God's Feast Days

How to Celebrate God's Feasts

How should Christians keep God’s feast days today?

We find instructions for keeping all of God’s feasts in Leviticus 23, but there are also many other scriptures that provide additional details, so we must look at all the scriptures about the feasts to get a full picture of how we should keep them.

In this article I will cover the common elements that apply to all of God’s holy days. Then, in separate articles I will explain the specific details of how to celebrate each feast.

The Feast’s of the LORD

Let’s begin in Leviticus 23:1-2:

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.‘”

These are not “the feasts of Israel” or “the feasts of the Jews.” They are the feasts of the Lord. They were created by God for all people, as you can see in Zechariah 14:16-18.

God’s Appointments With You

The word “feasts” in Leviticus 23:2 is translated from the Hebrew word mo’adim, which means “appointed times.” These feasts are God’s appointments with us, and He actually scheduled these appointments on His calendar before humans were created.

Notice that the first time that the word mo’adim appears in the Bible is in Genesis 1:14:

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years.”

The word “seasons” there is the same word translated “feasts” in Leviticus 23:2. These feasts are scheduled on God’s calendar, which is based on the natural cycles of the sun and moon.

Did you ever notice that God used three of the seven days of creation to create His calendar?

  • On the first day He made day and night.
  • On the fourth day He appointed the sun and moon to govern the months, years, and His feasts.
  • Then on the seventh day He created the Sabbath and began the weekly cycle.

So God’s Sabbath and feast days have been part of God’s plan for mankind from the very beginning.

As you can see in Genesis 1, each day of creation began with evening, followed by morning (Genesis 1:5, etc.). Likewise, all of God’s feast days begin and end at sunset. You can also find this mentioned in Leviticus 23:32—and when I mention a scripture you should look it up in your Bible and see what it says so you can prove these things for yourself. Remember, I’m just some guy you have never met—and regardless of what you hear from me or anyone else about the Bible, you need to read the Bible for yourself to see what it actually says.

Commanded Assemblies

Now back in Leviticus 23:2, God says His feast days are “holy convocations.” What does that mean? A convocation is an assembly or gathering together. So God is telling us to assemble or gather together on these days—and these assemblies are holy.

The word holy refers to something that is set apart for a special purpose. So these aren’t ordinary meetings. They are special meetings.

And who should you meet with? With God’s assembly. Yes, God has an assembly—or as it is usually translated from the Greek, a “church”—and the Bible calls this assembly “the Church of God.” If you don’t know where God’s Church is, then you need to find it so you can assemble with them on God’s holy convocations.

But it may be that you live in a place where there aren’t any disciples to gather with, and in that case you must do your best to follow the spirit of the law. For example, if you have a good internet connection, you may be able to connect to an online service. If you have a phone, you may be able to call someone who you can discuss the Bible with. But if you are physically able to join the assembly on God’s holy days, that is what you should do.

The Sabbath

Now let’s continue. The first feast or appointed time mentioned in Leviticus 23 is the weekly Sabbath:

‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.’ (Leviticus 23:3, NKJV)

As this verse mentions, the Sabbath is a day of rest, and no work should be done from sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday. If you have never kept the Sabbath before, you may find it to be a test, especially if it conflicts with your job or school schedule. And that’s not an accident. God designed it to be a test.

Notice that God said He gave the Israelites a command about the Sabbath, “that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not” (Exodus 16:4).

God wants to know if you have faith—if you trust Him enough to obey Him—if you trust Him to bless you if you obey Him. Because “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6, NKJV).

So yes, the command to rest on the Sabbath and holy days is a test from God, a test to help you learn to trust God. If you faithfully keep God’s Sabbath and holy days, then God will bless you. You can be sure of that, because God promises to bless those who obey Him (Deuteronomy 28:2).

If you lack the faith to keep these days in the way that God commanded, then you cannot please God. One of the best ways to build faith is to just step out and “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Just ignore the problems and difficulties that seem to be in your way, and trust that somehow God will work things out for the best, even if it looks like everything is going to go wrong. Another way to build faith is to read the stories of faith in the Bible to remind you of the great miracles God has done for those who put their trust in Him.

So the Sabbath is a day of rest and holy convocation—a day to assemble together with God’s Church.

Seven Annual Sabbaths

Next, Leviticus 23 describes seven appointed times and seven annual Sabbaths—and these two things aren’t exactly the same. Let me explain.

The first appointed time is the Passover. It is not a day of rest because the Bible never says that work is not allowed on this day.

You may remember how when Jesus was crucified on the Passover day, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea hurried to bury Jesus before the sun set. They were working on the Passover. But the next day, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, was called a Sabbath (even though it fell on Thursday that year).

So here are the seven appointed times (mo’adim):

  1. Passover
  2. The Feast of Unleavened Bread (7 days long)
  3. The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost)
  4. The Feast of Trumpets
  5. The Day of Atonement
  6. The Feast of Tabernacles (7 days long)
  7. The Eighth Day

And here are the seven annual Sabbaths, which are days of rest:

  1. 1st Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread
  2. 7th Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread
  3. The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost)
  4. The Feast of Trumpets
  5. The Day of Atonement
  6. 1st Day of the Feast of Tabernacles
  7. The Eighth Day

These annual Sabbaths are a little different than the weekly Sabbath. For the weekly Sabbath God says no work is allowed (Leviticus 23:3). But for the annual Sabbaths, God says “you shall do no customary work” (Leviticus 23:7, 8, 21, 25, 25, 36).

So there is one type of work that is allowed on these holy days, and that is explained in Exodus 12:16:

“No manner of work shall be done on them, except that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you.”

The work necessary to prepare food on these feast days is allowed, except on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:31), which is a day of fasting.

For the weekly Sabbath we have Friday as a day of preparation (Exodus 16:23), but some of the other festivals may fall on Friday or Sunday (right next to the weekly Sabbath), and it would be difficult, if not impossible, to prepare a feast for two days in advance.

And food is an important part of the celebration of these days.

How to Feast

Notice that many of God’s appointed times are specifically called “feasts”:

  • The Feast of Unleavened Bread (7 days long)
  • The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost)
  • The Feast of Trumpets
  • The Feast of Tabernacles (7 days long)

The word “feast” in the names of these festivals is translated from the Hebrew word hag, which means something like a pilgrim festival (it is related to the Arabic word hajj that Muslims use to describe their pilgrimage to Mecca). These feasts may involve travel, and they also enjoy feasting—enjoying good food. God says the purpose of this feasting is to learn to fear God:

”You shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.” (Deuteronomy 14:22, NKJV)

It doesn’t matter if you have an abundance of income, or no income at all, because the Bible teaches us to share our excess with each other so that everyone can rejoice together:

Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat [meaning “the best”], drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our LORD. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10, NKJV)

So as you are able, try to plan ahead and prepare special meals for these feasts.

A Time for Learning

We don’t just learn from eating, we also learn from hearing God’s words on the holy days. We find one holy day worship service described in Nehemiah 8, and it involved a lot of teaching:

So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month [the Feast of Trumpets]. Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law… So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading. (Nehemiah 8:2-8)

The celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles is described in a similar way:

Day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly, according to the prescribed manner. (Nehemiah 8:18)

If you are able to assemble with God’s Church for these feasts, you will learn a lot from the teaching during the worship services. If you are not able to attend in person this year, you should be sure to listen to a message about the day or study the scriptures to learn the meaning of each feast.

An Opportunity to Thank God

One thing you will notice while reading Leviticus 23 (and you should read the whole chapter very carefully), is that it mentions a number of offerings that were to be given at the temple. Today there is no physical temple in Jerusalem, which is the only place most of the offerings were allowed to be presented. But one thing we can learn from the written descriptions of these offerings is that we should learn to give to God.

This is explained more clearly in Deuteronomy 16:16-17:

“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you.”

When we gather together on God’s holy days, we should not appear “empty-handed.” We should bring some kind of offering with us, as God has blessed us. These are the only scheduled times that God tells us to bring an offering to Him. (Don’t send your offering to me! Find an appropriate way to give it to God.)

Note: Many churches collect an offering every week, but the Bible doesn’t ever mention weekly offerings. The weekly laying aside of donations mentioned in 1 Corinthians 16:2 was something that the Corinthians did at home as they prepared to send famine relief to the members in Judea—it was not an offering to God and it was not done at worship services.

I hope this article has given you a basic idea of how to keep God’s feasts. I will explain specific details of how to keep each feast in separate articles.

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Guides for specific feasts: