First of all they are not holidays. They are HOLY days. They are holy because they are imbued with the presence of the Lord.
Secondly, these holy days were not "given" to anyone. These days, as I keep stating, are God's Holy days:
Lev 23:4 These [are] the feasts of the LORD, [even] holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
You can talk around this fact, try to rationalize it away, or ignore it...but it won't go away because it's the truth...scripture can't be broken.
You just show what low esteem you have for the work of Christ, HIS work was for men of all races and nations. That is the thing that we have to celebrate. That He had sheep from other flocks . The Jew 1st and then all mankind. You demean the gift of Christ as Saviour by needing to add to it the legalism of the Pharisees
On the contrary, God's holy days are for the benefit of all mankind. In the future, when Christ returns, all nations will celebrate the holy days that Christ created. The evidence of this is in the prophechies of Zechariah - :
Zec 14:16 And it shall come to pass, [that] every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. Zec 14:17 And it shall be, [that] whoso will not come up of [all] the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
Zec 14:18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that [have] no [rain]; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
Zec 14:19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
When Christ returns I pray that you are still not hard hearted about this issue and will keep his feast days Terry. Why wait until then though? Why not now?
Did Luke keep the Jewish feasts? What of Stephen the man chose as the first martyr?
Of course they did. These days were part of the culture and life of their society at the time...just like holidays in the United States are to most people today.
"One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observed the day, to the Lord he does not observe it." (Romans 14:5-6a).
The problem with using this verse in support of NOT observing Christ's holy days is that it doesn't mention the holy days. The NT when referring to God's Holy days uses the word:
heorte
Of uncertain affinity; a festival: - feast, holyday.
This word, or variations, occurs close to 30 times in the new testament and always refers to God's holy days.
In contrast, "day" in "observes the day" in Romans 14 is the word:
hemera
Feminine (with G5610 implied) of a derivative of ημαι hemai (to sit; akin to the base of G1476) meaning tame, that is, gentle; day, that is, (literally) the time space between dawn and dark, or the whole 24 hours (but several days were usually reckoned by the Jews as inclusive of the parts of both extremes); figuratively a period (always defined more or less clearly by the context): - age, + alway, (mid-) day (by day, [-ly]), + for ever, judgment, (day) time, while, years
Hemera is used 387 times in the NT but is never used to refer specifically to a holy day. I urge you to research this usage on your own.
Those Holidays were given to the Jews, remain a sign to the Jews. I did not say they were " done away with" .
Holy days Terry, holy days. If they were not done away with then they are still holy. Your creator and mine still have feast days that they made holy.
The "Christians" that observed them were the JEWISH Christians , not the Roman or greek Christians.
I think the burden of proof is on you for this. Paul specifically tells "jewish" christians and gentile christians alike to celebrate at least one holy day:
1Co 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast (heortazo), not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened [bread] of sincerity and truth.
"So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ .
That does not mean what you think it means. Explain this: Paul wrote this, by most scholars estimates, over 20 years after the death of Christ. Yet Paul says that the feast days ARE...not WERE...ARE a shadow of things to come. ARE a shadow. Why does Paul believe, 20 years after the death of Christ, that the feast days ARE a shadow of things yet future, things yet to come? The answer of course is that they are. Christ will return...the fall feasts picture the return of Christ and the millenial kingdom.
did not say there was an injunction , that Christian may not celebrate them. We have Christian liberty we are free to do that , but it is no spiritual benefit.
On the contrary I've found that observing God's feast days have great spiritual benefits. That's why God made them. God does nothing in vain.
You should study on this topic some more. Try reading God's Holy Day Plan . I know that you've already rejected the celebration of Christmas as being a non-Christian tradition. This is the same. Man by his tradiiton has usurped the wisdom of God and made God's holy days irrelevent to most Christians. That's shameful.
First of all they are not holidays. They are HOLY days. They are holy because they are imbued with the presence of the Lord.
Secondly, these holy days were not "given" to anyone. These days, as I keep stating, are God's Holy days:
Can you show me where He declared them to all the other nations around Israel?
Lev 23:4 These [are] the feasts of the LORD, [even] holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
Doug that is God speaking to the Jews. EVERY ONE OF THEM DEMONSTRATE GODS WORK AMONG THEM (the Jews)
I could celebrate your birthday and anniversary , but it has no meaning to me ..THEY ARE YOUR DAYS
Show me where God commanded ANY GENTILE NATION to celebrate them, JUST ONE OTHER NATION
You can talk around this fact, try to rationalize it away, or ignore it...but it won't go away because it's the truth...scripture can't be broken.
Doug I am not the one intentionally skipping or misreading scripture...
You just show what low esteem you have for the work of Christ, HIS work was for men of all races and nations. That is the thing that we have to celebrate. That He had sheep from other flocks . The Jew 1st and then all mankind. You demean the gift of Christ as Saviour by needing to add to it the legalism of the Pharisees
On the contrary, God's holy days are for the benefit of all mankind. In the future, when Christ returns, all nations will celebrate the holy days that Christ created. The evidence of this is in the prophechies of Zechariah - :
Will there be animal sacrifices? Does your church do the MANDATED sacrifices?
Zec 14:16 And it shall come to pass, [that] every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. Zec 14:17 And it shall be, [that] whoso will not come up of [all] the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. Zec 14:18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that [have] no [rain]; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. Zec 14:19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
Doug one of the priorities of good hermeneutics is to look at the audience ...WHO WAS THAT WRITTEN TO? Was he a prophet to the Greeks the romans and the heathen nations?
The entire theology that somehow you are a part of some lost tribe that is here comes from mormon theology not Christian . You are not a Jew, that was not written to you .
When Christ returns I pray that you are still not hard hearted about this issue and will keep his feast days Terry. Why wait until then though? Why not now?
Because Christ has fulfilled the law for those that are saved. You may continue your personal work to save yourself, offer heifers in your back yard. But I have a high Priest that offers daily sacrifices for me, He is my advocate with the Father.
You may continue on your quest to earn your own salvation . My was accomplished on the cross.
Did Luke keep the Jewish feasts? What of Stephen the man chose as the first martyr?
Of course they did. These days were part of the culture and life of their society at the time...just like holidays in the United States are to most people today.
Could you show me where they ever "celebrated" them. THEY WERE NOT JEWS, THE WERE GREEKS .
That is why the Jewish leaders were so infuriated with Stephen. Here was a NON JEW a Greek TEACHING THEM their scripture .
Non Jews did not celebrate Jewish holy days...that was a Hellenistic/ Roman , pagan culture. Those were not 'cultural days' Doug.
"One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observed the day, to the Lord he does not observe it." (Romans 14:5-6a).
The problem with using this verse in support of NOT observing Christ's holy days is that it doesn't mention the holy days. The NT when referring to God's Holy days uses the word:
LOL yea , and you do not like it . On the other hand you will take a verse written to Jews and try to apply it to Gentiles. The meaning IN CONTEXT is clear Doug
Who was the letter written to?
Roman Church
What was the topic of the letter?
A basic doctrinal treatieson Christ and salvation
This part was specific to gentiles being TIED to the Jewish law. Lets look at it :)
| Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, [but] not to doubtful disputations. | |
| For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. | |
| Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. | |
| Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. | |
| One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day [alike]. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. | |
| He that regardeth the day, regardeth [it] unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard [it]. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. | |
| For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. | |
| For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. | |
| I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that [there is] nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him [it is] unclean. | |
| But if thy brother be grieved with [thy] meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died. | |
| Let not then your good be evil spoken of: | |
| For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. | |
| For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed [are] pure; but [it is] evil for that man who eateth with offence. | |
| [It is] good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor [any thing] whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. | |
| Hast thou faith? have [it] to thyself before God. Happy [is] he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. | |
| And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because [he eateth] not of faith: for whatsoever [is] not of faith is sin. |
The meaning and significance of these words are clear Doug. He is dealing with the fact that Jews were trying to Judaize the Gentiles.
He is clearly teaching that the Gentiles have Christian liberty in this .
Those Holidays were given to the Jews, remain a sign to the Jews. I did not say they were " done away with" .
Holy days Terry, holy days. If they were not done away with then they are still holy. Your creator and mine still have feast days that they made holy.
He gave them to the jews, and as much as you want to be one, you are not Doug. Can't you celebrate how God made you ?
The "Christians" that observed them were the JEWISH Christians , not the Roman or greek Christians.
I think the burden of proof is on you for this. Paul specifically tells "Jewish" christians and gentile christians alike to celebrate at least one holy day:
LOL Not at all doug, the burden is on you. I want ONE scripture where God ordered the Gentile nations to celebrate the remembrances of His relationship with the Jews.
The NT is very specific, the gentiles were exempted from the Jewish law.
1Co 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast (heortazo), not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened [bread] of sincerity and truth.
The word FEAST is singular Doug Not plural, so what is the FEAST? The one He gave us in the NT >
Leaven is a simile of their sin here , not literal leaven,
From Gill
pursuing, the same metaphor, taken from the Jewish passover, he exhorts to remove from them the man that had sinned, as the Jews at the passover removed the leaven out of their houses; that so they might appear to be a church renewed, and purged, and clear of leaven, keeping the true and spiritual passover, which they were under obligation to do, since Christ, the antitype of the passover, was sacrificed for them,
1 Corinthians 5:7 wherefore it became them to keep the feast of the Lord's supper; and indeed, to have the whole course of their conversation so ordered, as to avoid sin and sinners, and to behave in truth and uprightness, 1 Corinthians 5:8 when the apostle goes on to put them in mind of what he had formerly written unto them, as suitable to the present case, which was, that they should not keep company with wicked men, particularly with fornicators, such as this man, though in a more heinous manner, 1 Corinthians 5:9 and explains what was his meaning; not that they were to have no manner of conversation with persons of such a character, and of such like evil characters, in things of a civil nature, for then there would be no living in the world, 1 Corinthians 5:10.
"So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ .
That does not mean what you think it means. Explain this: Paul wrote this, by most scholars estimates, over 20 years after the death of Christ.
And so???
Yet Paul says that the feast days ARE...not WERE...ARE a shadow of things to come. ARE a shadow. Why does Paul believe, 20 years after the death of Christ, that the feast days ARE a shadow of things yet future, things yet to come? The answer of course is that they are. Christ will return...the fall feasts picture the return of Christ and the millenial kingdom.
Doug he says ARE because they were and are yet today a SIGN TO THE JEWS .
did not say there was an injunction , that Christian may not celebrate them. We have Christian liberty we are free to do that , but it is no spiritual benefit.
On the contrary I've found that observing God's feast days have great spiritual benefits. That's why God made them.
No Doug, they make you FEEL holy and special and different. The ritual is an external kind of holiness, it does nothing for the saved man, that is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
For all of time men have sought their own righteousness. They think that somehow they are holy because they are doing what they perceive as holy . For most of professing trinitarian Christianity Christ fulfilled the law perfectly .
Every time you refuse a piece of pork or shell fish you deny Christ's sufficiency . You deny the imputed righteousness of Christ in the believer.