Moedim – Feasts, Festivals and Biblical Holidays

• Jewish Holidays 2016
• Why do Jewish Holidays keep changing dates?

Why keep the Feasts and Festivals now?

In the latest decade, study-guides and books line shelves of Christian book centers focused on Biblical and/or Jewish holidays. Why? Why would a Christian be interested in these holidays if they are 1., for those of the Jewish faith only, or 2., outdated and “done-away with?” The Christian culture divorced itself from Judaism almost two thousand years ago, so the holidays and feasts that were observed and cherished by the disciples and Jesus [Yeshua] himself have become foreign and distant to most of the Christian world until recently. A stirring among Christianity is awakening many to the beauty and rich symbolism of biblical and Jewish holidays.

God Himself ordained and/or sanctioned many of the festivals, feasts and fasts present on today’s Jewish calendar. Since these days are not merely the invention of humanity, perhaps it would do Christianity well to become acquainted with them. The remaining holidays on the Israeli calendar are also rich in meaning and beneficial for learning and Christian growth.

God set these moedim (holy days) aside to meet with his people. Like a bridegroom setting a special day aside to meet with His bride, God is ready to meet with His people on these sanctified days. It is the choice of His people therefore, whether they choose to meet with Him or to pass on the opportunity altogether.

Rabbi Shaul, the apostle and Pharisee better known by the Christian community as Saint Paul, adds more insight into the holidays as we read his writing regarding the feast of Passover:

“Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:6-8).

Here Paul himself is encouraging his audience to keep the feast, but with more sincerity than before. He is by no means outright discouraging the observance of Passover or any other feast. He is advocating its perpetuation with spiritual enrichment and sincerity. He keeps on with the observance of the day himself, as this account describes:

“But we sailed from Philippi after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days.”

Notice he uses the Feast of Unleavened Bread (part of the Passover week) as a time reference. This would have been totally redundant if neither he nor his audience observed the day—especially since he is in the diaspora. He uses “the Fast” as reference also. We can only surmise it is Yom Kippur, the most important fast of the year:

“Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast…”

We can safely say that, contrary to popular Christian belief, the Jewish holidays were quite in effect in the Early Church and were observed by the first Christians of the time.