Articles
 The Upper Room Discourse 79
 The Upper Room Discourse 78
 The Upper Room Discourse 77
 The Upper Room Discourse 76
 The Upper Room Discourse 75
 The Upper Room Discourse 74
 The Upper Room Discourse 73
 The Upper Room Discourse 72
 The Upper Room Discourse 71
 The Upper Room Discourse 70

Series [All]
 Daniel Juster (61)
 Fruit of the Spirit (8)
 Guy Cohen (56)
 Introduction to Messianic Judaism (24)
 Juster summer trip
 Mark Rantz (2)
 The Mitzvah Book (93)
 Tikkun Articles (5)
 Torah Thoughts
 Zion's Glory (3)

Archive


 

Thursday, 19 September 2019
Should Gentiles Keep The Feasts of Israel?

As we move into the Holiday season, I want to address the issue of Christians keeping the Holy Days.

I read Romans 14, Galatians 3, and Colossians 2 straightforwardly. I know that there are arguments that the passages do not really mean what they at first glance, in almost all translations, seem to say. Romans 14 states that keeping specific days is according to the conscience of the person who keeps does so. He does not enjoin their keeping. In context, of course, Paul knows that Israel was and is enjoined to keep the Feasts and the Sabbath, but the context is that Gentiles are not so required. Colossians states that the Feasts are a shadow of the realities that are in Yeshua, who is the substance of the feasts. The Colossians are exhorted to allow no one to judge them with regard to a Feast, New Moon or Sabbath day. The idea that Gentiles should keep the Holy Days or even that their lives would be better and more enriched if they did so is absent from the pages of the New Covenant Scriptures. We reject the false teaching that Gentile should keep the specific sabbaths of the Feasts on the right days.

However, the conclusion that the Biblical Feasts are irrelevant is foolish and incoherent. The Feasts of Israel are revelatory and teach us about God’s provision for our needs, the work of the Messiah Jesus, and are prophetic for the end of this Age and the Age to Come. Understanding the Feasts is part of understanding the Bible. Why did Yeshua die during Passover? Why was he raised from the dead on First Fruits? Why does the book of Hebrews interpret the atonement of Yeshua on the basis of the Day of Atonement (Heb. 7-9) and the meaning of our spiritual life through the Sabbath (Heb. 4)? When we understand this, then Gentiles can be supportive of Jewish people who keep these special days.

Must Christians keep the Feasts, and take particular days of the year as Sabbath Feast days? No, in my view the Bible is clear. But should Christians connect to the meaning of the Feasts in various ways? Yes, if we are to understand the Bible better and be more in tune with rooting in Israel.

This excerpt was taken from my article.

Posted By Daniel Juster, 10:00am Comment Comments: 0