Jewish Feasts

It’s a pity that in contemporary Western Christianity we don’t have regularly scheduled feasts woven into our faith – other than communion, that is.

Dating all the way back to Abraham in 2100 BC, the Jewish religion holds the distinction of being the oldest religion in the world still being practiced today. If that weren’t enough, it’s also the only ancient religion still practiced by the same people in the same land with the same language. How does a religion and a people-group survive that long? The easy answer (and the correct one) is that God adopted them and gave them special favor: glory, covenants, Law, worship and promises (Rom 9:4). God chose them as His people for a specific purpose and will not let them come to utter ruin. God has not dealt likewise with any other people. Praise the Lord (Ps 147:19-20).

Sociologists will tell you that one of the methods in which God kept His people intact was by giving them feasts. If you flip through the Pentateuch, you’ll see a wide variety of feasts for any number of occasions, all commanded by God. Even their harvest tithe had a feast associated with it:

And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the Lord your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the Lord your God chooses, to set his name there, then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the Lord your God chooses and spend the money for whatever you desire – oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. (Deut 14:24-26, ESV)

Maybe it’s me, but my guess is that any preacher advocating this in the 21st century would be barred from the pulpit. I’ve heard some people say that their wine wasn’t as potent as it is today, but I don’t see what that has to do with anything: whatever “wine” and “strong drink” was, it was enough to get a number of men to take leave of their senses (Noah, Nabal, Uriah, Proverbs, etc).

But the point here is not “drunk” – it’s “party”! God’s people were to feast and have a good time before the Lord (but not like the Corinthian church did – 1 Cor 11:21). These feasts (parties?) worked as a social bond to preserve the language, religion, tradition and identity of the Jewish people for 4,000 years. Should we, as 21st century Christians celebrate these Jewish feasts? For sanctification, no. For education and social bonding (fellowship)? Ya know… I see a lot of benefit to these!

There are a number of reasons why modern Christians should be well versed on these feasts:

• They were instituted by God. That alone should be enough.
• They are both a medium and a message. They give us a picture of God, Christ, the cost of sin, atonement, redemption, and many other themes germane to the Salvation of man. As it did for the Old Testament Jews, these object lessons help us gain an appreciation for what God has done and will be doing for His people.
• Jesus Himself participated in the feasts, and on two occasions, used them to further expound on the truths of Himself  (John 7 & 10). If Jesus participated in them, certainly there’s nothing wrong with us participating in them.

Every time I mention these feasts, it seems someone is quick to misunderstand and condemn what I’m getting at, so I’ll repeat it again:  Salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone! These feasts are not required for NT believers, and they do nothing to procure or secure our salvation. But they can certainly enlighten us about our salvation. And for that, they’re worth learning about (and even participating in).

Here is a list of the various feasts that the Jews were required to observe throughout the year.

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