The Biblical Feasts

Years ago while reading through the Bible, my husband Tom felt the Lord inviting us to celebrate His feasts. At the time, we knew virtually nothing about how the holidays were celebrated. We had a hilarious and wonderful year as we discovered the riches of the holidays God ordained. We continue to find them a joyous pageant designed to help us remember the miraculous power of God on behalf of man.

Shabbat – The weekly Sabbath Often we are asked why Christians should celebrate the feasts. From personal experience, I can tell you that it is an enriching experience—a yearlong series of object lessons telling the story of God’s love and care for His people. While there is nothing in the New Testament that commands Christians to celebrate the feasts, there is also nothing written therein to say we shouldn’t enjoy God’s feasts.

Shavuot – The Feast of Weeks We find the biblical feasts first delineated in Leviticus 23, which explains the Sabbath (Shabbat), Passover (Pesach), Feast of Unleavened Bread (celebrated during Passover), the Feast of Weeks (also known as Shavuot or Pentecost), the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh HaShanah), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot or “booths”).

Rosh HaShanah – The Feast of Trumpets Yeshua (Jesus) once said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matt. 5:17–18). As we read the New Testament, we see frequent references to one feast or another. Yeshua and His followers clearly kept the feasts.

Yom Kippur – The Day of Atonement The Apostle Paul also mentions the feasts. “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice or wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:8). Here Paul assumes that the Corinthians (gentile believers) would be celebrating the feast of Passover, and he encourages them to do so with the right heart attitude.

Sukkot – The Feast of Tabernacles The prophet Zechariah talks about a future day when the nations will come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, on them there will be no rain” (Zech. 14:16–17).

From these Scriptures, it is clear that God inaugurated the feasts, calling them “My” feasts; Yeshua, Paul, and the early believers celebrated the feasts; and in the future, all nations will come to worship Him in Jerusalem and celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. In the ancient past, the New Testament era, and Messiah’s future kingdom, the feasts are celebrated. So, why not enjoy them in the present time as well! What riches you will discover as you begin to see how God does holidays.