53 AD, 23 years after the resurrection and 11 years before Luke wrote Acts. Paul speaks of Passover/the Feast of Unleavened Bread and exhorts his Gentile Corinthians to ‘keep the Feast.’ (1st Cor. 5:6-8) He also tells them that he was going to stay in Ephesus until Pentecost (1st Cor. 16:8). Some Christians might say, ‘Sure Paul would use Pentecost because it’s a holy day of Christianity,’ but Pentecost goes back to Mt. Sinai (as ‘the Feast of Weeks’ in Hebrew; Ex. 34:22; Num. 28:26; Dt. 16:10, 16), and it was on the first Pentecost at Mt. Sinai that God spoke the Ten Commandments to all Israel. Both God’s Word and God’s Spirit were given to Israel on the same day—the Jewish Feast of Weeks. Neither Luke nor Paul ever speak of Easter (Note 1) or Christmas, which are not found anywhere in the New Testament. The Roman Catholic Church brought those pagan feasts in after all the Apostles were dead, and Rome nullified God’s holy Feasts, not Jesus. Easter and Xmas have nothing to do with Jesus. If God wanted us to celebrate them they would have been written in the New Testament. When Xmas came into the Catholic Church (about 350 AD), even the Catholic priests fought against it because they knew how pagan it was, but most Christians today don’t realize there is no scriptural defense for Easter or Xmas. On the other hand, the resurrection of Yeshua (Jesus) is pictured in First Fruits (aka First Sheaf), which is celebrated on the Sunday of the seven day Feast of Unleavened Bread. God made provision for Christians to observe the death and resurrection of His Son in Passover–the Feast of Unleavened Bread and First Sheaf. God gave the Feasts to Israel at Mt. Sinai with His Son in mind. He didn’t forget to give Christians a day to celebrate His Son’s death (Passover/the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread), and His resurrection (note 2) (the Sunday of First Fruits within the seven day Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread), and our glorious transformation into the Image of Yeshua (the seven day Feast of Unleavened Bread), with the eating of unleavened bread every day of the Feast, which pictures Christians becoming like Yeshua (Lev. 23:4f.; 1st Cor. 5:6-8; cf. 2nd Cor. 3:18). Also, God’s 7th day Sabbath is mentioned 11 times after the resurrection (note 3). Sunday is mentioned twice (1st Cor. 16:2), and one time it’s not Sunday at all, but actually Saturday night (Acts 20:7; note 4). Not once does the New Testament say that Sunday replaced the 7th day Sabbath, nor that the Church was meeting on Sunday instead of the Sabbath—something we would expect if the Sabbath, which Israel had kept for 1,400 years, had been replaced by Sunday. Sunday, Easter and Xmas are not biblical holy days, but pagan days of the Roman Catholic Church. Roman Catholic church history confirms that all Christians kept Passover and the 7th day Sabbath for at least 90 years after the resurrection—until Pope Sixtus arbitrarily changed it (note 5). In 120 AD Sixtus threw out the Sabbath (Ex. 20:8-11), the Feasts of Israel (Lev. 23) and Mosaic Law, and brought in Sunday, Easter, anti-Mosaic Law theology and anti-Semitism. Scripture reveals that he didn’t have authority from God to do that. You can choose to follow Jesus, or you can continue to follow the teachings of the Pope/s (Dan. 7:25; 1st Jn. 2:6). Sunday, Easter, Xmas, and the eating of bacon, hame, catfish and shrimp are not of Jesus, but of Rome. If you want to talk about this and find out more and our Lord’s Ways, email me at AvramYeh@Gmail.com Endnotes: 1. Every English Bible rightly has Passover for Acts 12:4 except the King James Version. The Greek word is πάσχα (Paska; Passover). The KJV has Easter. The KJV is wrong and is also wrong at Heb. 4:9, where it only has rest instead of Sabbath rest. Hebrews was written 37 years after the resurrection, yet the author speaks of Sabbath, not Sunday rest. 2. For more on this see First Sheaf at http://seedofabraham.net/First-Sheaf.pdf. Also, there is a Feast of Israel that commemorates the birth and return of Jesus. It’s not the Feast of Tabernacles, but The Feast of Trumpets. Read about it and why ‘the Rapture’ isn’t biblical at http://seedofabraham.net/The-Feast-of-Trumpets.pdf. 3. Acts 1:12; 13:14, 27, 42, 44; 15:21; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4; Col. 2:16, and Heb. 4:9 (where the KJV and NKJV fail to correctly translate the Greek word Sabbatismos in Heb. 4:9, but every other Bible has Sabbath rest—not just ‘rest’). 4. Sunday is seen only once in the entire New Testament after the resurrection (1st Cor. 16:2), and it wasn’t a day ‘for church.’ Paul wrote that each individual was to set aside some money he had made on Sunday, the first day of the work week, for the poor believers in Jerusalem. He’d collect it when he came to Corinth (1st Cor. 16:1-3; cf. 2nd Cor. 9:1f.). 5. The Roman Catholic Church is not a Christian church because its teaching on salvation and Mary are heretical, along with most of its other doctrines. The Pope and Catholicism are an abomination to God (Dan. 7:25; Rev. 17:5, 9; 18:4; see What’s Wrong with the Catholic Church? at http://seedofabraham.net/Whats-Wrong-with-the-Catholic-Church.pdf, and Alexander Hislop’s Christian classic, The Two Babylons at http://seedofabraham.net/The-Two-Babylons.pdf). For more understanding about the Feasts and Sabbaths in Acts, see The Feasts of Israel as Time Markers after the Resurrection at http://seedofabraham.net/The-Feasts-of-Israel-as-Time-Markers.pdf. Also, read Samuele Bacchiocchi’s Christian classic, From Sabbath to Sunday at http://seedofabraham.net/From-Sabbath-to-Sunday.pdf. Find out when and why the Roman Catholic Church threw out God’s Sabbath, Feasts, and laws. It’s shameful. Revised: June 18, 2021 —————————————————————————— Reprinted with permission from: The Seed of Abraham https://www.seedofabraham.net/ —————————————————————————— |
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