The plan and purpose of God for the redemption of mankind is revealed in the sequence of the Feasts and Holy Days as set out in the Bible.

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Mainstream Christianity turns to the traditions of men for doctrine, as did the Pharisees whom Christ roundly condemned from Mark 7:6-9, which is a quote from Isaiah 29:13-16. However, while the Pharisees corrupted the Scriptures, the Holy Days and Sabbaths were not eliminated (Mat. 5:17-20).

God revealed His laws to the prophets, and the Scriptures referred to by Christ and His apostles were the Old Testament. All Scripture was ‘God breathed’ (2Tim.3:16) for mankind’s benefit, and must be fulfilled and cannot be broken (Mk. 14:49; Jn. 10:35).

The levy governing the feasts occurs in 4 sequences (Ex. 20,21,22,23; Lev. 23; Num. 15,28,29; Deut. 5,14) covering extension, reiteration and amplification of the law. Exodus 12 had dealt with Passover.

Salvation is not by the law, but through the grace and mercy of God; and obedience to God in the law is part of that salvation process. So it follows, if a religious system follows any other law of Holy Days and Sabbaths, that system is idolatrous, and not following Christ’s voice or His example (Jn. 10:27, 1Pet. 2:21). Modern Christianity misconstrues Paul’s teachings as eliminating the requirements of the law.

Genesis 1:14 shows the lights of heaven were to divide day and night, and were for signs and seasons, days and years. So the Holy Calendar was set at creation in the celestial system.

The feasts were given to Moses (Lev. 23) and were designated by the Lord as "My feasts" (Lev. 23:2). So they are not secular or earthly in origin, but Holy Days, and cannot be changed or abandoned unless God changes His plan for mankind, which is absurd considering His unchanging nature.

Isaiah 1:14 is used as evidence that God has done away with the New Moons, Sabbaths and Feasts. This refers to the apostasy by Israel in connection with God’s feasts, which are termed thus - "your feasts". The Angel of the Presence was unable to do away with the feasts (v.13), because He was given the plan by His elohim – i.e. the YHWH of Hosts (Zech. 2:5-13), Who sent Him.

The LORD of Hosts in relation to the Elohim of Israel (Christ) is shown in Psalm 110:1; Micah 5:2-4; Psalm 45:6,7 and Hebrews 1:8,9. Thus the Holy Days are direct orders to humanity given by Jesus Christ, from God the Father, who is his God. Christ and his apostles by the power of the Holy Spirit kept all the Sabbaths, New Moons and Feasts (Col. 2:16) as has the true Church for 2000 years, and as they will be in force in the Millennium (Isa. 66:23; Zech. 14:16-19) and kept as the rule of law under Christ.

Messiah was the first of the first fruits of the harvest of the sons of God, as portrayed by the Passover and Wave Sheaf Offering.

In his pre-existence as Elohim of Israel, subordinate to His Elohim (Eloah), God the Father, or ton Theon (The God), Christ delivered the law to Moses; hence He was an angel, or malak (Heb), messenger).

Christ is the same yesterday today and to the ages (Heb. 13:8) and God is immutable (Mal. 3:6; Jas. 1:17), so the days they proclaim as Holy do not change.

Usually Isaiah 1:14 is cited as an excuse to keep the Chaldean feasts of Easter and the mid-winter pagan festivals as opposed to Biblical law. The Church in Rome adopted the pagan festivals for the practice of attracting converts. Acts 12:4 has been deliberately mistranslated to read ‘Easter’ instead of ‘Passover’ in KJV, because people in England were reading the Bible and actually wanted to keep the Law.

It is of significance that the ‘Horn’ of Daniel 7, which is the ten-horned kingdom referred to in Revelation, shall ‘wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws’ (Dan. 7:25). Changing times and the law was held to be the mark of the false world religious and political system, which eventually controls the world, but is destroyed at the return of the Messiah.

It is as absurd to suggest God would abrogate the feasts, as to suggest He would abort the redemption of mankind. The Passover Lamb (Christ) and His death and resurrection would have no significance as a redemptive sacrifice. Pentecost would no longer stand as the giving of the Holy Spirit, and the following feasts would be pointless. As it is, each feast portrays the coming events in sequence as a manifestation of the plan of redemption for mankind. That is, Trumpets for the return of Messiah; Atonement for reconciliation of man to God, and the banishment of Satan for 1,000 years; the Ingathering Harvest for the 1,000 years of Christ’s rule; and the Last Great Day, the final White Throne Judgment and conclusion of the plan for mankind, up to that point.

Mainstream Christianity still keeps Passover as Easter, and Pentecost incorrectly from Easter, but does not deny the necessity to keep Pentecost. The so-called mainstream groups fail to understand the later feasts, because of their misunderstanding of the Kingdom of God, and denial of the physical restoration in the Millennium and the second resurrection.

The Churches of God, including Christ and the Apostolic Church (Mat. 26:17-20; Luke 2:41,42; Jn. 2:13,23; Acts 18:21(KJV), 20:6,16) have kept the Feasts for 2,000 years. The Day of Atonement is referred to in Acts 27:9. An examination of the Inquisition shows that the feasts were used as a means of identifying heretics (i.e. from the Roman point of view).

The Temple was chosen as a temple of sacrifice (2Chro. 7:12) but the feasts were not tied to the Temple. The Lord chose Zion for His dwelling (Ps. 132:13-14), but that choice was suspended for the wandering of the Church in the wilderness under persecution for 2,000 years, until the return of Messiah. The 2,000 years is a forty Jubilee period and is symbolic of the relation to the Sign of Jonah on a year/day/Jubilee allegory. The wandering of Israel in the wilderness under the pillar of fire and the cloud for 40 years symbolises the wandering of the Church under Christ in the wilderness of the world for 2,000 years, and so the feasts were kept wherever Christ indicated.

The central issue of the faith is knowledge of the One True God, which is essential to eternal life (Jn. 17:3; lJn.5:20) and that True God is God who is the Father of all. All understanding is predicated on this fact. God the Father sent His Son Jesus Christ as the sacrifice to atone for mankind. Christ is subordinate to His Father and is not then the One True God, and thus, not the object of worship.

The Feasts are a necessary reminder of the plan of God. To truly follow Christ, one has to obey the commandments of God the Father, as He did, and was sinless. Keep in mind that ‘sin is transgression of the law’ (lJn.3:4).

By keeping the law, being baptised and receiving the Holy Spirit, one is under the Seal of God. Keeping the Passover demonstrates that the law is in one’s hand (actions) and forehead (mind) Ex. 13:9).

The servants of God are sealed in their foreheads (Rev. 7:3, 9:4) and in their hands (Ex. 13:9) and the name of the Father is borne on the forehead (Rev. 14:1).

Even those who worship the beast are marked in their forehead (Rev. 14:9).

So there are two opposing systems; one is biblically based, the other keeps the day of the Sun, Easter and the festivals of the Solstice. As we are slave to whom we serve, adherence to the word of God is critical to the faith.