The Feasts God Gave, and What They Point To

Days and Feasts · Article 1 of 3 · 2026-10-29 · Key passages: Leviticus 23:2; 1 Corinthians 5:7; Colossians 2:16–17. Quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB); please check each one in your own Bible.

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What we confess.

To us there is “one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we live through him.” (1 Corinthians 8:6). Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:31), who “has come in the flesh” (1 John 4:2). He “died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3), was buried, and “was raised on the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:4). “God has made him both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36), and “This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky, will come back” (Acts 1:11).

On the night God brought Israel out of Egypt, every household killed a lamb. They put its blood on the doorposts, and God said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you,” (Exodus 12:13). Then he told them to remember that night every year:

This day shall be a memorial for you. You shall keep it as a feast to Yahweh. You shall keep it as a feast throughout your generations by an ordinance forever.

— Exodus 12:14

This is the first of three articles on days and feasts. The next two take up Christmas and Halloween, which Scripture never names. We begin with the days God himself gave. Some readers were taught that keeping the right days marks God’s true people. Others were taught that the feasts of Israel have nothing to say to believers at all. We ask you to read what Scripture says about them, and to check every word.

Read These First

  • Leviticus 23: “The set feasts of Yahweh, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my set feasts.” (Leviticus 23:2).
  • Exodus 12:1–14: the first Passover.
  • 1 Corinthians 5:6–8: “For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place.” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
  • Hebrews 9:11–12, 24–26: the high priest’s yearly entry.
  • Colossians 2:16–17: a shadow, and the body.
  • Luke 22:14–20: the last Passover Jesus ate.

God Gave Israel His Set Feasts

What the text says. God gave the feasts through Moses to Israel:

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The set feasts of Yahweh, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my set feasts.

— Leviticus 23:1–2

The list begins with the weekly Sabbath: “It is a Sabbath to Yahweh in all your dwellings.” (Leviticus 23:3). Article 9 of The Good News, Following Jesus, answers the weekly Sabbath in full. Then come the yearly feasts. “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is Yahweh’s Passover.” (Leviticus 23:5). The next day began “the feast of unleavened bread to Yahweh.” (Leviticus 23:6). At harvest the priest waved “the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest” (Leviticus 23:10). Fifty days later came a new offering, “for first fruits to Yahweh.” (Leviticus 23:17). In the seventh month came “a memorial of blowing of trumpets,” (Leviticus 23:24). On the tenth day came “a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before Yahweh your God.” (Leviticus 23:28). Last came “the feast of booths for seven days to Yahweh.” (Leviticus 23:34). The chapter ends, “So Moses declared to the children of Israel the appointed feasts of Yahweh.” (Leviticus 23:44). Passages: Leviticus 23:11, 15–16.

Some of the feasts looked back to what God had done. Of the booths God said, “that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in temporary shelters when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.” (Leviticus 23:43). Of Passover, when children asked its meaning, parents were to answer, “It is the sacrifice of Yahweh’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt,” (Exodus 12:27). The three pilgrim feasts were kept in one place: “Three times in a year all of your males shall appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he chooses:” (Deuteronomy 16:16). Passages: Deuteronomy 16:1–17.

The feasts of weeks and of booths were days of joy: “You shall rejoice in your feast,” (Deuteronomy 16:14). On the Day of Atonement, “You shall afflict yourselves” (Leviticus 23:27). Passages: Deuteronomy 16:11, 14–15.

What we conclude. Scripture says plainly that God gave these feasts, and called them “my set feasts.” (Leviticus 23:2). It says plainly that he gave them “to the children of Israel” (Leviticus 23:44), and that the pilgrim feasts were kept “in the place which he chooses” (Deuteronomy 16:16). It says plainly that the Passover and the feast of booths remembered his rescue from Egypt (Exodus 12:27; Leviticus 23:43; Deuteronomy 16:3). Our conclusion is that the feasts were given through Moses as part of the Law given at Sinai (Leviticus 23:44; 26:46; 27:34).

The strongest objection. Some believers today keep the feasts of Leviticus 23, and teach that God’s people must keep them still. They point to the words God used:

You must not eat bread, or roasted grain, or fresh grain, until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

— Leviticus 23:14

The same words come again: “This is a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.” (Leviticus 23:21). Of the Day of Atonement, “it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.” (Leviticus 23:31). Of booths, “It is a statute forever throughout your generations.” (Leviticus 23:41). As they argue it, what God calls forever cannot be set aside, and a believer who loves God will keep his days.

Our answer. The Law says the same of Aaron’s line: “They shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute.” (Exodus 29:9). Yet Hebrews says that the priesthood has changed, and the law with it:

Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people have received the law), what further need was there for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is of necessity a change made also in the law.

— Hebrews 7:11–12

Our conclusion is that forever in the Law does not by itself keep a command binding after Christ (Exodus 29:9). The priesthood given by a perpetual statute was changed (Hebrews 7:11–12). Our conclusion is also that this change strikes no letter from the written Law; it changes the law under which God’s people now serve (Matthew 5:18; Hebrews 7:12). Article 9 of The Good News, Following Jesus, answers Matthew 5:17–19 in full. Hebrews says of the first covenant, “he has made the first obsolete.” (Hebrews 8:13). The feasts required offerings “made by fire” (Leviticus 23:8, 25, 27, 36), and the Passover and the pilgrim feasts required the place God chose (Deuteronomy 16:5–6, 16). Our conclusion is that Christ’s one offering has taken the place of the offerings these feasts required (Hebrews 10:14, 18). The New Testament nowhere commands believers to keep them, our conclusion (Acts 15:28–29).

Paul says plainly that no one is to judge believers over feast days: “Let no one therefore judge you in eating or drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day,” (Colossians 2:16). When the apostles wrote to the Gentile believers, it seemed good “to lay no greater burden on you than these necessary things:” (Acts 15:28), and named no feast (Acts 15:29). The Law let a stranger keep the Passover only if “all his males be circumcised” (Exodus 12:48). Paul wrote, “if you receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing.” (Galatians 5:2). Our conclusion is that the Passover of the Law cannot be laid on Gentile believers without laying circumcision on them (Exodus 12:48; Galatians 5:2–3). Our conclusion is that a believer may keep a day to the Lord freely, as Romans 14:6 describes, but no one may require it (Colossians 2:16).

Christ, Our Passover, Has Been Sacrificed

What the text says. The New Testament names Jesus by the Passover. Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place. Therefore let’s keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

— 1 Corinthians 5:7–8

John the Baptist saw Jesus and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). John does not say which lamb he means; our conclusion is that the Passover lamb is among those in view (Exodus 12:3–5; Isaiah 53:7).

The Passover lamb was to be eaten in one house, and the Law said, “Do not break any of its bones.” (Exodus 12:46). At the cross, John writes, the Scripture was fulfilled: “A bone of him will not be broken.” (John 19:36). John does not say which Scripture he means; the Psalms say of the righteous, “Not one of them is broken.” (Psalm 34:20). John places the cross on “the Preparation Day of the Passover,” (John 19:14; see 19:31), so our conclusion is that he has the Passover lamb in view (Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12).

Jesus ate the Passover with his disciples on the night before he died. “The day of unleavened bread came, on which the Passover must be sacrificed.” (Luke 22:7). He told them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer,” (Luke 22:15). Then he gave them bread and the cup:

He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in memory of me.” Likewise, he took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

— Luke 22:19–20

Paul calls the risen Christ by a harvest word: “But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruit of those who are asleep.” (1 Corinthians 15:20). Luke tells what happened on the day of Pentecost: “Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord in one place.” (Acts 2:1). “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4).

Hebrews sets Christ beside the high priest’s yearly entry, which the Law set on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29–34). Into the inner room of the tabernacle went “the high priest alone, once in the year, not without blood,” (Hebrews 9:7). Then:

But Christ having come as a high priest of the coming good things, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption.

— Hebrews 9:11–12

And again: “But now once at the end of the ages, he has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (Hebrews 9:26). Passages: Hebrews 9:24–26; 10:1–14.

What we conclude. Scripture says plainly that Christ is “our Passover” (1 Corinthians 5:7), and that he is “the first fruit of those who are asleep.” (1 Corinthians 15:20). It says plainly that he entered “into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;” (Hebrews 9:24), “through his own blood” (Hebrews 9:12). The high priest entered the inner room once a year, “not without blood,” (Hebrews 9:7). It says plainly that the Spirit came on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1–4). Our conclusion is that the Passover, the sheaf of first fruits and the Day of Atonement point to Christ’s death, rising and entering before God (Leviticus 23:10; 1 Corinthians 5:7; 15:20; Hebrews 9:7, 12, 24).

Numbers calls the feast of weeks “the day of the first fruits” (Numbers 28:26). Our conclusion is that Pentecost is that feast, and that the Spirit’s coming on it fits that pattern (Leviticus 23:15–16; Acts 2:1–4). The New Testament does not say so in words, and we hold it as our conclusion only. At the feast of booths Jesus cried, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!” (John 7:37), and John explains, “But he said this about the Spirit,” (John 7:39). John ties Jesus’ words to the Spirit; he does not say that the feast of booths points to the Spirit, nor do we. The New Testament gives no meaning for the feast of trumpets. We do not supply one. It speaks of a trumpet at the Lord’s coming (1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16), but it does not tie that trumpet to the feast.

The strongest objection. Some readers argue that Jesus and the apostles kept the feasts, so believers should too. Jesus went up to Jerusalem at the Passover as a boy: “His parents went every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover.” (Luke 2:41). When he was twelve, “they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast;” (Luke 2:42). He went up to the feasts as a man (John 2:13; 7:10). He ate the Passover the night before he died (Luke 22:15). Long after the cross, Paul still hastened to be in Jerusalem for Pentecost:

For Paul had determined to sail past Ephesus, that he might not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hastening, if it were possible for him, to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.

— Acts 20:16

In the WEB, Paul also says, “I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem,” (Acts 18:21). Luke also writes, “We sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread,” (Acts 20:6), and Paul wrote to Corinth, “But I will stay at Ephesus until Pentecost,” (1 Corinthians 16:8). As they argue it, if the apostle to the Gentiles kept the feast, it cannot have passed away.

Our answer. Jesus was “born under the law” (Galatians 4:4), “that he might redeem those who were under the law,” (Galatians 4:5). Our conclusion is that he kept the Law he was born under, for he was “yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Paul tells how he himself lived among those under the Law: “To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those who are under the law;” (1 Corinthians 9:20). In the same breath he says he was “not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ” (1 Corinthians 9:21). In Jerusalem, James and the elders told Paul that the believing Jews “are all zealous for the law.” (Acts 21:20). At their word Paul purified himself with four men under a vow, so that “all will know that there is no truth in the things that they have been informed about you, but that you yourself also walk keeping the law.” (Acts 21:24). Then Paul went into the temple with them, “until the offering was offered for every one of them.” (Acts 21:26). Of Gentile believers they said, “we have written our decision” (Acts 21:25), and named the same four things as the council’s letter (Acts 15:29). Our conclusion is that Jewish believers might keep the Law’s customs, and Paul with them, but no one could lay them on Gentile believers (Acts 21:24–26; 15:28–29).

Some point to the reason James gave at the council: “For Moses from generations of old has in every city those who preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” (Acts 15:21). They take it to mean the Gentiles would learn and keep the rest of the Law there. Our conclusion is that the verse adds no command to the letter, which laid “no greater burden on you than these necessary things:” (Acts 15:28). James and the elders later repeated for the Gentiles the same four things (Acts 21:18, 25; 15:29).

Acts 20:6 and 1 Corinthians 16:8 tell when Paul sailed and how long he stayed; neither says what the believers at Philippi or Corinth kept. Our conclusion is that Luke and Paul mark the time by the feasts, as Luke marks it by “the Fast” (Acts 27:9), and command no one (Acts 15:28–29). Paul wrote, “For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more.” (1 Corinthians 9:19). Our conclusion is that Paul kept such days freely, not as a command laid on believers (1 Corinthians 9:19–21; Acts 20:16). Our conclusion is that Paul’s must in Acts 18:21 was his own resolve, for the verse names no command of God (1 Corinthians 9:19).

The same Paul wrote that no one should judge believers “with respect to a feast day” (Colossians 2:16). And the apostles laid on the Gentiles no feast at all (Acts 15:28–29). Our conclusion is that the apostles’ example shows a feast may be kept to the Lord; their teaching shows none may require it (Romans 14:5–6; Colossians 2:16).

Pause. In 1 Corinthians 5:7, what does Paul call Christ, and what does he tell the church to purge out? (See Christ, Our Passover, Has Been Sacrificed.)

Feast Days Are a Shadow; the Body Is Christ’s

What the text says. Paul writes that no one should judge believers over feast days, and says what those days are:

Let no one therefore judge you in eating or drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day, which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s.

— Colossians 2:16–17

The Levites were to offer burnt offerings “on the Sabbaths, on the new moons, and on the set feasts,” (1 Chronicles 23:31), the same three kinds of days Colossians 2:16 names. Passages: 2 Chronicles 2:4; Ezekiel 45:17.

Hebrews uses the same picture for the Law: “For the law, having a shadow of the good to come, not the very image of the things,” (Hebrews 10:1). The priests of the old covenant “serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things,” (Hebrews 8:5). The yearly sacrifices could not end sin: “But in those sacrifices there is a yearly reminder of sins.” (Hebrews 10:3). “For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.” (Hebrews 10:4). Christ’s offering did what they could not: “For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14).

Paul wrote to believers who were turning back “to the weak and miserable elemental principles” (Galatians 4:9): “You observe days, months, seasons, and years. I am afraid for you, that I might have wasted my labor for you.” (Galatians 4:10–11). Yet he also wrote, “He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it.” (Romans 14:6).

Jesus gave his followers a meal to keep. Paul passed it on:

For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread. When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.” In the same way he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

— 1 Corinthians 11:23–26

Passages: Hebrews 10:1–14; Galatians 4:8–11.

What we conclude. Scripture says plainly that feast days are “a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s.” (Colossians 2:17). It says plainly that no one may judge believers over them (Colossians 2:16). It says plainly that Christ’s one offering has “perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14). It says plainly that Jesus told his followers, “Do this in memory of me.” (1 Corinthians 11:24). Our conclusion is that the feasts show in outline what comes in Christ, as a shadow shows the shape of a body (Colossians 2:17; Hebrews 10:1). Our conclusion is also that believers keep the feast Paul names, “with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:8), and remember the Lord at his table until he comes (1 Corinthians 11:26).

Our conclusion is that Paul’s warning in Galatians and his freedom in Romans fit together. Some read Galatians 4:10 as pagan days only, for Paul says, “you were in bondage to those who by nature are not gods.” (Galatians 4:8). Yet Paul says that he too was “held in bondage under the elemental principles of the world” (Galatians 4:3), the principles the Galatians were turning back to (Galatians 4:9). In Galatians he writes to “you that desire to be under the law,” (Galatians 4:21). Our conclusion is that days kept as law, to be made right with God, are the bondage he warns against (Galatians 4:9–10; 5:4). Days kept freely to the Lord are what Romans 14:6 describes, our conclusion.

The strongest objection. Some readers point to the prophets, who foresee the feasts kept in days to come. Zechariah writes of the day when “Yahweh will be King over all the earth.” (Zechariah 14:9). Then:

It will happen that everyone who is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, Yahweh of Armies, and to keep the feast of booths.

— Zechariah 14:16

He adds that rain will be withheld from the families who do not go up (Zechariah 14:17). He speaks of “all those who sacrifice” (Zechariah 14:21) in Jerusalem in that day. Ezekiel foresees the Passover, and the feast on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, kept with sin offerings (Ezekiel 45:21, 25; Leviticus 23:34): “On that day the prince shall prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering.” (Ezekiel 45:22). He says these offerings are “to make atonement for the house of Israel.” (Ezekiel 45:17). Isaiah foresees that “from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh will come to worship before me,” (Isaiah 66:23). As they argue it, if the nations will keep the feast when God reigns, the feasts have not passed away. Believers, they say, should keep them now.

Our answer. Zechariah sets this after the day when “Yahweh my God will come, and all the holy ones with you.” (Zechariah 14:5). Our conclusion is that it is a promise for that time, not a command to believers now (Zechariah 14:5, 9, 16; Colossians 2:16–17). The same holds for Isaiah 66:23 and Ezekiel 45:21–25, our conclusion. Ezekiel’s offerings are “to make atonement” (Ezekiel 45:17), as the Law said of the Day of Atonement, “to make atonement for you before Yahweh your God.” (Leviticus 23:28). Yet Hebrews says, “For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.” (Hebrews 10:4). Our conclusion is that no offering in that day will take away sin, for Christ’s one offering has done it (Hebrews 10:14, 18). Our conclusion is that no believer may be judged now by a feast that the New Testament does not command (Colossians 2:16–17; Acts 15:28–29).

Some read “Therefore let’s keep the feast,” (1 Corinthians 5:8) as a command to keep the yearly days. Paul names the yeast, “the yeast of malice and wickedness,” (1 Corinthians 5:8), and he writes about a sin in the church: “Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.” (1 Corinthians 5:13). Our conclusion is that Paul calls the church to keep the feast by a life purged of sin, not here to keep the yearly days (1 Corinthians 5:1–2, 7–8; Colossians 2:16).

Some read “a shadow of the things to come;” (Colossians 2:17) to mean the feasts still picture things not yet come, so believers should keep them. Jesus did say of the Passover, “I will no longer by any means eat of it until it is fulfilled in God’s Kingdom.” (Luke 22:16). Yet in the same sentence Paul says, “Let no one therefore judge you” (Colossians 2:16), and “the body is Christ’s.” (Colossians 2:17). Our conclusion is that whatever a feast still points to, the shadow is not laid on believers, because the body it points to is Christ’s (Colossians 2:16–17; Hebrews 10:1).

Some read the last words of Colossians 2:17 to mean that the body of Christ, the church, is to judge believers over these days. In the passage on days (Romans 14:5–6), Paul tells the church itself, “Therefore let’s not judge one another any more,” (Romans 14:13). Our conclusion is that no one, the church included, may judge a believer over a feast day (Colossians 2:16; Romans 14:4–6, 13).

Some read Colossians 2:16 to mean only that no one should judge believers for keeping the feasts. Paul goes on to warn against rules such as “Don’t handle, nor taste, nor touch” (Colossians 2:21). Paul also wrote, “he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it.” (Romans 14:6). Our conclusion is that no one may judge a believer for keeping a feast day or for not keeping it (Colossians 2:16; Romans 14:5–6).

Pause. In Colossians 2:17, what does Paul call feast days, and whose is the body? (See Feast Days Are a Shadow; the Body Is Christ’s.)

Questions Answered

These questions touch this article. Each is answered from Scripture and labeled. The Statement of Faith, section 15, gives the same answers.

The Sabbath, and which commands bind believers. Our conclusion: believers are not under the Law of Moses as a covenant, so the weekly Sabbath does not bind them. They are bound by the law of Christ: love, and the commands Jesus and the apostles gave.

Paul wrote: “Let no one therefore judge you in eating or drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day, which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s.” (Colossians 2:16–17).

Read the other way: Exodus 31:16; Matthew 5:17–18; Hebrews 4:9; Genesis 2:3; Mark 2:27. Confidence: Solid. Colossians 2:16 and Romans 14:5 speak to days directly; which other commands bind is answered by the apostles’ teaching.

Days Scripture does not command, such as Christmas and Halloween. Our conclusion: each believer may keep such a day to the Lord or not keep it, fully assured in his own mind, and no one may judge another over it. A thing once used for idols is not forbidden for that alone, as Paul allowed meat from the market. But no one may worship another god, or worship God in the ways the nations served theirs, and no one may teach such a day as God’s command, nor teach its avoidance as God’s command where Scripture does not command it.

Paul wrote: “One man esteems one day as more important. Another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind.” (Romans 14:5).

Read the other way: Exodus 32:5; Deuteronomy 12:30–32; Jeremiah 10:2–5; Galatians 4:8–10; 2 Corinthians 6:14–17; Ephesians 5:11; 1 Kings 12:32–33; 1 Corinthians 10:28–29; Acts 15:29. Confidence: Solid. Scripture never names these days. Romans 14:5–6 speaks of days without naming them, and Colossians 2:16 of the Law’s feast days; applying them to days Scripture does not command is our step, with 1 Corinthians 10:25–26 for things once used for idols. Scripture plainly forbids worshipping other gods, sorcery and consulting the dead, on any day (1 Corinthians 10:20–21; Galatians 5:20; Isaiah 8:19). Deuteronomy 12:30–31 is the hardest text; our step is to draw the line at worship itself, not at things once used in it.

Whether salvation depends on these questions. Our conclusion: salvation depends on believing the good news about Jesus and remaining in his teaching. It does not depend on settling every question in this document.

Jesus said: “I said therefore to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24).

Read the other way: John 8:24; 1 John 2:23; Galatians 1:9. Confidence: Solid. John 8:24 and 2 John 9 name what is required; Romans 14:1 shows that not every question divides.

What Scripture does not say. The New Testament does not give a meaning for the feast of trumpets. It does not say what the feast of booths points to. Scripture does not say how the offerings Ezekiel and Zechariah foresee stand beside Christ’s one offering (Hebrews 10:14). It does not explain how Jesus’ eating “this Passover” (Luke 22:15) and John’s “the Preparation Day of the Passover,” (John 19:14) fit together on the calendar; see also John 18:28. It does not say how often believers are to eat the Lord’s Supper; it says, “as often as you drink” (1 Corinthians 11:25). Luke tells of one gathering “On the first day of the week, when the disciples were gathered together to break bread,” (Acts 20:7), and gives no command of how often. It does not say how the temple offering of Acts 21:26, where Paul went with the four men, stood beside Christ’s one offering (Hebrews 10:18).

“The secret things belong to Yahweh our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 29:29).

Where We Stand

Scripture says

  • God called the feasts of Leviticus 23 “my set feasts.” (Leviticus 23:2), and Moses declared them “to the children of Israel” (Leviticus 23:44).
  • The pilgrim feasts were kept “in the place which he chooses” (Deuteronomy 16:16).
  • “For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place.” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
  • Christ “became the first fruit of those who are asleep.” (1 Corinthians 15:20).
  • Christ “through his own blood, entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:12).
  • “Let no one therefore judge you in eating or drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day, which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s.” (Colossians 2:16–17).
  • “He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it.” (Romans 14:6).
  • Jesus said of the bread, “Do this in memory of me.” (Luke 22:19), and of the cup, “Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.” (1 Corinthians 11:25).

We conclude

  • Our conclusion: the feasts were given through Moses as part of the Law given at Sinai (Leviticus 23:44; 26:46; 27:34).
  • Our conclusion: forever in the Law does not by itself keep a command binding after Christ (Exodus 29:9; Hebrews 7:11–12; 8:13).
  • Our conclusion: the Passover, the sheaf of first fruits and the Day of Atonement point to Christ’s death, rising and entering before God (Leviticus 23:10; 1 Corinthians 5:7; 15:20; Hebrews 9:7, 12, 24).
  • Our conclusion: Pentecost is the feast of weeks, which Numbers calls “the day of the first fruits” (Numbers 28:26), and the Spirit’s coming on it fits that pattern (Acts 2:1–4).
  • Our conclusion: a believer may keep a day to the Lord freely, as Romans 14:6 describes, but no one may require it (Romans 14:5–6; Colossians 2:16; Acts 15:28–29; 21:25).
  • Our conclusion: days kept as law, to be made right with God, are the bondage Paul warns against (Galatians 4:9–10; 5:4).
  • Our conclusion: believers keep the feast “with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:8), and remember the Lord at his table until he comes (1 Corinthians 11:26).

Hope

The blood of the lamb in Egypt was a token on the houses: “When I see the blood, I will pass over you,” (Exodus 12:13). The sacrifices offered “year by year” (Hebrews 10:1) could not end sin: “But in those sacrifices there is a yearly reminder of sins.” (Hebrews 10:3). Christ was “offered once to bear the sins of many,” (Hebrews 9:28), and he “will appear a second time,” (Hebrews 9:28). “But now once at the end of the ages, he has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (Hebrews 9:26). “For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14).

On the night he gave the bread and the cup, Jesus looked ahead to another meal: “I will no longer by any means eat of it until it is fulfilled in God’s Kingdom.” (Luke 22:16). He told them, “I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on, until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s Kingdom.” (Matthew 26:29). Isaiah foresaw a feast for all peoples: “In this mountain, Yahweh of Armies will make all peoples a feast of choice meat,” (Isaiah 25:6). And John heard the words, “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb.” (Revelation 19:9).

Living It Out

These are applications, offered as invitations.

  • You might read Exodus 12 and Luke 22:7–20 side by side, and notice what Jesus took from the Passover and what he gave new.
  • Paul says, “let’s keep the feast,” (1 Corinthians 5:8). Consider what sincerity and truth would look like in one part of your life this week.
  • If you share the Lord’s Supper, you might come to it remembering that it proclaims “the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:26).
  • If you were taught that the right days made you acceptable to God, you might read Hebrews 10:10–14 slowly. You could rest in the one offering.
  • If you keep a feast to the Lord, or do not, you might pray for a believer who chooses differently, as Romans 14:6 describes.

Questions for Reflection

  1. What did God tell Israel he would do when he saw the blood on the doorposts? (See the opening.)
  2. How does Hebrews 7:12 help you read a statute forever in Leviticus 23? (See the answer under God Gave Israel His Set Feasts.)
  3. What does Paul call Christ in 1 Corinthians 5:7 and 15:20, and whom does Hebrews 9:7–12 set him beside? (See Christ, Our Passover, Has Been Sacrificed.)
  4. How do Paul’s words in Galatians 4:10–11 and in Romans 14:6 fit together? (See Feast Days Are a Shadow; the Body Is Christ’s.)
  5. What does Zechariah 14:16 promise, and why does it not bind believers now? (See the answer under Feast Days Are a Shadow; the Body Is Christ’s.)
  6. What meal did Jesus say he would eat anew, and what does that promise mean to you? (See Hope.)

Check It Yourself

  • Opening: Exodus 12:1–14.
  • The set feasts: Leviticus 23:1–44; 16:29–34; 26:46; 27:34; Exodus 12:26–27; Deuteronomy 16:1–17; Exodus 29:9; Hebrews 7:11–12; 8:13; 10:1, 14, 18; Matthew 5:17–19; Colossians 2:16; Acts 15:28–29; Romans 14:5–6.
  • Christ our Passover: John 1:29; Exodus 12:3–5; Isaiah 53:7; 1 Corinthians 5:6–8; Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:20; John 19:14, 36; Numbers 28:26; Leviticus 16:34; 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Acts 18:21; Galatians 4:5; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Corinthians 9:19; Luke 22:7–20; 1 Corinthians 15:20; Acts 2:1–4; Hebrews 9:7, 11–12, 24–26; John 7:2, 37–39; Luke 2:41–42; John 2:13; 7:10; Acts 20:6, 16; 1 Corinthians 16:8; Acts 27:9; 15:21; Galatians 4:4; 1 Corinthians 9:20–21; Acts 21:20–26.
  • Shadow and body: Colossians 2:16–17; Hebrews 8:5; 10:1–14; Galatians 4:3, 8–11, 21; 5:2–4; Exodus 12:48–49; Acts 20:7; 1 Chronicles 23:31; 2 Chronicles 2:4; Ezekiel 45:17; Romans 14:4–6, 13; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26; Zechariah 14:5, 9, 16–21; Ezekiel 45:21–25; Isaiah 66:22–23; Hebrews 10:4, 18; 1 Corinthians 5:1–2, 13.
  • Answered: Statement of Faith, section 15; Colossians 2:16–17; Romans 14:5; John 8:24; Deuteronomy 29:29.
  • Hope: Exodus 12:13; Hebrews 9:26, 28; 10:3, 14; Luke 22:16; Matthew 26:29; Isaiah 25:6; Revelation 19:9.

Next

Next in Days and Feasts: Halloween, the Dead and the Spirits. What does Scripture say about the dead, about spirits and sorcery, and about keeping a day Scripture never names?

Next article: Halloween, the Dead and the Spirits
Study guide: Study Guide: The Feasts God Gave, and What They Point To
Series: All 3 articles in Days and Feasts

© 2026 Elvis Lucas, Open the Text. Original: https://openthetext.com/series/days-and-feasts/01-the-feasts-god-gave/
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